WHAT MORE CAN THESE GOOD FOLK REALLY TAKE?
What more can these good folk really have to take?'
SIR,
As an Omagh resident, I have been deeply saddened by the recent Ombudsman's damning report, criticising Special Branch's handling of events before and after the Omagh bomb outrage and, in particular, the role of the Chief Constable.
No doubt, his forthright rebuttal of the report's findings were only to be expected.
Little wonder the bereaved families feel totally betrayed, confused, even angry and are crying out for someone in authority to tell them just what more can be done to round up the fiends who planned and planted the bomb, and have them put behind bars for a very long time.
No one seems to know exactly where the truth really lies and this is why calls are being made to both Prime Ministers to try to move things forward. After all, they both promised three years ago that no effort would be spared to track down the murderers.
The Ombudsman wants another investigative team to take charge and some of the relatives are even demanding a public enquiry to sort it all out. No one wants justice to become yet another victim of the atrocity.
The question I pose is very simple and it is thus, will the perpetrators, even if publicly identified, ever come to court, when witnesses are so reluctant for obvious reasons, to give evidence there? Is this not the fundamental reason why the investigators, through the usual channels, are now at a complete standstill?
One is therefore bound to ask, even at the point of despair, what will a further investigation really achieve? Without doubt, both the RUC and Special Branch will be hammered if the Ombudsman's report is anything to go by. Will a long drawn out public inquiry, even if names are disclosed, get the culprits to court? Will all this raking over old ground really help to ease the pain and suffering of bereaved families in Omagh and elsewhere?
In my opinion, they will have to relive the indescribable nightmare for a number of years longer and there has been so much grieving by relatives, attending funerals, memorial services and protracted inquests. What more can these good folk really have to take? When exactly is the grieving process expected to end and the healing process to become really effective? Republicans who have got no love for Police on either side of the Border will be crowing with sheer delight as the spotlight is shifted from the lawbreakers to those charged with keeping law and order. How, one might well ask, can prospects for the new Police Service be enhanced by such an unpleasant spectacle?
I feel strongly that the interests of truth and justice seekers, however commendable, will not be served by calling for another inquiry at this time. We shall probably never know if the planting of the bomb in Omagh could have been prevented or a single arrest carried out, had more rigorous evidence gathering techniques been adopted. As I see it, until the political will in both jurisdictions is sufficiently strong to compel key witnesses to provide the necessary evidence in court to secure a conviction, another investigative procedure will not only be time-wasting and expensive, but entirely unproductive.
The bottom line is glaringly self-evident. All of us are agreed that nothing anyone can say or do now can ever bring back those loves one whose lives were so swiftly and tragically cut short on Omagh's day of shame, August 15, 1998.
Yours, Wilfred Breen, Hospital Road, Omagh
SIR,
As an Omagh resident, I have been deeply saddened by the recent Ombudsman's damning report, criticising Special Branch's handling of events before and after the Omagh bomb outrage and, in particular, the role of the Chief Constable.
No doubt, his forthright rebuttal of the report's findings were only to be expected.
Little wonder the bereaved families feel totally betrayed, confused, even angry and are crying out for someone in authority to tell them just what more can be done to round up the fiends who planned and planted the bomb, and have them put behind bars for a very long time.
No one seems to know exactly where the truth really lies and this is why calls are being made to both Prime Ministers to try to move things forward. After all, they both promised three years ago that no effort would be spared to track down the murderers.
The Ombudsman wants another investigative team to take charge and some of the relatives are even demanding a public enquiry to sort it all out. No one wants justice to become yet another victim of the atrocity.
The question I pose is very simple and it is thus, will the perpetrators, even if publicly identified, ever come to court, when witnesses are so reluctant for obvious reasons, to give evidence there? Is this not the fundamental reason why the investigators, through the usual channels, are now at a complete standstill?
One is therefore bound to ask, even at the point of despair, what will a further investigation really achieve? Without doubt, both the RUC and Special Branch will be hammered if the Ombudsman's report is anything to go by. Will a long drawn out public inquiry, even if names are disclosed, get the culprits to court? Will all this raking over old ground really help to ease the pain and suffering of bereaved families in Omagh and elsewhere?
In my opinion, they will have to relive the indescribable nightmare for a number of years longer and there has been so much grieving by relatives, attending funerals, memorial services and protracted inquests. What more can these good folk really have to take? When exactly is the grieving process expected to end and the healing process to become really effective? Republicans who have got no love for Police on either side of the Border will be crowing with sheer delight as the spotlight is shifted from the lawbreakers to those charged with keeping law and order. How, one might well ask, can prospects for the new Police Service be enhanced by such an unpleasant spectacle?
I feel strongly that the interests of truth and justice seekers, however commendable, will not be served by calling for another inquiry at this time. We shall probably never know if the planting of the bomb in Omagh could have been prevented or a single arrest carried out, had more rigorous evidence gathering techniques been adopted. As I see it, until the political will in both jurisdictions is sufficiently strong to compel key witnesses to provide the necessary evidence in court to secure a conviction, another investigative procedure will not only be time-wasting and expensive, but entirely unproductive.
The bottom line is glaringly self-evident. All of us are agreed that nothing anyone can say or do now can ever bring back those loves one whose lives were so swiftly and tragically cut short on Omagh's day of shame, August 15, 1998.
Yours, Wilfred Breen, Hospital Road, Omagh
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0978
Published Date: 28-Dec-01
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