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Omagh bomb families' inquiry threat over war
by Olga Bradshaw

FOLLOWING four hours of intensive debate, the Omagh families emerged from their meeting on Monday with Policing Board resolute that a public inquiry was still on the cards, if the war of words that has sprung up over the Omagh bomb is not resolved.
Some of those who attended the meeting had previously threatened to withdraw their support for the police investigation if their concerns about the police investigation into the handling of the bombing were not adequately addressed.
The internal review conducted by the police, which became the subject of a damning report by the Police Ombudsman, Mrs. Nuala'O'Loan, has given rise to widespread concerns and upset for bereaved families and those injured in the terrorist attack at Market Street over three years ago.
The families have now given the Policing Board until February 7 to address their views and concerns and hold meetings with the Chief Constable and the Ombudsman, but failing a satisfactory outcome, they say they will press for a public inquiry.
Policing Board members who attended the meeting included the chairman and vice-chairman of the Board, Professor Desmond Rea and Mr. Denis Bradley, respectively, as well as two further independent members, Pauline McGread and Barry Gilligan, and three political members, Assemblyman and local councillor, Mr. Joe Byrne, and Messrs Eddie McGrady and Sammy Wilson.
The members said they had held the meeting to discuss issues of concern arising from the Ombudsman's report into the Omagh bombing and the Chief Constable's response.
Listen
The chairman commented: We came here today to listen to the people who have been most horrendously affected by the Omagh bomb. These are also the people whose feelings have been most deeply touched by the publication of the Ombudsman's report and last week's response by the Chief Constable.
Professor Rea continued: "Today is solely about hearing first hand from the community most deeply affected by that dreadful atrocity. We wanted to find out about the issues relating to policing which cause them the greatest concern.
He said the Policing Board had given a definitive undertaking to grasp the issues arising out of the Omagh report, and said members were committed to their responsibility to ensure that policing was "effective, efficient, transparent and accountable".
He said they were also mindful of the sensitivities of all parties and that they would give "full and proper consideration" to all the relevant information.
"I thank those with whom we met today for their openness and honesty. We listened intently to the heartfelt views expressed and will in turn, be reflecting these views back to the Board when it meets to consider this matter in full," he said.
No doubt
Speaking during a break in the meeting, Mr. Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh Victims Group, said those attending the meeting had left members in no doubt about what was expected of them.
He told waiting reporters: "They pointed out their limitations and their short space of life in existence, but we feel that they will have to get their teeth out quickly, that this is something that needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. We hope that they can move this forward. We are giving it up to them. They are having a chance to do what they need to do and we will watch with interest.
Mr. Gallagher continued: "We told them the position that we see ourselves in. We are not here to try and change policing in this country, we are here to try and get the Omagh bomb investigation moved forward, but we are being drawn into a bigger political game here which we are not part of and which we don't want to be pan of.
"All we want is whatever it needs to move this forward and we got four pages of statistics from Sir Ronnie Flanagan last Thursday. That's basically all we got. From Nuala O'Loan we got a 13-page document with a number of suggestions and recommendations that are needed to move it forward. They made good sense to us. and we feel that they need to be taken on board and moved forward. If that is not the case it will be a full public enquiry," Mr. Gallagher said.
"I think this is the test for the Policing Board. They are a board that is just finding its feet at the moment. They said they have had some successes, but this will be the one that will test them. There is no doubt about that," he added.
Mr. Gallagher said that the meeting with the Policing Board was being viewed by the Omagh families as the end of a series of meetings, and in some respects to those worst affected by the tragic events of August 15, 1998, it appeared things had been getting worse rather than better for them.
Waiting
Mr. Kevin Skelton, whose wife, Philomena, was one of those who died, said he would be "waiting very patiently" to hear the response from the Policing Board when they had met the Chief Constable and the Ombudsman.
"And I will be very very interested in what decisions they do make," he said.
Asked what importance he placed on the Ombudsman's recommendations for change being taken on board, Mr. Skelton commented: "I would not be going on just Nuala O'Loan's report. If the Policing Board comes out in favour of Nuala O'Loan certainly her report would have to receive a level of consideration, but if they come out in favour of Ronnie Flanagan, who rubbished Nuala O'Loan's report, then that's different. But, until they have made a decision I will not make my mind up as to what way to go".
Mr. Skelton stressed that the Policing Board members had been told in no uncertain terms that, as regards the politics that had engulfed the issue, the families did not want to be turned into a political football.
"We got assurances by the people that were there that they were not going to do that. And hopefully they are as good as their word. That's what we don't want, we don't want turned into a political football. We want justice the truth and justice that's all," he said.
Both Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Skelton were pressed as to how close the victims' group and other families and the injured were to making a decision about whether they continued in their co-operation with police or whether to withdraw support and call for a full public inquiry.
Mr. Skelton said he wanted to wait until they had heard from the Policing Board, whose members were to bring back a report on February 7 next Thursday.
"We will go then and meet among ourselves and take a decision, We won't be making a decision on anything until after the 7th of February," he said.
Civil action
Mr. Skelton and Mr. Gallagher also revealed that they were due to fly to England on Tuesday to continue their fundraising work to finance the Civil Action they had committed themselves to in an attempt to bring those they believed responsible for the bombing to justice.
Mr. Gallagher said that while the Victims Group was not able to give a detailed breakdown of where things currently stood, he confirmed that members would be meeting with the Trustees.
