OMAGH BOMB RELATIVES MAKE RENEWED DEMAND FOR CROSS-BORDER PUBLIC ENQUIRY
Omagh bomb relatives make renewed demand for cross-border public inquiry
Secretary of State pressed on various concerns
Karen McPhilemy
RELATIVES of the Omagh bomb victims have made a renewed demand for the government to establish a cross-border public inquiry into the atrocity which killed 29 people and unborn twins. The demand was made during a lengthy two-and-a-half hour meeting in Stormont Castle on Monday with Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Mr Paul Murphy. Minister for Security and Policing, Mr Ian Pearson, was also present at the talks.
Stating that they had received no formal commitments from Mr Murphy regarding the matter, Mr Michael Gallagher, whose son, Aidan, was among those killed in the August 15, 1998 bombing, said such an inquiry was long overdue.
"The Secretary of State said that until the criminal investigation is completed, there could be no decision made," said Mr Gallagher.
"We find that a bit difficult to swallow given that we have been waiting six-and-a-half years."
He said on a number of issues they raised, the Secretary of State avoided answers saying he couldn't comment because of the ongoing investigation.
"There was a wide range of issues raised during the meeting and we urged Mr Murphy to look at the issues on the agenda and remove some of them from the list for the next meeting, so we can say that we have moved on somehow. For almost seven years now, we have been asking the same questions and have been getting very little answers and so we urged Mr Murphy to try and resolve some of these problems," added Mr Gallagher.
One of the questions which had met with little response from Mr Murphy was that of why it has taken more than six years for a Special Branch officer to be interviewed in a bid to trace the source of an anonymous phone call which warned of a planned attack.
It was revealed recently that the officer was to be interviewed about the call made on August 4, 1998, 11 days days before the bombing, whose information was not relayed to police on the ground.
Mr Gallagher said they wanted to know why it had taken so long to interview the officer.
"Surely it could have been done much, much earlier in the investigation."
'Fair'
Describing the talks at Stormont as 'fair', Mr Gallagher added: "We did most of the talking and they did most of the listening. But despite the lack of answers we left the meeting feeling quite happy about how it went because it was a long and fair hearing where we were able to air all of our
concerns."
He said Mr Murphy had given assurances that he would get back to them with answers to their concerns in a written form and that another meeting with the Secretary of State was on the agenda.
"We assured him that if he didn't we would keep coming back to him or his successor.
"We are in the seventh year and not one person has been charged with murder at Omagh, north or south of the border. The person who stole the bomb car that was used in Omagh and admitted this to Garda has not even been charged with car theft," said Mr Gallagher.
One commitment Mr Murphy did make was to help the families in their ongoing bid to get a meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair, something they had been pressing for over many years. Mr Murphy was scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister yesterday (Wednesday), during which he was expected to raise the issue with him.
Mr Gallagher said there were a number of issues they wanted to discuss with Mr Blair about the bombing and investigation but had been unable to do so when he visited the town in the aftermath of the atrocity because they were "too shell-shocked".
During the talks at Stormont relatives also raised the subject of emergency planning and town centre evacuation.
Relatives claimed that despite the inadequacies of response during the 1998 Omagh bomb, Northern Ireland was still no better informed on what to do in the event of an emergency.
"Only Civil Service members appear to have any knowledge of emergency planning and evacuation in Northern Ireland. It is estimated that around 40 per cent of the population in Northern Ireland are Civil Service members, so therefore 60 per cent of the public cannot access information on how to respond to an emergency situation.
"Every town and city in Britain have an evacuation plan which they can access -for some reason there appears to be very little available public information on how people in Northern Ireland can respond," said Mr Gallagher.
Mr Gallagher added that the Secretary of State appeared 'surprised' by the fact that such information wasn't publicly available in Northern Ireland and assured them that he would look into the issue further.
Mr Murphy also said he would give consideration to their application for extra government land to extend the victims' memorial garden in Omagh.
Prior to the meeting at Stormont Castle relatives had also met with DUP MPs Jeffery Donaldson and Nigel Dodds in Omagh on Friday, where they discussed similar issues during a two-hour meeting.
