WHEN IS JUSTICE GOING TO BE SEEN FOR OMAGH VICTIMS
When is justice going to be seen' for Omagh victims
Sir,
BLOODY Sunday, 14 deaths, two public inquiries; Omagh Bombing, 29 deaths, no public inquiry. This year will mark the 12th anniversary, on August 15, of the Omagh bomb atrocity. There was no public inquiry into Bloody Friday, July 21, 1972, when the IRA exploded 22 bombs -killing nine innocent people and injuring 130.
The 14 victims of the Bloody Sunday March in 1972 were not totally innocent, in that they were taking part in an unlawful parade and partial riot. It has now been clearly established that it was unlawful and unjustified for the troops to have used live ammunition, as a result of which there were so many fatalities, which are still mourned today (more than 30 years later).
In the Omagh tragedy, more than twice as many people were murdered than were killed on Bloody Sunday. On the afternoon of August 15,1998, shoppers in Omagh were going about their lawful business, when they were savagely murdered by an IRA bomb. This outrage was perpetrated
only four months after the signing of the Belfast agreement in April of the same year. Security throughout Northern Ireland had been considerably relaxed since the Agreement, so that it was then possible to travel throughout the province without encountering a single
security patrol. Government policy was negligent in this respect.
It can be argued that the Saville Inquiry over its protracted 12 years existence took nearly a year, on average, to investigate each shooting. However, in the case of the Omagh bomb, all those killed and injured resulted from a single bomb. So an Omagh inquiry would be much shorter and to the point.
The Saville Inquiry took far too long, and the cost was excessive. These facts should not be permitted to prejudice the legitimate desire of the bomb victims' relatives to have a long overdue public inquiry. There are so many questions to be answered about the several warnings prior to the explosion. A public inquiry is essential to assist the relatives of the victims in coming to some degree of closure in the matter. There is also a wider public interest to know how the pre-bomb warnings were registered and handled, also as to the conduct of policing inquiries after this massacre.
Before the end of the last Westminster Parliament, the outgoing chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in the House of Commons, Sir Patrick Cormack, remarked that the Criminal Justice System has been found wanting in its duty to the relatives of the Omagh victims. When is justice going to bo seen to be done in this case, with the establishment of a proper public inquiry?
Yours,
Neil C. Oliver, LL.B.,
Castle Toppy,
114 Crawfordsburn Road,
Newtownards.
Co. Down.
Sir,
BLOODY Sunday, 14 deaths, two public inquiries; Omagh Bombing, 29 deaths, no public inquiry. This year will mark the 12th anniversary, on August 15, of the Omagh bomb atrocity. There was no public inquiry into Bloody Friday, July 21, 1972, when the IRA exploded 22 bombs -killing nine innocent people and injuring 130.
The 14 victims of the Bloody Sunday March in 1972 were not totally innocent, in that they were taking part in an unlawful parade and partial riot. It has now been clearly established that it was unlawful and unjustified for the troops to have used live ammunition, as a result of which there were so many fatalities, which are still mourned today (more than 30 years later).
In the Omagh tragedy, more than twice as many people were murdered than were killed on Bloody Sunday. On the afternoon of August 15,1998, shoppers in Omagh were going about their lawful business, when they were savagely murdered by an IRA bomb. This outrage was perpetrated
only four months after the signing of the Belfast agreement in April of the same year. Security throughout Northern Ireland had been considerably relaxed since the Agreement, so that it was then possible to travel throughout the province without encountering a single
security patrol. Government policy was negligent in this respect.
It can be argued that the Saville Inquiry over its protracted 12 years existence took nearly a year, on average, to investigate each shooting. However, in the case of the Omagh bomb, all those killed and injured resulted from a single bomb. So an Omagh inquiry would be much shorter and to the point.
The Saville Inquiry took far too long, and the cost was excessive. These facts should not be permitted to prejudice the legitimate desire of the bomb victims' relatives to have a long overdue public inquiry. There are so many questions to be answered about the several warnings prior to the explosion. A public inquiry is essential to assist the relatives of the victims in coming to some degree of closure in the matter. There is also a wider public interest to know how the pre-bomb warnings were registered and handled, also as to the conduct of policing inquiries after this massacre.
Before the end of the last Westminster Parliament, the outgoing chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in the House of Commons, Sir Patrick Cormack, remarked that the Criminal Justice System has been found wanting in its duty to the relatives of the Omagh victims. When is justice going to bo seen to be done in this case, with the establishment of a proper public inquiry?
Yours,
Neil C. Oliver, LL.B.,
Castle Toppy,
114 Crawfordsburn Road,
Newtownards.
Co. Down.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1995
Published Date: 01-Jul-10
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