GERRY ADAMS TO MEET WITH FAMILIES OF BOMB VICTIMS
Gerry Adams to meet with families of bomb victims
By ROSETTA DONNELLY
Sinn Fein President to be asked to help find killers
SINN Fein President Gerry Adams is expected to travel to Omagh this evening to meet with the families of some of those killed in the 1998 bomb.
It is expected that Mr Adams will be asked to use his influence within the republican movement to help track down the Real IRA killers who planted the device in Market Street.
However, members of the Omagh Self-Help and Support Group said yesterday that they will not be attending the meeting in a "formal capacity".
A spokesman for the Group which represents the families of the 29 killed said they wanted more time to "explore the merits of such a meeting", but he urged anyone who wished to take advantage of the meeting to do so on a "personal basis".
The hastily arranged meeting with the Sinn Fein President follows a meeting between Lawrence Rush and Mr Adams at the party's Ard Fheis in Dublin at the weekend, during which the latter was confronted about his failure to help find the Omagh bombers.
Mr Adams had been asked by Victor Barker (father of bomb victim, James) in a letter to use his influence in the Republican community to encourage anyone with information on the bombers to give it to police or gardai.
Mr Barker had asked him to call publicly for people with information about the bombing to pass it to the authorities, but Mr Adams refused claiming his decision was "based on historical as well as contemporary reasons", principally the criminal justice system in the North and the presence of the RUC in any prosecution even if information was given to the Gardai.
The father who only this week announced his decision to return to England for good said he was "deeply sickened" by Mr Adam's response.
The Omagh Self-help and Support group renewed its call to republicans to give up the names of the Real IRA bombers.
Frustrated at the failure of the RUC or Gardai to bring the bombers to justice despite knowing their identities the Omagh Self Help and Support group has plans to go over the heads of the authorities am bring the case to Europe.
The group his taken legal advice on prosecuting the Real IRA in an international court. It will use the fact that the targeting of civilians was a branch of the Geneva Convention and a war crime in international law.
Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh group said the bomb was a breach of Article 57 of the convention which includes the imperative that care shall be taken to spare the civilian population, civilians and civilian objects.
Mr Gallagher said that the bomb did have a multinational dimension in that the victims cams from the Irish Republic,Spain and England, as will as the North, and this made the case unique in the history of the Troubles.
The group is hopeful that Sinn Fein's unwillingness to call for any republicans with information to give it to the RUC or Gardai, might change their minds if there is an international inquiry.
Mr Gallagher said republicans call the Troubles a war, and when jailed they become prisoners of war. They therefore should abide by the Geneva Convention rules, he added.
Michael Gallgher, whose 21 year old son Adrian, was one of those who perished in the bomb, renewed his call to Sinn Fein in particular local Assembly members, Barry McElduff and Pat Doherty to use their influence. And he urged the local community to pray for those who have the ability to move the investigation forward to be given the courage necessary.
Referring to Mr Adam's response, Mr Gallagher said Sinn Fein was playing two games "trying to keep their voters happy, while concerned about losing face with their own hardliners".
The angry father said legislation was promised by the government in the wake of the bomb, but this never materialised.
"I'm not talking about draconian measures, but that people can be brought into a police station and sit there saying nothing is wrong. There should be a withholding information charge at least" he said.
However, the head of a civil rights group in Derry has sharply criticised Michael Gallagher's comments, saying that "the tragedy of the Omagh bomb should not be used to justify any further erosion of basic civil liberties".
Fionnbarra O'Dochartaigh, Secretary of the October Fifth Association - which is composed of 1968 civil rights' veterans and supporters - said: "Mr Gallagher should understand that the denial of basic civil rights over countless decades, under one-party Stormont rule, was the prime factor in creating both popular agitation and social unrest in the first instance. Any move towards undermining what limited gains have been made to date must be firmly and publicly resisted" he said.
Resisting in particular any changes in relation to arrests by police, Mr O'Dochartaigh said "A situation would arise where all those subject to arbitrary arrest would be presumed guilty. If Mr Gallagher's advice were acted upon, it assumes that those detained 'know something' whereas in fact they may know nothing whatsoever about what happened in Omagh on that tragic day. Totally innocent people would end up behind bars, be viewed as subversive by the powers-that-be, and would have a criminal record for the rest of their days".
"Would that be a fitting tribute for legacy to his own son, or the totally innocent people who perished that unforgettable day in Omagh?" he concluded.
The Omagh self-help group is keeping up the momentum and has meeting with leaders over the next few weeks.
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern and the Garda chief, Pat Byrne will meet them shortly and Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State will also meet with the group to give a briefing from the British government's side.
