ACT OF COWARDICE AND INHUMANITY
Act of 'cowardice and inhumanity'
RONAN McSHERRY
THE lawyer acting on behalf of the families who are suing the five men they believe planned and carried out the Omagh bomb on August 15, 1998 said the actions of the Real IRA that day flew in the face of the 1916 Easter Proclamation of Independence.
In his opening submission at the High Court in Belfast on Monday, Lord Brennan QC quoted the words from the Proclamation, "..that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine." He said of the five men, Michael McKevitt, Colm Murphy, Liam Campbell, Seamus Daly and Seamus McKenna, "These defendants were responsible for cowardice and inhumanity."
In a harrowing description of the carnage visited on the town, Lord Brennan called the Omagh bomb, "A massacre of the innocents" and "The most infamous terrorist atrocity in the history of the island of Ireland." All five men lived in the Dundalk area at the time of the bombing and according to Lord Brennan all "knew or knew of each other." Four of the defendants are challenging the allegations while Liam Campbell is the only one of the five who has not employed a lawyer although he also denies any involvement in the Omagh attack.
Members of the families, legal representatives, court officials and reporters packed into the public gallery listened intently as the barrister vividly described to the High Court Judge Mr Justice Declan Morgan the loss of life and injuries suffered as a result of the blast. Lord Brennan said that the Real IRA claimed responsibility for the car bomb and sought to pass the blame onto the police. He stated that anyone who left a car packed with 500lbs of explosives on a street crowded with shoppers knew what the outcome would be. He continued that a subsequent claim by the Real IRA in a coded phone message that they did not intend to kill or injure anyone was 'hypocritical' Lord Brennan said, "They may not wish to kill or injure anyone but by leaving a bomb on a busy street and leaving it to explode they are responsible."
The barrister spoke of the devastation to life and limb caused by the immediate blast, a subsequent fireball and shrapnel that was found as far as 300 yards from the wrecked car. He quoted the words of the Senior Consultant Dr Pinto who said the scene at the County Hospital was, "A disaster of battlefield proportions with dead bodies, broken bodies, walking wounded and blood everywhere."
Lord Brennan said the majority of those killed were women and children as well as the unborn twins and their mother. Eleven of the dead were under 18 and included a 20 month old baby, school children and teenagers. In his horrific account of the aftermath of the explosion Lord Brennan said that "some people died at the scene, some died later in hospital while others suffered serious trauma while others had arms and legs amputated."
A number of the relatives were overcome with emotion as the barrister delivered his opening speech. Especially upsetting to the families was a picture displayed on a screen in the court that had been taken moments before the explosion. In it was a man helping with a group of Spanish children who had been taken on a coach trip from a holiday in Co Donegal to Omagh. He was a carrying a child on his shoulders just feet from the maroon Vauxhall Astra car that was packed with explosives.
The barrister submitted that the families bringing the civil action against the men they believe caused the carnage in Omagh that day are entitled to 'punitive exemplary damages.'
RONAN McSHERRY
THE lawyer acting on behalf of the families who are suing the five men they believe planned and carried out the Omagh bomb on August 15, 1998 said the actions of the Real IRA that day flew in the face of the 1916 Easter Proclamation of Independence.
In his opening submission at the High Court in Belfast on Monday, Lord Brennan QC quoted the words from the Proclamation, "..that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine." He said of the five men, Michael McKevitt, Colm Murphy, Liam Campbell, Seamus Daly and Seamus McKenna, "These defendants were responsible for cowardice and inhumanity."
In a harrowing description of the carnage visited on the town, Lord Brennan called the Omagh bomb, "A massacre of the innocents" and "The most infamous terrorist atrocity in the history of the island of Ireland." All five men lived in the Dundalk area at the time of the bombing and according to Lord Brennan all "knew or knew of each other." Four of the defendants are challenging the allegations while Liam Campbell is the only one of the five who has not employed a lawyer although he also denies any involvement in the Omagh attack.
Members of the families, legal representatives, court officials and reporters packed into the public gallery listened intently as the barrister vividly described to the High Court Judge Mr Justice Declan Morgan the loss of life and injuries suffered as a result of the blast. Lord Brennan said that the Real IRA claimed responsibility for the car bomb and sought to pass the blame onto the police. He stated that anyone who left a car packed with 500lbs of explosives on a street crowded with shoppers knew what the outcome would be. He continued that a subsequent claim by the Real IRA in a coded phone message that they did not intend to kill or injure anyone was 'hypocritical' Lord Brennan said, "They may not wish to kill or injure anyone but by leaving a bomb on a busy street and leaving it to explode they are responsible."
The barrister spoke of the devastation to life and limb caused by the immediate blast, a subsequent fireball and shrapnel that was found as far as 300 yards from the wrecked car. He quoted the words of the Senior Consultant Dr Pinto who said the scene at the County Hospital was, "A disaster of battlefield proportions with dead bodies, broken bodies, walking wounded and blood everywhere."
Lord Brennan said the majority of those killed were women and children as well as the unborn twins and their mother. Eleven of the dead were under 18 and included a 20 month old baby, school children and teenagers. In his horrific account of the aftermath of the explosion Lord Brennan said that "some people died at the scene, some died later in hospital while others suffered serious trauma while others had arms and legs amputated."
A number of the relatives were overcome with emotion as the barrister delivered his opening speech. Especially upsetting to the families was a picture displayed on a screen in the court that had been taken moments before the explosion. In it was a man helping with a group of Spanish children who had been taken on a coach trip from a holiday in Co Donegal to Omagh. He was a carrying a child on his shoulders just feet from the maroon Vauxhall Astra car that was packed with explosives.
The barrister submitted that the families bringing the civil action against the men they believe caused the carnage in Omagh that day are entitled to 'punitive exemplary damages.'
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1935
Published Date: 10-Apr-08
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