FAMILIES PRESENT NEW OMAGH BOMB EVIDENCE TO SECRETARY OF STATE
Families present new Omagh bomb evidence to Secretary of State
BY ALAN RODGERS
THE authors of the independent report about the 1998 Omagh bomb will join some of the families bereaved by the atrocity at another meeting with the Secretary of State next month.
It is expected they will be cross-examined by Owen Paterson when he meets with the Omagh Support and Self Help group on June 18.
Some of the family held discussions with Mr Paterson at Stormont on Thursday.
Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Aidan in the 1998 atrocity, described the meeting as "very stormy and heated."
Speaking to the Tyrone Herald, Mr Gallagher said the families will provide Owen Paterson with time to study the report before he makes the decision on whether or not to grant a public inquiry.
Be he warned that if the inquiry is not given the go-ahead, the families will seek a judicial review through the courts who would then decide on the issue.
"We suspect that there will be some ducking and diving on this, but we feel now that the Secretary of State is now more aware of how determined the Omagh families are and what we're seeking," he said.
"What we said at the meeting was there has been nothing but failure after failure despite our co-operation with the Garda, the RUC and subsequently the PSNI.
"Now we have this new information which shows there was a live operation going on August 15 1998 in and around the Omagh area and there is evidence that people were lied to about the bomb.
"The authors of this report will be joining us at a meeting with the Secretary of State to describe the methods they used to put this document together and there will be an opportunity for him to question them on this."
Mr Gallagher said that the complexity of the issues involved in the report and the Omagh bomb meant that it wasn't appropriate for it to be dealt with by the Historical Enquiries Team.
"The investigation into the bomb now involves four sovereign governments in Ireland, Britain, Spain and America," he continued.
"If the Secretary of State was ill-informed about the issues prior to our meeting, then he should now have a clear idea of our views."
BY ALAN RODGERS
THE authors of the independent report about the 1998 Omagh bomb will join some of the families bereaved by the atrocity at another meeting with the Secretary of State next month.
It is expected they will be cross-examined by Owen Paterson when he meets with the Omagh Support and Self Help group on June 18.
Some of the family held discussions with Mr Paterson at Stormont on Thursday.
Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Aidan in the 1998 atrocity, described the meeting as "very stormy and heated."
Speaking to the Tyrone Herald, Mr Gallagher said the families will provide Owen Paterson with time to study the report before he makes the decision on whether or not to grant a public inquiry.
Be he warned that if the inquiry is not given the go-ahead, the families will seek a judicial review through the courts who would then decide on the issue.
"We suspect that there will be some ducking and diving on this, but we feel now that the Secretary of State is now more aware of how determined the Omagh families are and what we're seeking," he said.
"What we said at the meeting was there has been nothing but failure after failure despite our co-operation with the Garda, the RUC and subsequently the PSNI.
"Now we have this new information which shows there was a live operation going on August 15 1998 in and around the Omagh area and there is evidence that people were lied to about the bomb.
"The authors of this report will be joining us at a meeting with the Secretary of State to describe the methods they used to put this document together and there will be an opportunity for him to question them on this."
Mr Gallagher said that the complexity of the issues involved in the report and the Omagh bomb meant that it wasn't appropriate for it to be dealt with by the Historical Enquiries Team.
"The investigation into the bomb now involves four sovereign governments in Ireland, Britain, Spain and America," he continued.
"If the Secretary of State was ill-informed about the issues prior to our meeting, then he should now have a clear idea of our views."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE HERALD
Ref: TYH/118
Published Date: 14-May-12
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.