"Money has always been a problem in a Civil Action. I can show you letters that we have had from Cork to Belfast from different parts of England, where money has been in the main from ordinary people. The money has not come from large donors, it has not come from large businesses I think that is probably why we are not more successful with money.
"I think, whatever way the base people were targeted, it did not work, but I have had £5 notes sent from students in Cork and old age pensioners in Belfast, and these are the people who have really supported us," Mr. Gallagher said.
"All I can say is that we will need over £1 million at this point, as far as I know, to move forward. The writs have to be served by 10 August this year in order to move the process on because that is the time limitation," he said.
Answers
Returning to the topic of the possibility of a public inquiry, Mr. Gallagher said if people felt they were not getting the answers they had sought, there would be "no other way" to proceed.
"This Policing Board is still cutting its teeth. They have never come up against anything that is as difficult as this before, and it will be the one that will either make or break the Policing Board, as far as I am concerned personally.
"As Kevin has said, we have decided to put that decision back until we see what the Policing Board decides to do, but we will not wait forever for that answer," Mr. Gallagher said.
Mr. Skelton added: "We do not want to end up like it is in Derry at the minute 30 years down the line to get an enquiry. It has to be done, things have to be sorted out now and sorted out quickly."
The vice-chairman of the Omagh Victims Group, Mr. Stanley McCombe, spoke afterwards about the role of the Policing Board and its relationship to the Chief Constable.
At the end of the day, he said, the Policing Board was the Chief Constable's employer, and he said those who attended the meeting certainly gave the members plenty of concerns that they had regarding the Chief Constable's report.
"We have not got the internal review, the McVicker Report. We don't have that, the Policing Board does not have that they have requested that, so, therefore, the only concerns we had were with Sir Ronnie Flanagan's report and the things that happened prior to August 4th and on the 4th and thereafter leading up to August 15. These are the concerns that we have put to Ronnie Flanagan and he responded in a political manner," Mr. McCombe said.
Despite the many meetings and paperwork that the Omagh bomb investigation has generated, particularly in the past four months, Mr. McCombe said the picture was still very clouded.
"It is very confusing because there is so much happening here. We have had to deal with Nuala O'Loan, we have had to deal with the Chief Constable and now we have had to deal with the Police Board, and we have our Civil Action which we leave to our legal team.
"We made points to the Policing Board that we want the Policing Board to take up with Sir Ronnie Flanagan, and I am leaving here today in no doubt that these points will be taken and they they will put them to him," he said.
Mr. McCombe said it was possible that members of the Omagh Victims' Group and others most affected by the atrocity, may not have been treated as seriously as they had wanted.
"It is possible. Only those who we have spoken to can answer that question. But we have always been serious, because as everyone knows this is serious if there are. shortfalls in Sir Ronnie's Department there were shortfalls in it. I mean, they can't undo what has been done, but we can certainly clarify and help maybe in the future, and help this investigation to ensure that things do go forward from here.
"The spotlight has been turned on the powers that be, namely the Police Authority. Ronnie Flanagan has to answer a lot of questions yet, and he has to answer them by himself not by the team he brought here on Friday. As far as we were concerned and a lot of other families were concerned this was a PR exercise. Ronnie Flanagan set it up and he controlled everything. He is not controlling the Police Board, he is answerable to the Police Board." he said.
And he added that he felt Monday's meeting with the Policing Board was a milestone: "I think it is. Who else do we turn to? There is no one else who can question Ronnie Flanagan."
Mr. Laurence Rush, who was widowed by the bombing, said he did not know what independence the Policing Board had, but stressed that the Omagh families needed a friend and someone to talk for them.
"We need someone here to talk for us. We are tired, but don't get that confused with resolve. We have had a very difficult time since the anniversary with meetings after meetings, and I think this one was too soon, and the full committee was not there obviously, you know? But we made some friends in this committee," he said.
Mr. Rush said the mix of independent and political members on the Board was beneficial and he also felt that those who had attended the meeting had been treated impartially which had given him more confidence.
He said that he did not feel that the recent turn of events were a battle between the Omagh families and Sir Ronnie, and stressed that the people at the epicentre of the situation were determined that they were not going to be drawn into a "punch and Judy Show".
"We still go away with a certain amount of scepticism, but we don't want to go away paranoid that everybody is going to do harm to us. I feel I have come away with a very easy feeling," he said.
"We are continually at meetings with the result that we are not so much confused, but we feel the need to get it right. But I think we need to back off for a while and let the dust settle and lets see what people are going to do, but I would say we are not going to sit around no matter what happens," he said.
Sole purpose
In response to what he saw and heard at the meeting, Police Board member, Mr. Joe Byrne, said that the Omagh bomb investigation must be
invigorated, with the sole purpose of bringing those responsible to justice.
He described the lengthy meeting as "constructive", and said the Board would be hearing from the Ombudsman and Chief Constable on Tuesday.
"Subject to that meeting, the Board on Thursday will be in a position to make decisions as to what recommendations it will seek to implement as a basis for moving forward," he said.
"The fundamental issue is how the Omagh bomb investigation can be reinvigorated with the sole purpose of bringing the Omagh bombers to justice," he said.
Mr. Byrne added: "The Policing Board is committed to ensuring that policing is transparent, efficient and accountable. Taking into consideration the fact the Omagh atrocity was planned and executed by terrorists on a cross border basis, there must now be maximum co-operation on the Omagh bomb investigation between the Police Service and the Garda."