CEASEFIRE INSULT TO VICTIMS
Ceasefire insult to victims
By MARK OLIVER
THE Real IRA's announcement of a ceasefire was slammed as an "insult" to their victims yesterday.
And both Premier Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern made it clear that the claim would not deflect them in their determination to track down the killers.
Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam said: "We will continue to leave no stone unturned to hunt the men down who did this.
"We will charge them if we can, we will prosecute them and we will put them away for a very long time."
Mr Ahern spoke by telephone to Mr Blair at his holiday home in France before an emergency meeting of the Irish Cabinet to discuss security.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "Both re-stated their shared determination to hunt down those responsible for the atrocity at Omagh and bring them to justice.
"The statements overnight won't make any difference to that whatsoever."
Anger
A relative of one of those killed in the Omagh bomb said yesterday that the Real IRA's ceasefire statement "only adds to the anger and grief".
Oliver Gibson branded the gesture a tactical manoeuvre - and said the violence would not stop.
His cousin's 36-year-old daughter Esther Gibson is one of the 28 victims of Saturday's atrocity.
Mr Gibson, a DUP Assembly member for West Tyrone, which includes Omagh, said: "I treat this latest statement with utter contempt."
Meanwhile Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin disclosed that the party's leadership had been in contact with the Real IRA through intermediaries to press its demand that the group renounces violence for good.
"We made it known to the group that there was a need to discuss this issue to try to recover the situation from the disastrous consequences of Saturday," he told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.
By MARK OLIVER
THE Real IRA's announcement of a ceasefire was slammed as an "insult" to their victims yesterday.
And both Premier Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern made it clear that the claim would not deflect them in their determination to track down the killers.
Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam said: "We will continue to leave no stone unturned to hunt the men down who did this.
"We will charge them if we can, we will prosecute them and we will put them away for a very long time."
Mr Ahern spoke by telephone to Mr Blair at his holiday home in France before an emergency meeting of the Irish Cabinet to discuss security.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "Both re-stated their shared determination to hunt down those responsible for the atrocity at Omagh and bring them to justice.
"The statements overnight won't make any difference to that whatsoever."
Anger
A relative of one of those killed in the Omagh bomb said yesterday that the Real IRA's ceasefire statement "only adds to the anger and grief".
Oliver Gibson branded the gesture a tactical manoeuvre - and said the violence would not stop.
His cousin's 36-year-old daughter Esther Gibson is one of the 28 victims of Saturday's atrocity.
Mr Gibson, a DUP Assembly member for West Tyrone, which includes Omagh, said: "I treat this latest statement with utter contempt."
Meanwhile Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin disclosed that the party's leadership had been in contact with the Real IRA through intermediaries to press its demand that the group renounces violence for good.
"We made it known to the group that there was a need to discuss this issue to try to recover the situation from the disastrous consequences of Saturday," he told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/066
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
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