OMAGH RELATIVES MEET UUP CHIEF AS STRUGGLE TO GET JUSTICE GOES ON
Omagh relatives meet UUP chief as struggle to get justice goes on
by Claire Anthony
FAMILIES of the Omagh bomb victims this week welcomed their second VIP visitor in as many weeks, with the arrival of UUP party leader, Mr David Trimble, at their offices in Campsie on Tuesday.
The latest tete a tete was part of a series of meetings between the Omagh families and various political representatives as they struggle to get justice for their loved ones, and to find out the truth about what happened at Omagh.
Last week, the families met with the President of the Irish Human Rights Commission, Mr Maurice Manning, to negotiate support from the Commission for their campaign to get a full, cross-border inquiry into events surrounding the 1998 atrocity.
Commenting on the police inquiry into the bombing to date, which has failed to secure any convictions for the murders six years on, Mr Trimble said that it was unsatisfactory.
He said: "I don't think anybody could be satisfied with what has happened, it is a huge disappointment that the tremendous investigation that took place at the time did not produce results.
"Matters have been complicated since then by all the suggestions about 'this could have been done' and 'that could have been done', when what people really want is to get the investigation concluded, and the people responsible brought to justice."
Responding to questions about whether or not the British and Irish governments could be said to be 'holding up' the investigation by not
releasing information, Mr Trimble went on to discuss the difficulties of conducting a police investigation where intelligence information is a key factor.
He said: "One of the besetting sins of any intelligence system is that they hold onto intelligence, and tell people as little as possible because this might compromise sources and so on.
"It is so difficult for people outside the intelligence world to make a valid assessment of what is done. It is not just the subject of the information, the context and the reliability of the source are just as important.
"You see the problems we are having internationally with intelligence in Iraq; intelligence is not information, it involves a lot of guesswork and analysis and is not to be treated as hard and fast information or evidence," he added.
Positive outcome
Mr Trimble went on to voice his continuing confidence and hope that the investigation would have a positive outcome, adding that one of the things he planned to discuss with the families was the co-operation between governments.
Commenting on the families' landmark civil action against five men they believe to be responsible for the Omagh massacre, the UUP leader said he was delighted at how far they had come.
He said: "Some people fell a bit uncomfortable about the concept of a civil action; Ronnie Flanagan had warned that it might compromise any criminal proceedings. But the civil action at least will bring a lot of matters into the public domain. I did personally support the civil action and I'm delighted that they have managed to get as far as they have."
Chairman of the Omagh Support and Self Help Group, Mr Michael Gallagher, said that the meeting had been a positive one and a good opportunity for the families to express their ongoing concern about the handling of the whole Omagh incident.
He said: "We have agreed to outline the main points and send a document to David Trimble, and he is going to see what way he can move forward the issues. He gave us his assurance that where he could move things forward for us he would do."
During Tuesday's meeting, the families use the same agenda from meeting they had with Mr Trimble in April 2003, pointing out that very few c the issues had been resolve since then.
Said Mr Gallagher: "We said there was no point in working out new questions when we hadn't had answers to the questions we raised before, and he gave assurances that he would make a determined effort i whatever way he could.
He said that the families had discussed the Oklahoma bombing, which was also 'no warning' incident, and pointed out that there had been several inquiries into the attack, resulting in learning process that was vital in the aftermath of September 11.
"That is the point of having an inquiry; it isn't about embarrassing people it's to find out what you did well and didn't do well in that situation. Lives over the past 35 years in this province have been wasted because little or nothing has been learned," Mr Gallagher said.
He added: "It is alway positive to bring the leaders of the political parties to Omagh and make them aware of the concerns them we have, and we are certainly grateful to Mr Trimble for coming to Omagh as we very often have to travel to Belfast Dublin and even London for these meetings."
by Claire Anthony
FAMILIES of the Omagh bomb victims this week welcomed their second VIP visitor in as many weeks, with the arrival of UUP party leader, Mr David Trimble, at their offices in Campsie on Tuesday.
The latest tete a tete was part of a series of meetings between the Omagh families and various political representatives as they struggle to get justice for their loved ones, and to find out the truth about what happened at Omagh.
Last week, the families met with the President of the Irish Human Rights Commission, Mr Maurice Manning, to negotiate support from the Commission for their campaign to get a full, cross-border inquiry into events surrounding the 1998 atrocity.
Commenting on the police inquiry into the bombing to date, which has failed to secure any convictions for the murders six years on, Mr Trimble said that it was unsatisfactory.
He said: "I don't think anybody could be satisfied with what has happened, it is a huge disappointment that the tremendous investigation that took place at the time did not produce results.
"Matters have been complicated since then by all the suggestions about 'this could have been done' and 'that could have been done', when what people really want is to get the investigation concluded, and the people responsible brought to justice."
Responding to questions about whether or not the British and Irish governments could be said to be 'holding up' the investigation by not
releasing information, Mr Trimble went on to discuss the difficulties of conducting a police investigation where intelligence information is a key factor.
He said: "One of the besetting sins of any intelligence system is that they hold onto intelligence, and tell people as little as possible because this might compromise sources and so on.
"It is so difficult for people outside the intelligence world to make a valid assessment of what is done. It is not just the subject of the information, the context and the reliability of the source are just as important.
"You see the problems we are having internationally with intelligence in Iraq; intelligence is not information, it involves a lot of guesswork and analysis and is not to be treated as hard and fast information or evidence," he added.
Positive outcome
Mr Trimble went on to voice his continuing confidence and hope that the investigation would have a positive outcome, adding that one of the things he planned to discuss with the families was the co-operation between governments.
Commenting on the families' landmark civil action against five men they believe to be responsible for the Omagh massacre, the UUP leader said he was delighted at how far they had come.
He said: "Some people fell a bit uncomfortable about the concept of a civil action; Ronnie Flanagan had warned that it might compromise any criminal proceedings. But the civil action at least will bring a lot of matters into the public domain. I did personally support the civil action and I'm delighted that they have managed to get as far as they have."
Chairman of the Omagh Support and Self Help Group, Mr Michael Gallagher, said that the meeting had been a positive one and a good opportunity for the families to express their ongoing concern about the handling of the whole Omagh incident.
He said: "We have agreed to outline the main points and send a document to David Trimble, and he is going to see what way he can move forward the issues. He gave us his assurance that where he could move things forward for us he would do."
During Tuesday's meeting, the families use the same agenda from meeting they had with Mr Trimble in April 2003, pointing out that very few c the issues had been resolve since then.
Said Mr Gallagher: "We said there was no point in working out new questions when we hadn't had answers to the questions we raised before, and he gave assurances that he would make a determined effort i whatever way he could.
He said that the families had discussed the Oklahoma bombing, which was also 'no warning' incident, and pointed out that there had been several inquiries into the attack, resulting in learning process that was vital in the aftermath of September 11.
"That is the point of having an inquiry; it isn't about embarrassing people it's to find out what you did well and didn't do well in that situation. Lives over the past 35 years in this province have been wasted because little or nothing has been learned," Mr Gallagher said.
He added: "It is alway positive to bring the leaders of the political parties to Omagh and make them aware of the concerns them we have, and we are certainly grateful to Mr Trimble for coming to Omagh as we very often have to travel to Belfast Dublin and even London for these meetings."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1788
Published Date: 17-Feb-05
Related Images
