COST OF SAVILLE SHOULD NOT PREVENT OMAGH PUBLIC INQUIRY
Cost of Saville should not prevent Omagh public inquiry
Bloody Sunday 14 deaths, two public inquiries, Omagh bombing 29 deaths, no public inquiry.
Next month will mark the 12th anniversary on August 15 of the Omagh bomb atrocity.
There was no inquiry into Bloody Friday, July 21,1972 when the IRA exploded 22 bombs killing nine and injuring 130 innocent people.
The 14 victims of the Bloody Sunday march in 1972 were not totally innocent in that they were taking part in an unlawful parade.
It has now been clearly established that it was unlawful and unjustified for the troops to use live ammunition as a result of which there were a number of fatalities which are still mourned today 30 years later.
In the Omagh tragedy more than twice as many people were murdered than were killed on Bloody Sunday. On the afternoon of the August 15, 1998, shoppers were going about their lawful business when they were savagely murdered in a republican bomb.
The outrage was perpetrated only four months after signing the Belfast Agreement in April of the same year. Security throughout the whole North had been considerably relaxed since the agreement so that it was then possible to travel throughout the Province without encountering a single patrol.
Government policy was negligent in this respect.
It can be argued that the Saville Inquiry during its protracted 12 years existence took a year on average to investigate each shooting.
However in the case of the Omagh bomb all those killed and injured resulted from a single bomb. So an Omagh inquiry would be shorter and much more to the point.
The Saville Inquiry took far too long and the cost was excessive. These facts should not be permitted to prejudice the legitimate desire of the bomb victims' relatives to have a long overdue public inquiry.
There are so many questions to be answered about the several warnings prior to the explosion. A public inquiry is essential to assist the relatives of the victims in coming to some sort of closure on this matter.
There is also a wider public interest to know how the pre-bomb warnings were registered and handled, also as to the conduct of policing inquiries after the massacre. Before the end the last Westminster Parliament, the outgoing chairman of the NI Affairs Committee in the House of Commons, Sir Patrick Cormack remarked that the criminal justice system has been found wanting in its duty to the relatives of the Omagh bomb victims. When is justice going to be seen to be done in this case with the establishment of a proper public inquiry?
Neil C Oliver LLB
Newtownards
Co Down
Bloody Sunday 14 deaths, two public inquiries, Omagh bombing 29 deaths, no public inquiry.
Next month will mark the 12th anniversary on August 15 of the Omagh bomb atrocity.
There was no inquiry into Bloody Friday, July 21,1972 when the IRA exploded 22 bombs killing nine and injuring 130 innocent people.
The 14 victims of the Bloody Sunday march in 1972 were not totally innocent in that they were taking part in an unlawful parade.
It has now been clearly established that it was unlawful and unjustified for the troops to use live ammunition as a result of which there were a number of fatalities which are still mourned today 30 years later.
In the Omagh tragedy more than twice as many people were murdered than were killed on Bloody Sunday. On the afternoon of the August 15, 1998, shoppers were going about their lawful business when they were savagely murdered in a republican bomb.
The outrage was perpetrated only four months after signing the Belfast Agreement in April of the same year. Security throughout the whole North had been considerably relaxed since the agreement so that it was then possible to travel throughout the Province without encountering a single patrol.
Government policy was negligent in this respect.
It can be argued that the Saville Inquiry during its protracted 12 years existence took a year on average to investigate each shooting.
However in the case of the Omagh bomb all those killed and injured resulted from a single bomb. So an Omagh inquiry would be shorter and much more to the point.
The Saville Inquiry took far too long and the cost was excessive. These facts should not be permitted to prejudice the legitimate desire of the bomb victims' relatives to have a long overdue public inquiry.
There are so many questions to be answered about the several warnings prior to the explosion. A public inquiry is essential to assist the relatives of the victims in coming to some sort of closure on this matter.
There is also a wider public interest to know how the pre-bomb warnings were registered and handled, also as to the conduct of policing inquiries after the massacre. Before the end the last Westminster Parliament, the outgoing chairman of the NI Affairs Committee in the House of Commons, Sir Patrick Cormack remarked that the criminal justice system has been found wanting in its duty to the relatives of the Omagh bomb victims. When is justice going to be seen to be done in this case with the establishment of a proper public inquiry?
Neil C Oliver LLB
Newtownards
Co Down
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/2003
Published Date: 01-Jul-10
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