LAWYER CALLS FOR GCHQ'S OMAGH BOMB SECRETS
Lawyer calls for GCHQ's Omagh bomb secrets
'People need to know full facts of atrocity'
A lawyer whose firm is behind the Omagh civil case against several suspected Real IRA leaders has challenged the Northern Ireland Assembly to press Gordon Brown to give his legal team secret GCHQ surveillance transcripts of the bombers ahead of its debate on the atrocity at Stormont tomorrow.
Jason McCue of 'H20' said the best thing the assembly could achieve for Omagh victims and their families would be to issue a united call for the British Prime Minister to release the intercepts of conversations between the Real IRA bombers obtained in the Irish Republic. The assembly will debate a motion calling for a cross-border investigation into the Omagh bombing tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon and relatives of some of those killed will be in the chamber.
Alliance party leader David Ford said that the people of Omagh have a right to know the full facts about the tragic events of Saturday August 15, 1998. "Given the cross-border aspects of the crime, many will not gain closure without a full cross-border investigation process. Any inquiry had to be legally binding to ensure no details or evidence would be withheld."
The Omagh families' lawyer Jason McCue said obtaining the evidence gathered by GCHQ, which was only revealed to the Omagh families via a BBC Panorama investigation last month, was more important than any cross-border inquiry.
"The best thing the assembly can do is to ask for that evidence, the intercepts of the calls being made by the bombers on the day of the massacre, the ones tracked and recorded by GCHQ," he said. "The focus of the debate should be on that evidence being handed over to the civil trial. The assembly should unite to press Gordon Brown on that."
Mr McCue insisted that the GCHQ material could be used in a civil action even though under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) it would be illegal to use such material in a criminal case. However, he said that, once such intercepts were heard as evidence in the civil trial, there was an argument that their airing in open court could make them admissible in any criminal case.
"Obtaining this evidence for our civil action, therefore, is absolutely central and this is something the assembly can call for in Tuesday's debate," he added.
Alliance leader David Ford is seeking cross-party support for a cross-border inquiry.
"This bombing resulted in the biggest loss of life throughout the whole of the Troubles, and any right-thinking person should support this call for total disclosure of all information about the incident," he said.
"Clarity and a full account of events are the least that those affected by the bomb deserve. People's lives were ripped apart and victims continue to suffer because of all the unanswered questions."
Michael Gallagher, Chairman of the Omagh support and self-help group, said the inquiry into the Omagh atrocity is not just important to the Omagh families, but to everyone in the island of Ireland and beyond. "We should learn what was done well and what was not done well, and those lessons should be passed on to others so that we are better prepared for any future terrorist attack or disaster. The inquiry should never take away from those who were responsible for planning and preparing this evil act."
'People need to know full facts of atrocity'
A lawyer whose firm is behind the Omagh civil case against several suspected Real IRA leaders has challenged the Northern Ireland Assembly to press Gordon Brown to give his legal team secret GCHQ surveillance transcripts of the bombers ahead of its debate on the atrocity at Stormont tomorrow.
Jason McCue of 'H20' said the best thing the assembly could achieve for Omagh victims and their families would be to issue a united call for the British Prime Minister to release the intercepts of conversations between the Real IRA bombers obtained in the Irish Republic. The assembly will debate a motion calling for a cross-border investigation into the Omagh bombing tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon and relatives of some of those killed will be in the chamber.
Alliance party leader David Ford said that the people of Omagh have a right to know the full facts about the tragic events of Saturday August 15, 1998. "Given the cross-border aspects of the crime, many will not gain closure without a full cross-border investigation process. Any inquiry had to be legally binding to ensure no details or evidence would be withheld."
The Omagh families' lawyer Jason McCue said obtaining the evidence gathered by GCHQ, which was only revealed to the Omagh families via a BBC Panorama investigation last month, was more important than any cross-border inquiry.
"The best thing the assembly can do is to ask for that evidence, the intercepts of the calls being made by the bombers on the day of the massacre, the ones tracked and recorded by GCHQ," he said. "The focus of the debate should be on that evidence being handed over to the civil trial. The assembly should unite to press Gordon Brown on that."
Mr McCue insisted that the GCHQ material could be used in a civil action even though under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) it would be illegal to use such material in a criminal case. However, he said that, once such intercepts were heard as evidence in the civil trial, there was an argument that their airing in open court could make them admissible in any criminal case.
"Obtaining this evidence for our civil action, therefore, is absolutely central and this is something the assembly can call for in Tuesday's debate," he added.
Alliance leader David Ford is seeking cross-party support for a cross-border inquiry.
"This bombing resulted in the biggest loss of life throughout the whole of the Troubles, and any right-thinking person should support this call for total disclosure of all information about the incident," he said.
"Clarity and a full account of events are the least that those affected by the bomb deserve. People's lives were ripped apart and victims continue to suffer because of all the unanswered questions."
Michael Gallagher, Chairman of the Omagh support and self-help group, said the inquiry into the Omagh atrocity is not just important to the Omagh families, but to everyone in the island of Ireland and beyond. "We should learn what was done well and what was not done well, and those lessons should be passed on to others so that we are better prepared for any future terrorist attack or disaster. The inquiry should never take away from those who were responsible for planning and preparing this evil act."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE HERALD
Ref: TYH/079
Published Date: 13-Oct-08
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