OMAGH RELATIVES LASH TAOISEACH OVER REAL IRA MEETING
Omagh relatives lash Taoiseach over real IRA meeting
The admission by Bertie Ahern that the Dublin government had met with Michael McKevitt following the Omagh bomb, has been slammed by Omagh victims group.
Chairman, Michael Gallagher said "If it happened in any other country,the prime minister would have had to resign."
The Fine Gael TD, Enda Kenny prompted the admission in the Dail when he asked an Taoiseach a number of probing questions about the Gardai and Real lRA men following the bomb. Michael Gallagher told the UlsterHerald this week that the Victims Group has secured a meeting with Mr Kenny next week. "We want to give him the full picture of what happened and our concerns about the way the Dublin government is treating the whole Omagh bomb issue" he said.
REFUSED TO MEET
Bertie Ahern has constantly refused to meet the Omagh Victims Group and this has heightened members' suspicions about his misleading of the Dail about official contacts with the bombers - a fact which he was be-grudgingly forced to admit last week.
Last November, Ahern committed what can now only be described as a blatant untruth when he declared "It's very easy to make a full statement. There was no contact."
BLUNT DENIAL
This was the Taoiseach's blunt denial of a Sunday newspaper story exposing government contacts with the Real IRA in the wake of that organisation's involvement in the bombing. Ahern and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, lashed the story, with the Taoiseach claiming to have been personally hurt by it. He described it as "outrageous and deeply offensive".
The newspaper revealed how Ahern's then special adviser on the North, Martin Mansergh, had conducted talks with the Real IRA leaders, Michael McKevitt and Seamus McGrane, through a mediator, Fr Alex Reid.
There had been three meetings at the Redemptorist Monastery in Dundalk, with Reid in direct phone contact with Mansergh at the meetings and during breaks. The Real IRA declared a ceasefire 24 hours after the third meeting on September 7,1998, and the overt garda surveillance on them was lifted.
On the day the article appeared, Ahern included in his denial that it was well known Fr Reid's contact as part of the peace process would have been with the Provisional IRA, not the Real lRA.
Two days later, he said in the Dail "Clearly, Omagh changed everything. The organisation was then responsible for the biggest atrocity ever, as Deputy [Enda] Kenny [of Fine Gael] said. After that, contacts were continued by some, but not by the government."
Following further revelations in another newspaper, Ahern last week conceded that not only were there contacts between the government and the Real IRA, but that formal face-to-face meetings were held between Mansergh and McKevitt two months after the first meetings.
Separate to the disclosures in newspaper, John White, a garda sergeant facing charges before the courts, has claimed that Gardai had advance knowledge about the bombing, and that they later withdrew surveillance on foot of the ceasefire.
However, there is no suggestion that Mansergh had any knowledge of these events. It is widely accepted by commentators that he has made a major contribution to the peace process.
Michael Gallagher believes White. According to Mr Gallagher, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has confirmed through intelligence information and forensic material a link between a series of bombs at the centre of White's allegations. These are the bombings at Moira, Bambridge and Newry which preceded the Omagh bombing on August 15,1998.
ASKED TO STEAL CARS
One of White's informants, who is now in the garda witness protection scheme, told White he had been asked to steal cars for the bombers, including a Vauxhall Cavalier for Omagh. White said he informed the Garda authorities that this car had been stolen in the Republic, but that a second model of the same car was already stolen by another criminal for the bombers.
White alleged that a car containing the bomb was allowed to pass into the North, and that the Northern constabulary were not informed.
He said it was one of four bomb runs that were allowed to pass over the border in order to protect sources. White's allegations have been investigated by a government appointed committee, but its report has never been released.
Mr Gallagher has asked that the North's Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, be drafted in to probe the claims. "We know her remit is only for Northern Ireland, but the governments could make special arrangements at the flick of a switch," he said.
The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, is believed to have rejected the plan, but Mr Gallagher insisted that the ombudsman's scathing report on the RUC's investigation into the bombing proved she has the necessary experience.
