OMAGH BOMB FAMILIES RENEW CALL FOR FULL PUBLIC CROSS-BORDER PROBE
Omagh bomb families renew call for full public cross-border probe
FAMILIES of the Omagh bomb victims have this week renewed their call for a full public cross-border investigation into events leading to the massacre which claimed 31 lives, including those of unborn twins, in 1998.
Progress in the investigation has been repeatedly stalled due to the apparent failure of the British and Irish Governments to co-operate over the sharing of information.
The call comes after the Government was put under pressure in the Commons last week, when Tewksbury MP, Laurence Robertson, pressed NIO Security Minister, Ian Pearson, over the whereabouts of Paddy Dixon, the Real IRA informant, who allegedly knew about the Omagh plot.
Dixon's Garda handler, John White, has claimed that Dixon told him he had been asked to obtain a vehicle for the attack, but was then told that one had already been found.
Mr White's claims sparked debate earlier this year over Garda handling of the incident, and it was recommended by the Morris Tribunal that an inspectorate be set up in the Republic to investigate why his allegations were ignored by senior gardai.
Meanwhile, police in Northern Ireland have made numerous requests to the government in the Republic for Mr Dixon to be made available to them for questioning, but to date have received no response.
Allegedly
Recent developments, however, have revealed that Paddy Dixon was allegedly stopped by Customs and Excise in Cardiff whilst in possession of a large sum of cash, but was allowed to go free without the PSNI being alerted.
This information then prompted MP, Laurence Robertson, to ask Ian Pearson whether Mr Dixon had been relocated to England, why the Irish Republic had refused to hand him over, and why the PSNI were not informed after he was detained by . the Metropolitan Police.
In a further twist, it has also been revealed that the PSNI have recently received, more than a year after they were requested, DNA samples, believed to have been taken from two of the men facing an unprecedented �14 million civil lawsuit being brought by the Omagh families.
The move marks the end of a 15-month wrangle between the two forces, who claim to have a 'good working relationship', despite the fact that the PSNI asked Minister Ian Pearson to intervene to make the samples available to them.
Michael Gallagher, whose son, Aidan, was killed in the bomb, has accused the Government of colluding to conceal the truth about Omagh.
He said: 'This failure to arrest Paddy Dixon not only represents a cross-border failure, but also a failure in co-operation from the Metropolitan
Police. We had been putting the Dublin Government under pressure, but now we discover that he is living in England.
"He should have been made available to the PSNI, and along with the delay in providing DNA, it seems as if the governments have either lost the will or have decided to collude and not allow the truth to come out about Omagh. The families now feel that the only way to get to the truth is a full and public cross-border inquiry," he said.
FAMILIES of the Omagh bomb victims have this week renewed their call for a full public cross-border investigation into events leading to the massacre which claimed 31 lives, including those of unborn twins, in 1998.
Progress in the investigation has been repeatedly stalled due to the apparent failure of the British and Irish Governments to co-operate over the sharing of information.
The call comes after the Government was put under pressure in the Commons last week, when Tewksbury MP, Laurence Robertson, pressed NIO Security Minister, Ian Pearson, over the whereabouts of Paddy Dixon, the Real IRA informant, who allegedly knew about the Omagh plot.
Dixon's Garda handler, John White, has claimed that Dixon told him he had been asked to obtain a vehicle for the attack, but was then told that one had already been found.
Mr White's claims sparked debate earlier this year over Garda handling of the incident, and it was recommended by the Morris Tribunal that an inspectorate be set up in the Republic to investigate why his allegations were ignored by senior gardai.
Meanwhile, police in Northern Ireland have made numerous requests to the government in the Republic for Mr Dixon to be made available to them for questioning, but to date have received no response.
Allegedly
Recent developments, however, have revealed that Paddy Dixon was allegedly stopped by Customs and Excise in Cardiff whilst in possession of a large sum of cash, but was allowed to go free without the PSNI being alerted.
This information then prompted MP, Laurence Robertson, to ask Ian Pearson whether Mr Dixon had been relocated to England, why the Irish Republic had refused to hand him over, and why the PSNI were not informed after he was detained by . the Metropolitan Police.
In a further twist, it has also been revealed that the PSNI have recently received, more than a year after they were requested, DNA samples, believed to have been taken from two of the men facing an unprecedented �14 million civil lawsuit being brought by the Omagh families.
The move marks the end of a 15-month wrangle between the two forces, who claim to have a 'good working relationship', despite the fact that the PSNI asked Minister Ian Pearson to intervene to make the samples available to them.
Michael Gallagher, whose son, Aidan, was killed in the bomb, has accused the Government of colluding to conceal the truth about Omagh.
He said: 'This failure to arrest Paddy Dixon not only represents a cross-border failure, but also a failure in co-operation from the Metropolitan
Police. We had been putting the Dublin Government under pressure, but now we discover that he is living in England.
"He should have been made available to the PSNI, and along with the delay in providing DNA, it seems as if the governments have either lost the will or have decided to collude and not allow the truth to come out about Omagh. The families now feel that the only way to get to the truth is a full and public cross-border inquiry," he said.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1767
Published Date: 04-Nov-04
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.