RAISE MANHUNT ABOVE ANY DOUBT
Raise manhunt above any doubt
Even before Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan presents his version of events to the families and individuals most deeply affected by the Omagh bomb, the ground rules for moving ahead in the hunt for the killers should be clear.
Apart from the alarming catalogue of errors of judgment, lack of cooperation, deliberate concealment of police records, seeming lack of concern for fatal flaws in approach, and loss of crucial evidence from a police logbook to the actual bomb car, there are strong reasons to hand the investigation over to an independent authority. By independent, there should be no doubt that this is outside the personnel and control of the PSNI and its chief Ronnie Flanagan.
His expected assertion that the Police Ombudsman's first demand for an independent senior investigator is met by the appointment of a Merseyside Police officer, does not cut mustard. Between the suspicious leak of chosen details from the Ombudsman's Report and its presentation to the Omagh group, the PSNI chief was already talking to the Merseyside Constabulary. It seems Sir Ronnie made a unilateral decision to appoint one of these to work with one of his own officers who will now head the Omagh investigation.
That is not good enough. Nor should it be up to the bereaved and scarred survivors to tell him so.
Secretary of State John Reid, who has been kicking for touch, should tell him so on behalf of the British government. The Policing Board, if it has any teeth, should back him up.
No matter what the outcome of today's fraught meeting, the PSNI has emerged as a repackaged RUC. The dirty tricks that frustrated the hunt for the Real IRA killers and their cohorts, continued after the Police Ombudsman blew her whistle.
For example, names of real people from Co. Tyrone were circulated to selected journalists as those identified as "B, C, D and E" in her report. Mrs O'Loan has categorically denied their accuracy.
Those names originated from the machiavellian machinations of Special Branch. Maybe from the same police officer who refused to provide 75% of the documentary material on the Omagh investigation when requested to do so.
Nor is this simply a matter for general public concern. Police officers who proved heroic on the ground after the bomb, police officers who shared the pain and the trauma of that terrible day in Omagh, were equally discounted by guardians of the peace who would sooner protect a paid informant than ensure the safety of fellow officers and civilians.
That is the festering legacy that must be cast off now. That is why the Omagh investigation should move beyond those who have controlled and abused it to their own purposes.
Even before Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan presents his version of events to the families and individuals most deeply affected by the Omagh bomb, the ground rules for moving ahead in the hunt for the killers should be clear.
Apart from the alarming catalogue of errors of judgment, lack of cooperation, deliberate concealment of police records, seeming lack of concern for fatal flaws in approach, and loss of crucial evidence from a police logbook to the actual bomb car, there are strong reasons to hand the investigation over to an independent authority. By independent, there should be no doubt that this is outside the personnel and control of the PSNI and its chief Ronnie Flanagan.
His expected assertion that the Police Ombudsman's first demand for an independent senior investigator is met by the appointment of a Merseyside Police officer, does not cut mustard. Between the suspicious leak of chosen details from the Ombudsman's Report and its presentation to the Omagh group, the PSNI chief was already talking to the Merseyside Constabulary. It seems Sir Ronnie made a unilateral decision to appoint one of these to work with one of his own officers who will now head the Omagh investigation.
That is not good enough. Nor should it be up to the bereaved and scarred survivors to tell him so.
Secretary of State John Reid, who has been kicking for touch, should tell him so on behalf of the British government. The Policing Board, if it has any teeth, should back him up.
No matter what the outcome of today's fraught meeting, the PSNI has emerged as a repackaged RUC. The dirty tricks that frustrated the hunt for the Real IRA killers and their cohorts, continued after the Police Ombudsman blew her whistle.
For example, names of real people from Co. Tyrone were circulated to selected journalists as those identified as "B, C, D and E" in her report. Mrs O'Loan has categorically denied their accuracy.
Those names originated from the machiavellian machinations of Special Branch. Maybe from the same police officer who refused to provide 75% of the documentary material on the Omagh investigation when requested to do so.
Nor is this simply a matter for general public concern. Police officers who proved heroic on the ground after the bomb, police officers who shared the pain and the trauma of that terrible day in Omagh, were equally discounted by guardians of the peace who would sooner protect a paid informant than ensure the safety of fellow officers and civilians.
That is the festering legacy that must be cast off now. That is why the Omagh investigation should move beyond those who have controlled and abused it to their own purposes.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0934
Published Date: 24-Jan-02
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