In a damning assessment of the police investigation, O'Loan discovered that RUC Special Branch were told by sources outside the Garda of RIRA plans to strike but failed to alert officers on the ground in Omagh.
Former chief constable Ronnie Flanagan also came in for withering criticism, with the ombudsman concluding that the RUC investigation was hampered by flawed leadership.
Michael Gallagher revealed a document which shows that a garda requested charges be dropped against seven people indirectly connected with attempts to procure a car for the bombers.
The document, a copy of which he supplied to the newspaper, is confirmation from the Courts Service that the charges against named people in August 1998 were struck out at the request of the Garda Siochana. Gallagher said its findings would have to be reappraised in light of the PSNI investigations.
In a reference to the seven people, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny put the following questions to the Taoiseach in the Dail last November.
VOLUNTARY CONFESSIONS
"Will he confirm that charges against seven men who were prime suspects in the Omagh bombing were brought about as a consequence of voluntary confessions? Will he indicate if these charges were subsequently dropped and, if so, why and on whose authority? Is he happy that the distinction in the division of powers legislation is as it should be?
"Can he confirm that the Garda crime and security section was aware of the theft of a black Mazda 626 in the early hours of February 14,1998, for the purpose of carrying out a mortar attack? Can he also confirm that the Garda crime and security section was aware of the theft of a Fiat Punto in May 1998 on behalf of the Real lRA; and that the thief was offered immunity in the event of being caught?
"Can he further confirm that the Garda crime and security section was aware of the arrest of four English tourists in a white BMW in order to protect the credibility and integrity of a Garda informant?
"These are allegations that are causing confusion in the public mind. Will the Taoiseach take the opportunity to issue a more comprehensive and complete detailed statement on these matters? When the charges were dropped in respect of the seven men, was it on the instruction of the then DPP who is the same person carrying out the inquiry now? That is fundamental to the security of our state, Sir."
The Taoiseach said it was a matter for the Department of Justice.
Last week, a diplomatic Kenny noted the sharp differences in Ahern's comments about the contacts between McKevitt and Mansergh. Under Dail privilege, the Fine Gael leader remarked "We get a formula of words which lead to a public perception that the full truth is not being told."
The admission by Bertie Ahern that the Dublin government had met with Michael McKevitt following the Omagh bomb, has been slammed by Omagh victims group.
Chairman, Michael Gallagher said "If it happened in any other country,the prime minister would have had to resign."
The Fine Gael TD, Enda Kenny prompted the admission in the Dail when he asked an Taoiseach a number of probing questions about the Gardai and Real lRA men following the bomb. Michael Gallagher told the UlsterHerald this week that the Victims Group has secured a meeting with Mr Kenny next week. "We want to give him the full picture of what happened and our concerns about the way the Dublin government is treating the whole Omagh bomb issue" he said.
REFUSED TO MEET
Bertie Ahern has constantly refused to meet the Omagh Victims Group and this has heightened members' suspicions about his misleading of the Dail about official contacts with the bombers - a fact which he was be-grudgingly forced to admit last week.
Last November, Ahern committed what can now only be described as a blatant untruth when he declared "It's very easy to make a full statement. There was no contact."
BLUNT DENIAL
This was the Taoiseach's blunt denial of a Sunday newspaper story exposing government contacts with the Real IRA in the wake of that organisation's involvement in the bombing. Ahern and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, lashed the story, with the Taoiseach claiming to have been personally hurt by it. He described it as "outrageous and deeply offensive".
The newspaper revealed how Ahern's then special adviser on the North, Martin Mansergh, had conducted talks with the Real IRA leaders, Michael McKevitt and Seamus McGrane, through a mediator, Fr Alex Reid.
There had been three meetings at the Redemptorist Monastery in Dundalk, with Reid in direct phone contact with Mansergh at the meetings and during breaks. The Real IRA declared a ceasefire 24 hours after the third meeting on September 7,1998, and the overt garda surveillance on them was lifted.
On the day the article appeared, Ahern included in his denial that it was well known Fr Reid's contact as part of the peace process would have been with the Provisional IRA, not the Real lRA.
