OMAGH FAMILIES DEMAND MEETING WITH BLAIR
Omagh families demand meeting with Blair
BY VICKY TRIMBLE
THE relatives of the victims of the Omagh Bombing took the opportunity on Monday, at a meeting with Secretary of State Paul Murphy, to once again express their dissatisfaction with their treatment by the British government and to demand a meeting with the Prime Minister.
The families met with the Secretary at Stormont for a two and a half hour meeting that chairman of the group Michael Gallagher described as a 'frank discussion' at the end of which they requested that he make representation on their behalf in Downing Street to meet with Tony Blair.
He pointed out that despite having met with five successive Secretaries of State and the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, they had seen no development and their repeated requests to meet with the Prime Minister have been met with constant referrals back to the Northern Ireland Minister and it was now clear that 'such a serious issue has to be dealt with at the top'.
His sentiments were echoed by Stanley McCombe, whose wife Anne was killed in the explosion. Stanley also took the opportunity to re-emphasise the fact that the families would not give up their fight for a full cross-border inquiry.
The Prime Minister did meet with the families shortly after the bombing, when President Clinton visited the town, however, Mr Gallagher stated that at that stage the families did not realise the help they would need. He says that they, "Did not think we would have been treated as shabbily as we have. We expected full co-operation from the government and we have been disappointed."
Mr Gallagher also expressed contempt for the conduct of the Secretary of State himself.
"When the families inquired of Mr Murphy if he had a copy of the Nally Report, a report conducted by three independent civil servants into the claims that the Garda had prior knowledge, not only of the Omagh Bombing but of other terrorist attacks in the North, which they failed to pass on to their colleagues in the North, he admitted that not only did he not have a copy but that he had not yet requested one either."
He also criticised the Gardai for their conduct, pointing out that the PSNI has made six requests to interview Paddy Dixon, the informant at the centre of the Nally inquiry, as a witness, all of which had been refused. They have also failed to provide the PSNI with two DNA profiles that they requested over a year ago as part of their on going inquiries into the bombing.
BY VICKY TRIMBLE
THE relatives of the victims of the Omagh Bombing took the opportunity on Monday, at a meeting with Secretary of State Paul Murphy, to once again express their dissatisfaction with their treatment by the British government and to demand a meeting with the Prime Minister.
The families met with the Secretary at Stormont for a two and a half hour meeting that chairman of the group Michael Gallagher described as a 'frank discussion' at the end of which they requested that he make representation on their behalf in Downing Street to meet with Tony Blair.
He pointed out that despite having met with five successive Secretaries of State and the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, they had seen no development and their repeated requests to meet with the Prime Minister have been met with constant referrals back to the Northern Ireland Minister and it was now clear that 'such a serious issue has to be dealt with at the top'.
His sentiments were echoed by Stanley McCombe, whose wife Anne was killed in the explosion. Stanley also took the opportunity to re-emphasise the fact that the families would not give up their fight for a full cross-border inquiry.
The Prime Minister did meet with the families shortly after the bombing, when President Clinton visited the town, however, Mr Gallagher stated that at that stage the families did not realise the help they would need. He says that they, "Did not think we would have been treated as shabbily as we have. We expected full co-operation from the government and we have been disappointed."
Mr Gallagher also expressed contempt for the conduct of the Secretary of State himself.
"When the families inquired of Mr Murphy if he had a copy of the Nally Report, a report conducted by three independent civil servants into the claims that the Garda had prior knowledge, not only of the Omagh Bombing but of other terrorist attacks in the North, which they failed to pass on to their colleagues in the North, he admitted that not only did he not have a copy but that he had not yet requested one either."
He also criticised the Gardai for their conduct, pointing out that the PSNI has made six requests to interview Paddy Dixon, the informant at the centre of the Nally inquiry, as a witness, all of which had been refused. They have also failed to provide the PSNI with two DNA profiles that they requested over a year ago as part of their on going inquiries into the bombing.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1672
Published Date: 17-Jun-04
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.