Following the meeting both MPs had vowed to meet with Government officials regarding the relatives' concerns.
Secretary of State pressed on various concerns
Karen McPhilemy
RELATIVES of the Omagh bomb victims have made a renewed demand for the government to establish a cross-border public inquiry into the atrocity which killed 29 people and unborn twins. The demand was made during a lengthy two-and-a-half hour meeting in Stormont Castle on Monday with Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Mr Paul Murphy. Minister for Security and Policing, Mr Ian Pearson, was also present at the talks.
Stating that they had received no formal commitments from Mr Murphy regarding the matter, Mr Michael Gallagher, whose son, Aidan, was among those killed in the August 15, 1998 bombing, said such an inquiry was long overdue.
"The Secretary of State said that until the criminal investigation is completed, there could be no decision made," said Mr Gallagher.
"We find that a bit difficult to swallow given that we have been waiting six-and-a-half years."
He said on a number of issues they raised, the Secretary of State avoided answers saying he couldn't comment because of the ongoing investigation.
"There was a wide range of issues raised during the meeting and we urged Mr Murphy to look at the issues on the agenda and remove some of them from the list for the next meeting, so we can say that we have moved on somehow. For almost seven years now, we have been asking the same questions and have been getting very little answers and so we urged Mr Murphy to try and resolve some of these problems," added Mr Gallagher.
One of the questions which had met with little response from Mr Murphy was that of why it has taken more than six years for a Special Branch officer to be interviewed in a bid to trace the source of an anonymous phone call which warned of a planned attack.
It was revealed recently that the officer was to be interviewed about the call made on August 4, 1998, 11 days days before the bombing, whose information was not relayed to police on the ground.
Mr Gallagher said they wanted to know why it had taken so long to interview the officer.
"Surely it could have been done much, much earlier in the investigation."
'Fair'
Describing the talks at Stormont as 'fair', Mr Gallagher added: "We did most of the talking and they did most of the listening. But despite the lack of answers we left the meeting feeling quite happy about how it went because it was a long and fair hearing where we were able to air all of our
concerns."
He said Mr Murphy had given assurances that he would get back to them with answers to their concerns in a written form and that another meeting with the Secretary of State was on the agenda.
"We assured him that if he didn't we would keep coming back to him or his successor.
"We are in the seventh year and not one person has been charged with murder at Omagh, north or south of the border. The person who stole the bomb car that was used in Omagh and admitted this to Garda has not even been charged with car theft," said Mr Gallagher.
One commitment Mr Murphy did make was to help the families in their ongoing bid to get a meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair, something they had been pressing for over many years. Mr Murphy was scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister yesterday (Wednesday), during which he was expected to raise the issue with him.
Mr Gallagher said there were a number of issues they wanted to discuss with Mr Blair about the bombing and investigation but had been unable to do so when he visited the town in the aftermath of the atrocity because they were "too shell-shocked".
During the talks at Stormont relatives also raised the subject of emergency planning and town centre evacuation.
Relatives claimed that despite the inadequacies of response during the 1998 Omagh bomb, Northern Ireland was still no better informed on what to do in the event of an emergency.
"Only Civil Service members appear to have any knowledge of emergency planning and evacuation in Northern Ireland. It is estimated that around 40 per cent of the population in Northern Ireland are Civil Service members, so therefore 60 per cent of the public cannot access information on how to respond to an emergency situation.
"Every town and city in Britain have an evacuation plan which they can access -for some reason there appears to be very little available public information on how people in Northern Ireland can respond," said Mr Gallagher.
Mr Gallagher added that the Secretary of State appeared 'surprised' by the fact that such information wasn't publicly available in Northern Ireland and assured them that he would look into the issue further.
Mr Murphy also said he would give consideration to their application for extra government land to extend the victims' memorial garden in Omagh.
Prior to the meeting at Stormont Castle relatives had also met with DUP MPs Jeffery Donaldson and Nigel Dodds in Omagh on Friday, where they discussed similar issues during a two-hour meeting.
Following the meeting both MPs had vowed to meet with Government officials regarding the relatives' concerns.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1777
Published Date: 13-Jan-05
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