PRESSURE FOR OMAGH INQUIRY MOUNTS ON BOTH SIDES OF IRISH SEA
Omagh Inquiry mounts on both sides of Irish Sea
BY JOHN CARNEY
PRESSURE mounted on both sides of the Irish Sea this week for a full inquiry into allegations that clear warnings about the Omagh bomb were ignored by the Dublin authorities to protect a garda informer.
A cross-party group of MPs raised an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons yesterday (Wednesday) following accusations from the informer connected to the Real IRA that garda Special Branch officers ignored his clear warning about the Omagh bomb massacre.
This comes after the Dublin Opposition Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny's criticism last week of the government's failure to publish a full report on the garda handling of the intelligence uncovered before the Omagh bomb attack.
Mr Kenny demanded publication of a report from the three member committee chaired by former government secretary, Dermot Nally. The committee investigated allegations that some gardai withheld vital information from the RUC regarding Real IRA plans to bomb a Northern Ireland town prior to the Omagh blast.
The revelations about Real IRA double agent Paddy Dixon and his warning about the atrocity were revealed in Magill magazine and the Ulster Herald. Those revelations were based on detailed interviews with former Donegal based Garda sergeant John White who was subjected to an internal investigation after making his claims to the North's Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan.
Then in a sensational development on Sunday The Observer newspaper published a lengthy story based on 54 pages of detailed transcript from the garda informer at the centre of the controversy. The Observer revelations convinced the group of British MPs to put forward yesterday's motion challenging the British government to demand the immediate handing over of Dixon to the Police Service of Northern Ireland for questioning.
Up until now the PSNI inquiry team into Omagh has not been allowed to question Dixon who has been placed in a witness protection programme.
The Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs are also calling for a public inquiry into the handling of intelligence and agents inside the Real IRA in the run-up to the 1998 Omagh bomb which killed 29 people and two unborn babies.
Michael Gallagher Chairman of Omagh Self-Help Group welcomed the MPs' intervention.
"It's important from our point of view that there's cross-party support," he said.
"We're glad that at long last Omagh is moving to the House of Commons because we've always believed that there are serious questions to be answered here.
"It's a step closer to obtaining this goal and what is very important is that these MPs are calling on the government to have a full cross-border inquiry and this has been long overdue."
Fine Gael leader Kenny was in the North last week and met relatives of the Omagh victims in Belfast during a series of meetings with political leaders. He too threw his weight behind the campaign.
"Very serious allegations have been made about what the security services may have known about what the Real IRA was planning at the time of the Omagh bombing. The families of the 31 innocent victims of Omagh are entitled to nothing less than the full truth," Mr Kenny said.
BY JOHN CARNEY
PRESSURE mounted on both sides of the Irish Sea this week for a full inquiry into allegations that clear warnings about the Omagh bomb were ignored by the Dublin authorities to protect a garda informer.
A cross-party group of MPs raised an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons yesterday (Wednesday) following accusations from the informer connected to the Real IRA that garda Special Branch officers ignored his clear warning about the Omagh bomb massacre.
This comes after the Dublin Opposition Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny's criticism last week of the government's failure to publish a full report on the garda handling of the intelligence uncovered before the Omagh bomb attack.
Mr Kenny demanded publication of a report from the three member committee chaired by former government secretary, Dermot Nally. The committee investigated allegations that some gardai withheld vital information from the RUC regarding Real IRA plans to bomb a Northern Ireland town prior to the Omagh blast.
The revelations about Real IRA double agent Paddy Dixon and his warning about the atrocity were revealed in Magill magazine and the Ulster Herald. Those revelations were based on detailed interviews with former Donegal based Garda sergeant John White who was subjected to an internal investigation after making his claims to the North's Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan.
Then in a sensational development on Sunday The Observer newspaper published a lengthy story based on 54 pages of detailed transcript from the garda informer at the centre of the controversy. The Observer revelations convinced the group of British MPs to put forward yesterday's motion challenging the British government to demand the immediate handing over of Dixon to the Police Service of Northern Ireland for questioning.
Up until now the PSNI inquiry team into Omagh has not been allowed to question Dixon who has been placed in a witness protection programme.
The Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs are also calling for a public inquiry into the handling of intelligence and agents inside the Real IRA in the run-up to the 1998 Omagh bomb which killed 29 people and two unborn babies.
Michael Gallagher Chairman of Omagh Self-Help Group welcomed the MPs' intervention.
"It's important from our point of view that there's cross-party support," he said.
"We're glad that at long last Omagh is moving to the House of Commons because we've always believed that there are serious questions to be answered here.
"It's a step closer to obtaining this goal and what is very important is that these MPs are calling on the government to have a full cross-border inquiry and this has been long overdue."
Fine Gael leader Kenny was in the North last week and met relatives of the Omagh victims in Belfast during a series of meetings with political leaders. He too threw his weight behind the campaign.
"Very serious allegations have been made about what the security services may have known about what the Real IRA was planning at the time of the Omagh bombing. The families of the 31 innocent victims of Omagh are entitled to nothing less than the full truth," Mr Kenny said.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1620
Published Date: 06-Nov-03
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