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Omagh families reinforce determination to fight on
BY JOHN CARNEY

LAST Friday on the fifth anniversary of the Omagh bomb atrocity, relatives of the victims once again renewed their vow to see the perpetrators brought to justice.
After a short memorial service in the town, the relatives of those killed in the Real IRA attack, which claimed the lives of 31 people, including two unborn twins, read a short statement thanking the emergency services for their work that day. But they also reiterated their hope for a public inquiry to discover who the murderers were.
The statement was read by Caroline Martin, whose sister Esther Gibson was killed in the attack, and it reinforced their conviction to fight on.
"After five years of criminal investigations, we are now calling on the Dublin and London governments to give us a full cross-border public inquiry," she said.
"To date, we have had six investigations into Omagh without conviction. We now want the truth about what happened on that fateful day."
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden died in the bomb attack, said the families did not want to suffer a long wait for the truth to emerge about Omagh. This was one atrocity that was not going to be ignored.
"Five years on, there have been six separate inquiries into Omagh and we don't want to be sitting here 30 years on, like the Monaghan and Dublin families, or like the families of Enniskillen and all the other atrocities that we have seen in the past," he said.
QUESTIONS
"We believe that there are real questions that need to be answered given the degree of penetration that the security services had within dissident organisations.
"We believe that all of that has not been brought to bear on this investigation and that is why we have made this statement today. I would call on all politicians, particularly, those that in the past have fought for justice for causes in the North, to come behind the Omagh families.
"We are non-political and we would ask for across-the-board support."
The relatives group is currently pursuing a civil action against five men they blame for the attack.
A fortnight ago the government announced it was to give £800,000 to help toward the cost of bringing the £1.5m case to court.
It is understood to be the first time the government has helped to fund a civil prosecution and a government spokesman said it was because the situation was "totally exceptional".