Two days later, he said in the Dail "Clearly, Omagh changed everything. The organisation was then responsible for the biggest atrocity ever, as Deputy [Enda] Kenny [of Fine Gael] said. After that, contacts were continued by some, but not by the government."
Following further revelations in another newspaper, Ahern last week conceded that not only were there contacts between the government and the Real IRA, but that formal face-to-face meetings were held between Mansergh and McKevitt two months after the first meetings.
Separate to the disclosures in newspaper, John White, a garda sergeant facing charges before the courts, has claimed that Gardai had advance knowledge about the bombing, and that they later withdrew surveillance on foot of the ceasefire.
However, there is no suggestion that Mansergh had any knowledge of these events. It is widely accepted by commentators that he has made a major contribution to the peace process.
Michael Gallagher believes White. According to Mr Gallagher, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has confirmed through intelligence information and forensic material a link between a series of bombs at the centre of White's allegations. These are the bombings at Moira, Bambridge and Newry which preceded the Omagh bombing on August 15,1998.
ASKED TO STEAL CARS
One of White's informants, who is now in the garda witness protection scheme, told White he had been asked to steal cars for the bombers, including a Vauxhall Cavalier for Omagh. White said he informed the Garda authorities that this car had been stolen in the Republic, but that a second model of the same car was already stolen by another criminal for the bombers.
White alleged that a car containing the bomb was allowed to pass into the North, and that the Northern constabulary were not informed.
He said it was one of four bomb runs that were allowed to pass over the border in order to protect sources. White's allegations have been investigated by a government appointed committee, but its report has never been released.
Mr Gallagher has asked that the North's Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, be drafted in to probe the claims. "We know her remit is only for Northern Ireland, but the governments could make special arrangements at the flick of a switch," he said.
The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, is believed to have rejected the plan, but Mr Gallagher insisted that the ombudsman's scathing report on the RUC's investigation into the bombing proved she has the necessary experience.
In a damning assessment of the police investigation, O'Loan discovered that RUC Special Branch were told by sources outside the Garda of RIRA plans to strike but failed to alert officers on the ground in Omagh.
Former chief constable Ronnie Flanagan also came in for withering criticism, with the ombudsman concluding that the RUC investigation was hampered by flawed leadership.
Michael Gallagher revealed a document which shows that a garda requested charges be dropped against seven people indirectly connected with attempts to procure a car for the bombers.
The document, a copy of which he supplied to the newspaper, is confirmation from the Courts Service that the charges against named people in August 1998 were struck out at the request of the Garda Siochana. Gallagher said its findings would have to be reappraised in light of the PSNI investigations.
In a reference to the seven people, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny put the following questions to the Taoiseach in the Dail last November.
VOLUNTARY CONFESSIONS
"Will he confirm that charges against seven men who were prime suspects in the Omagh bombing were brought about as a consequence of voluntary confessions? Will he indicate if these charges were subsequently dropped and, if so, why and on whose authority? Is he happy that the distinction in the division of powers legislation is as it should be?
"Can he confirm that the Garda crime and security section was aware of the theft of a black Mazda 626 in the early hours of February 14,1998, for the purpose of carrying out a mortar attack? Can he also confirm that the Garda crime and security section was aware of the theft of a Fiat Punto in May 1998 on behalf of the Real lRA; and that the thief was offered immunity in the event of being caught?
"Can he further confirm that the Garda crime and security section was aware of the arrest of four English tourists in a white BMW in order to protect the credibility and integrity of a Garda informant?
"These are allegations that are causing confusion in the public mind. Will the Taoiseach take the opportunity to issue a more comprehensive and complete detailed statement on these matters? When the charges were dropped in respect of the seven men, was it on the instruction of the then DPP who is the same person carrying out the inquiry now? That is fundamental to the security of our state, Sir."
The Taoiseach said it was a matter for the Department of Justice.
Last week, a diplomatic Kenny noted the sharp differences in Ahern's comments about the contacts between McKevitt and Mansergh. Under Dail privilege, the Fine Gael leader remarked "We get a formula of words which lead to a public perception that the full truth is not being told."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1616
Published Date: 23-Oct-03
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