THERE CAN BE NO HIDING PLACE FOR OMAGH BUTCHERS
There can be no hiding place for Omagh butchers
INEVITABLY, amid the clamour for a tough, no-nonsense security response to the appalling bombing atrocity at Omagh, the introduction of internment is under active consideration by both the Irish and British governments.
Given the groundswell of public revulsion towards the cowardly perpetrators of this evil deed, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair would receive overwhelming popular support if they decide to round up members of the so called Real IRA, the organisation believed to be behind the bombing.
Denials by the leadership of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, the political wing of the IRA splinter group, of any responsibility for the bombing will be received with a high degree of scepticism by a public made cynical by the no-claim no-blame tradition of Sinn Fein and other political spokesmen for paramilitary factions.
As the Garda Commissioner and the Chief Constable of the RUC met yesterday to consider what initiatives should be taken in the wake of this horrific attack, there was no doubting the strong public desire for a noose to be tightened around the small group of dissident republicans guilty of slaughtering 28 innocent people and injuring hundreds of others.
The key question to be considered in terms of the overall security response is whether to round up and intern the estimated 100-strong membership of what has become a lunatic killing machine. However, this is an issue which must be approached with great caution. History has shown that internment does not work, whether it be on a selective or scatter-gun basis.
Both in the Republic or the North, internment has traditionally proved to be a rich recruiting ground for terrorists. This should be a time for cool heads, not for rushing into decisions which may later be regretted. Both Governments must consider carefully the ramifications of whatever strategic initiatives are adopted on the advice of the gardai and the RUC. An ill-conceived policy of internment could backfire in the long term.
Perversely, those behind the butchery would probably welcome such a move because it would elevate them from the role of serial killers and murderers to a warped status of martyrdom. Their twisted cause has been set back by the bombing in much the same way as the Orange Order was undermined by the killing of the three Quinn children.
Ultimately, the perpetrators must be hunted down and brought to justice by a rigorous process of law and order based on the close co-operation of security forces on both sides of the border. There can be no hiding place for those who carried out this drastic deed. Unless stopped in their tracks they are certain to strike again.
If, as reported, the names and even the addresses of the leaders and most of the grassroot members of the organisation are known to the gardai and the RUC, they should be subjected to the most intense surveillance.
Ironically, because of the mindless, manic savagery of the fascists behind this horrific attack, the bombing has drawn the people of Omagh, from both sides of the community, from all political and religious persuasions, closer together. Neither Catholic nor Protestant was spared by the indiscriminate nature of the outrage.
If it were possible, the poignancy of the tragedy deepened yesterday as names and faces were put to what up to now has been a grim roll of statistics. As the people of Omagh strive to come to terms with the fallout of the horrific assault, they will derive some consolation from the heart-felt tide of sympathy so evident in the Republic where books of condolence have been opened in cities and towns across the country in response to the terrible disaster.
The simple words of one signatory summed up the reaction of the vast majority of the people of Ireland and their utter rejection of those who pursue the insane tactics of terror - "They don't speak for me".
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
INEVITABLY, amid the clamour for a tough, no-nonsense security response to the appalling bombing atrocity at Omagh, the introduction of internment is under active consideration by both the Irish and British governments.
Given the groundswell of public revulsion towards the cowardly perpetrators of this evil deed, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair would receive overwhelming popular support if they decide to round up members of the so called Real IRA, the organisation believed to be behind the bombing.
Denials by the leadership of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, the political wing of the IRA splinter group, of any responsibility for the bombing will be received with a high degree of scepticism by a public made cynical by the no-claim no-blame tradition of Sinn Fein and other political spokesmen for paramilitary factions.
As the Garda Commissioner and the Chief Constable of the RUC met yesterday to consider what initiatives should be taken in the wake of this horrific attack, there was no doubting the strong public desire for a noose to be tightened around the small group of dissident republicans guilty of slaughtering 28 innocent people and injuring hundreds of others.
The key question to be considered in terms of the overall security response is whether to round up and intern the estimated 100-strong membership of what has become a lunatic killing machine. However, this is an issue which must be approached with great caution. History has shown that internment does not work, whether it be on a selective or scatter-gun basis.
Both in the Republic or the North, internment has traditionally proved to be a rich recruiting ground for terrorists. This should be a time for cool heads, not for rushing into decisions which may later be regretted. Both Governments must consider carefully the ramifications of whatever strategic initiatives are adopted on the advice of the gardai and the RUC. An ill-conceived policy of internment could backfire in the long term.
Perversely, those behind the butchery would probably welcome such a move because it would elevate them from the role of serial killers and murderers to a warped status of martyrdom. Their twisted cause has been set back by the bombing in much the same way as the Orange Order was undermined by the killing of the three Quinn children.
Ultimately, the perpetrators must be hunted down and brought to justice by a rigorous process of law and order based on the close co-operation of security forces on both sides of the border. There can be no hiding place for those who carried out this drastic deed. Unless stopped in their tracks they are certain to strike again.
If, as reported, the names and even the addresses of the leaders and most of the grassroot members of the organisation are known to the gardai and the RUC, they should be subjected to the most intense surveillance.
Ironically, because of the mindless, manic savagery of the fascists behind this horrific attack, the bombing has drawn the people of Omagh, from both sides of the community, from all political and religious persuasions, closer together. Neither Catholic nor Protestant was spared by the indiscriminate nature of the outrage.
If it were possible, the poignancy of the tragedy deepened yesterday as names and faces were put to what up to now has been a grim roll of statistics. As the people of Omagh strive to come to terms with the fallout of the horrific assault, they will derive some consolation from the heart-felt tide of sympathy so evident in the Republic where books of condolence have been opened in cities and towns across the country in response to the terrible disaster.
The simple words of one signatory summed up the reaction of the vast majority of the people of Ireland and their utter rejection of those who pursue the insane tactics of terror - "They don't speak for me".
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
Further Information
Publisher: THE EXAMINER
Ref: TEX/091
Published Date: 19-Aug-98
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