OMAGH FAMILIES' FURY AT BLAIR
Omagh families' fury at Blair comments over IRA terrorism
by Claire Anthony
FAMILIES of the Omagh bomb victims have reacted angrily to comments made by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who this week said he didn't believe the IRA's terrorism was as serious as that of Al-Qaeda because they did not set out to kill as many people.
Speaking at his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Mr Blair said that the IRA's political demands or the atrocities they had carried out could not be directly compared to the actions of fundamentalists who carried out attacks on New York, Madrid and London.
Mr Blair said: "I don't think you can compare the political demands of republicanism with the political demands of this terrorist ideology we're facing now."
No serious person could ever negotiate on the demands of terrorists who have been using suicide bombers to kill people, said the Prime Minister.
He continued: "I don't think the IRA would ever have set about trying to kill 3,000 people.
"In America, it could have been 30,000 instead of 3,000 and they would prefer that. My entire thinking changed from 11 September - the belief that you have a different form of terrorism," he said.
Mr Blair also said he was continuing to work at ending the IRA's ongoing activity.
His comments have provoked fury among local politicians and relatives of those who died when the Real IRA planted a 5001b car bomb in Omagh on August IS, 1998, killing 29 people and unborn twins.
Victor Barker, whose 12-year-old son, James, died in the blast, said it was 'an appalling moral stance' for the Prime Minister to take.
He said: "I see no difference about the fact that they murdered innocent people. There's no difference with my family's position and the awful position the families of the victims of the London bombings find themselves in. For the Prime Minister to try and distinguish between them for his own political expediency shows an appalling moral stance."
Michael Gallagher, who lost his 21-year-old son, Aidan, in the atrocity, said he felt the Northern Ireland victims were being treated as a 'sacrificial lamb' in brokering a political deal in this country.
"I am extremely angry that our dead don't seem to count in this part of the world. The government are intent on making a deal and we, the people who have suffered over the past 35 years, are going to be the sacrificial lamb in that deal," he said.
Meanwhile, local elected representatives have also voiced their disgust at Mr Blair's statement.
West Tyrone MLA, Mr Derek Hussey, said: "It's long past the time that Tony Blair realised that terror is terror is terror. The terrorism being experienced by the civilian population on the mainland at present is exactly the same as the terrorism that has been inflicted on the people of Northern Ireland since the late sixties by the republican movement."
DUP member of Omagh District Council, Mr Clive McFarland, branded the PM's comments as 'disgraceful'.
He said: "The comments of the Prime Minister are disgraceful. No distinction should be drawn between different acts of terrorism regardless of the number of people involved or the methods of terrorism used. Tony Blair's comments that no person could ever negotiate with a suicide bomber are particularly hurtful to the people of Omagh. Does he now mean that he would happily negotiate, and accede to the demands of, the people who murdered in our town through the remote detonation of a bomb?
"There must be absolutely no distinction between 'good terrorists' and 'bad terrorists'. Tony Blair is obviously trying to pave the way for an IRA statement and dismiss the crimes of some terrorists while trying to tackle the crimes of others."
by Claire Anthony
FAMILIES of the Omagh bomb victims have reacted angrily to comments made by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who this week said he didn't believe the IRA's terrorism was as serious as that of Al-Qaeda because they did not set out to kill as many people.
Speaking at his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Mr Blair said that the IRA's political demands or the atrocities they had carried out could not be directly compared to the actions of fundamentalists who carried out attacks on New York, Madrid and London.
Mr Blair said: "I don't think you can compare the political demands of republicanism with the political demands of this terrorist ideology we're facing now."
No serious person could ever negotiate on the demands of terrorists who have been using suicide bombers to kill people, said the Prime Minister.
He continued: "I don't think the IRA would ever have set about trying to kill 3,000 people.
"In America, it could have been 30,000 instead of 3,000 and they would prefer that. My entire thinking changed from 11 September - the belief that you have a different form of terrorism," he said.
Mr Blair also said he was continuing to work at ending the IRA's ongoing activity.
His comments have provoked fury among local politicians and relatives of those who died when the Real IRA planted a 5001b car bomb in Omagh on August IS, 1998, killing 29 people and unborn twins.
Victor Barker, whose 12-year-old son, James, died in the blast, said it was 'an appalling moral stance' for the Prime Minister to take.
He said: "I see no difference about the fact that they murdered innocent people. There's no difference with my family's position and the awful position the families of the victims of the London bombings find themselves in. For the Prime Minister to try and distinguish between them for his own political expediency shows an appalling moral stance."
Michael Gallagher, who lost his 21-year-old son, Aidan, in the atrocity, said he felt the Northern Ireland victims were being treated as a 'sacrificial lamb' in brokering a political deal in this country.
"I am extremely angry that our dead don't seem to count in this part of the world. The government are intent on making a deal and we, the people who have suffered over the past 35 years, are going to be the sacrificial lamb in that deal," he said.
Meanwhile, local elected representatives have also voiced their disgust at Mr Blair's statement.
West Tyrone MLA, Mr Derek Hussey, said: "It's long past the time that Tony Blair realised that terror is terror is terror. The terrorism being experienced by the civilian population on the mainland at present is exactly the same as the terrorism that has been inflicted on the people of Northern Ireland since the late sixties by the republican movement."
DUP member of Omagh District Council, Mr Clive McFarland, branded the PM's comments as 'disgraceful'.
He said: "The comments of the Prime Minister are disgraceful. No distinction should be drawn between different acts of terrorism regardless of the number of people involved or the methods of terrorism used. Tony Blair's comments that no person could ever negotiate with a suicide bomber are particularly hurtful to the people of Omagh. Does he now mean that he would happily negotiate, and accede to the demands of, the people who murdered in our town through the remote detonation of a bomb?
"There must be absolutely no distinction between 'good terrorists' and 'bad terrorists'. Tony Blair is obviously trying to pave the way for an IRA statement and dismiss the crimes of some terrorists while trying to tackle the crimes of others."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1796
Published Date: 28-Jul-05
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