By ROSETTA DONNELLY
Sinn Fein President to be asked to help find killers
SINN Fein President Gerry Adams is expected to travel to Omagh this evening to meet with the families of some of those killed in the 1998 bomb.
It is expected that Mr Adams will be asked to use his influence within the republican movement to help track down the Real IRA killers who planted the device in Market Street.
However, members of the Omagh Self-Help and Support Group said yesterday that they will not be attending the meeting in a "formal capacity".
A spokesman for the Group which represents the families of the 29 killed said they wanted more time to "explore the merits of such a meeting", but he urged anyone who wished to take advantage of the meeting to do so on a "personal basis".
The hastily arranged meeting with the Sinn Fein President follows a meeting between Lawrence Rush and Mr Adams at the party's Ard Fheis in Dublin at the weekend, during which the latter was confronted about his failure to help find the Omagh bombers.
Mr Adams had been asked by Victor Barker (father of bomb victim, James) in a letter to use his influence in the Republican community to encourage anyone with information on the bombers to give it to police or gardai.
Mr Barker had asked him to call publicly for people with information about the bombing to pass it to the authorities, but Mr Adams refused claiming his decision was "based on historical as well as contemporary reasons", principally the criminal justice system in the North and the presence of the RUC in any prosecution even if information was given to the Gardai.
The father who only this week announced his decision to return to England for good said he was "deeply sickened" by Mr Adam's response.
The Omagh Self-help and Support group renewed its call to republicans to give up the names of the Real IRA bombers.
Frustrated at the failure of the RUC or Gardai to bring the bombers to justice despite knowing their identities the Omagh Self Help and Support group has plans to go over the heads of the authorities am bring the case to Europe.
The group his taken legal advice on prosecuting the Real IRA in an international court. It will use the fact that the targeting of civilians was a branch of the Geneva Convention and a war crime in international law.
Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh group said the bomb was a breach of Article 57 of the convention which includes the imperative that care shall be taken to spare the civilian population, civilians and civilian objects.
Mr Gallagher said that the bomb did have a multinational dimension in that the victims cams from the Irish Republic,Spain and England, as will as the North, and this made the case unique in the history of the Troubles.
The group is hopeful that Sinn Fein's unwillingness to call for any republicans with information to give it to the RUC or Gardai, might change their minds if there is an international inquiry.
Mr Gallagher said republicans call the Troubles a war, and when jailed they become prisoners of war. They therefore should abide by the Geneva Convention rules, he added.
Michael Gallgher, whose 21 year old son Adrian, was one of those who perished in the bomb, renewed his call to Sinn Fein in particular local Assembly members, Barry McElduff and Pat Doherty to use their influence. And he urged the local community to pray for those who have the ability to move the investigation forward to be given the courage necessary.
Referring to Mr Adam's response, Mr Gallagher said Sinn Fein was playing two games "trying to keep their voters happy, while concerned about losing face with their own hardliners".
The angry father said legislation was promised by the government in the wake of the bomb, but this never materialised.
"I'm not talking about draconian measures, but that people can be brought into a police station and sit there saying nothing is wrong. There should be a withholding information charge at least" he said.
However, the head of a civil rights group in Derry has sharply criticised Michael Gallagher's comments, saying that "the tragedy of the Omagh bomb should not be used to justify any further erosion of basic civil liberties".
Fionnbarra O'Dochartaigh, Secretary of the October Fifth Association - which is composed of 1968 civil rights' veterans and supporters - said: "Mr Gallagher should understand that the denial of basic civil rights over countless decades, under one-party Stormont rule, was the prime factor in creating both popular agitation and social unrest in the first instance. Any move towards undermining what limited gains have been made to date must be firmly and publicly resisted" he said.
Resisting in particular any changes in relation to arrests by police, Mr O'Dochartaigh said "A situation would arise where all those subject to arbitrary arrest would be presumed guilty. If Mr Gallagher's advice were acted upon, it assumes that those detained 'know something' whereas in fact they may know nothing whatsoever about what happened in Omagh on that tragic day. Totally innocent people would end up behind bars, be viewed as subversive by the powers-that-be, and would have a criminal record for the rest of their days".
"Would that be a fitting tribute for legacy to his own son, or the totally innocent people who perished that unforgettable day in Omagh?" he concluded.
The Omagh self-help group is keeping up the momentum and has meeting with leaders over the next few weeks.
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern and the Garda chief, Pat Byrne will meet them shortly and Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State will also meet with the group to give a briefing from the British government's side.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1340
Published Date: 13-Apr-00
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