IRISH PREMIER TO MEET FATHER OF OMAGH BOMB VICTIM
Irish premier to meet father of Omagh bomb victim
IRISH premier, Bertie Ahern, has agreed to meet the father of a boy killed in the Omagh bombing, after months of stalling by the Dublin government.
Victor Barker, whose son, James, was killed in the 1998 Real IRA atrocity, will meet Mr. Ahern in Dublin, in four weeks time, after months of lobbying.
Mr Barker said an agenda had yet to be agreed with the Taoiseach's office, which had requested notification of what questions he wanted to ask.
One of the conditions raised by Mr. Ahern's advisers is that Mr Barker should bring no one else to the meeting.
It is also suspected the Taoiseach may insist that he make no public comment after the meeting.
The meeting on December 10 has yet to be finalised. But Mr Barker is expected to submit questions about the content of the yet-to-be
published Nally Report, and the Taoiseach's comments in the Dail, denying that a government minister had met with representatives of the Real IRA.
It emerged recently that the Taoiseach's special adviser, Dr Martin Mansergh, had held discussions with representatives from the terror group, following the Omagh bombing.
Added Mr Barker: "In Britain, for the Prime Minister to provide an answer to Parliament that the Government had had no contact with a terrorist group, and for it then to emerge that his special adviser did actually speak to that group, would be a resignation matter. Obviously in the Dail it is not.
"I will also want to raise issues relating to Garda John White's allegations, the actions of the Garda in dealing with intelligence information relating to planned Real IRA attacks in Northern Ireland in 1998, and their apparent failure to properly advise the RUC of such likely attacks."
Mr Barker, who now lives in England, has been seeking to raise these issues with the Taoiseach for months.
At the time of the bombing, he lived in Buncrana, and his son and his family were citizens of the Republic.
Film
Meanwhile, filming of a drama about the bomb atrocity which claimed the lives of 29 people, including the mother of unborn twins, is due to begin in weeks.
It is to be made by the same production team which made the award-winning Bloody Sunday and has the backing of at least some of the Omagh families.
Michael Gallagher, who is being played in the film by Omagh born actor, Gerard McSorley who starred in the recent film about murdered journalist Veronica Guerin said the film was a "painful but important" recreation of events on August 15, 1998.
Mr Gallagher said: "The BBC Question Time came from Omagh last week and no one talked about the bombing. They sat in the very leisure centre in which we waited for news of our loved ones the night of the blast and no one mentioned the bomb.
"It's as if Omagh has been airbrushed from history. If this film does anything, hopefully it will spark new interest in our cause."
Filming of the Channel four RTE film is to begin next month and the Omagh families are to get a final reading of the script, written by Bloody Sunday film director, Paul Greengrass, before filming begins.
Cold Feet director, Pete Travis, and other members of the production company have kept in regular touch with the families of the people who were killed in the atrocity.
Mr Gallagher added: "It is a little bit strange meeting someone who is going to play you in a film. They can never have a surrogate for you but Gerard is not just from Northern Ireland, but from Omagh, and so has a direct connection with the place and an understanding of what happened here."
IRISH premier, Bertie Ahern, has agreed to meet the father of a boy killed in the Omagh bombing, after months of stalling by the Dublin government.
Victor Barker, whose son, James, was killed in the 1998 Real IRA atrocity, will meet Mr. Ahern in Dublin, in four weeks time, after months of lobbying.
Mr Barker said an agenda had yet to be agreed with the Taoiseach's office, which had requested notification of what questions he wanted to ask.
One of the conditions raised by Mr. Ahern's advisers is that Mr Barker should bring no one else to the meeting.
It is also suspected the Taoiseach may insist that he make no public comment after the meeting.
The meeting on December 10 has yet to be finalised. But Mr Barker is expected to submit questions about the content of the yet-to-be
published Nally Report, and the Taoiseach's comments in the Dail, denying that a government minister had met with representatives of the Real IRA.
It emerged recently that the Taoiseach's special adviser, Dr Martin Mansergh, had held discussions with representatives from the terror group, following the Omagh bombing.
Added Mr Barker: "In Britain, for the Prime Minister to provide an answer to Parliament that the Government had had no contact with a terrorist group, and for it then to emerge that his special adviser did actually speak to that group, would be a resignation matter. Obviously in the Dail it is not.
"I will also want to raise issues relating to Garda John White's allegations, the actions of the Garda in dealing with intelligence information relating to planned Real IRA attacks in Northern Ireland in 1998, and their apparent failure to properly advise the RUC of such likely attacks."
Mr Barker, who now lives in England, has been seeking to raise these issues with the Taoiseach for months.
At the time of the bombing, he lived in Buncrana, and his son and his family were citizens of the Republic.
Film
Meanwhile, filming of a drama about the bomb atrocity which claimed the lives of 29 people, including the mother of unborn twins, is due to begin in weeks.
It is to be made by the same production team which made the award-winning Bloody Sunday and has the backing of at least some of the Omagh families.
Michael Gallagher, who is being played in the film by Omagh born actor, Gerard McSorley who starred in the recent film about murdered journalist Veronica Guerin said the film was a "painful but important" recreation of events on August 15, 1998.
Mr Gallagher said: "The BBC Question Time came from Omagh last week and no one talked about the bombing. They sat in the very leisure centre in which we waited for news of our loved ones the night of the blast and no one mentioned the bomb.
"It's as if Omagh has been airbrushed from history. If this film does anything, hopefully it will spark new interest in our cause."
Filming of the Channel four RTE film is to begin next month and the Omagh families are to get a final reading of the script, written by Bloody Sunday film director, Paul Greengrass, before filming begins.
Cold Feet director, Pete Travis, and other members of the production company have kept in regular touch with the families of the people who were killed in the atrocity.
Mr Gallagher added: "It is a little bit strange meeting someone who is going to play you in a film. They can never have a surrogate for you but Gerard is not just from Northern Ireland, but from Omagh, and so has a direct connection with the place and an understanding of what happened here."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1676
Published Date: 20-Nov-03
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