FAMILIES NOW SET TO MEET TAOISEACH
Families now set to meet Taoiseach
Questions about garda informer to dominate long-sought meeting
BY ADRIAN MULLAN
AFTER a wait of some five years, a delegation from the Omagh Self-Help and Support Group, which represents a number of the families bereaved in the Omagh bombing are to have a meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. The group had elected not to meet Mr Ahern for what they suggested would be too brief a time during his recent Omagh visit. It is understood that a formal meeting will take place this day week (March 11).
Omagh group chairman Michael Gallagher said he will be telling the Irish government that it has "so far lacked the political will to resolve the largest mass murder in modern British or Irish history".
The Garda, presumably on authority from the Department of Justice, have resisted calls from both the PSNI and the relatives of the bereaved to make available for questioning, Jimmy Dixon, a key figure who infiltrated the Real IRA and allegedly warned Gardai that the attack on Omagh was imminent.
Dixon is living abroad in a witness protection scheme. But such mystery surrounds the handling of Dixon and the constant refusal of gardai to make him available for questioning, that some commentators have drawn the conclusion that the force has something to hide.
Indeed, such is his status, at present, that the 'Nally' inquiry which reported some months ago didn't even question him, though from the outset it would appear that he had vital information in relation to the atrocity.
Victor Barker, who is to meet Garda Commissioner, Noel Conroy, on March 12, has intimated that he will be raising that issue.
Last week the Republic's Justice Minister, Michael McDowell claimed that Dixon refused to co-operate with the three man Nally Inquiry and that that same message has been communicated to the PSNI.
The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, passed some 50 pages of information to the respective departments in the South during the Nally Inquiry. However, it would appear that, anything controversial was air-brushed out on receipt by the Republic's authorities. Nevertheless, it is understood that in the documents handed to the Nally team there was a statement from Dixon saying that he would co-operate with the PSNI.
While the Taoiseach was in Omagh on Thursday week, members of the Self Help and Support group opted to have a meeting with his counterpart in Pine Gael, Enda Kenny, in Leinster house. The group insist they did not snub Mr Ahern, rather they wanted a more substantive meeting, and they have now secured that.
At the meeting with Mr Kenny, it is understood that he gave a firm undertaking to raise the matter, of the withholding of Dixon, in the Dail.
Questions about garda informer to dominate long-sought meeting
BY ADRIAN MULLAN
AFTER a wait of some five years, a delegation from the Omagh Self-Help and Support Group, which represents a number of the families bereaved in the Omagh bombing are to have a meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. The group had elected not to meet Mr Ahern for what they suggested would be too brief a time during his recent Omagh visit. It is understood that a formal meeting will take place this day week (March 11).
Omagh group chairman Michael Gallagher said he will be telling the Irish government that it has "so far lacked the political will to resolve the largest mass murder in modern British or Irish history".
The Garda, presumably on authority from the Department of Justice, have resisted calls from both the PSNI and the relatives of the bereaved to make available for questioning, Jimmy Dixon, a key figure who infiltrated the Real IRA and allegedly warned Gardai that the attack on Omagh was imminent.
Dixon is living abroad in a witness protection scheme. But such mystery surrounds the handling of Dixon and the constant refusal of gardai to make him available for questioning, that some commentators have drawn the conclusion that the force has something to hide.
Indeed, such is his status, at present, that the 'Nally' inquiry which reported some months ago didn't even question him, though from the outset it would appear that he had vital information in relation to the atrocity.
Victor Barker, who is to meet Garda Commissioner, Noel Conroy, on March 12, has intimated that he will be raising that issue.
Last week the Republic's Justice Minister, Michael McDowell claimed that Dixon refused to co-operate with the three man Nally Inquiry and that that same message has been communicated to the PSNI.
The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, passed some 50 pages of information to the respective departments in the South during the Nally Inquiry. However, it would appear that, anything controversial was air-brushed out on receipt by the Republic's authorities. Nevertheless, it is understood that in the documents handed to the Nally team there was a statement from Dixon saying that he would co-operate with the PSNI.
While the Taoiseach was in Omagh on Thursday week, members of the Self Help and Support group opted to have a meeting with his counterpart in Pine Gael, Enda Kenny, in Leinster house. The group insist they did not snub Mr Ahern, rather they wanted a more substantive meeting, and they have now secured that.
At the meeting with Mr Kenny, it is understood that he gave a firm undertaking to raise the matter, of the withholding of Dixon, in the Dail.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1750
Published Date: 04-Mar-04
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