SKELTON TO HOLD TALKS WITH OWEN PATTERSON
Skelton to hold talks with Owen Paterson
BY TOMMY NETHERY
t. nethery@ulsterherald. corn
IN an attempt to highlight the plight of victims the chairman of the recently formed victims group "Families Moving On", Kevin Skelton will present a copy of his book to Owen Paterson when he meets the Secretary of State early next month.
The Drumquin man, whose wife Mena was killed in the 1998 Omagh bomb, is scheduled to meet Mr Patterson at Hillsborough Castle on October 7.
Top of the agenda is the needs of "innocent" victims, who the chairman insists have been pushed to one side in the interests of political expediency.
"I going to ask Mr Paterson what he perceives to be the definition of a victim," said Mr Skelton, one of the founder members of Families Moving On which now boasts a membership Of over 100.
"I'm going to give him a copy of my book, ask him to read it and hopefully he will get some sort of idea what I and others have come through. I will also tell him in no uncertain terms that there are a hell of a lot of people who haven't come through the other side."
The meeting will come hot on the heels of the first ever meeting between relatives of those killed and injured in the Omagh Bomb and the secretary of state yesterday (Wednesday).
In recent times efforts have been stepped-up in a bid to secure a public inquiry into the bombing which killed 31 people including unborn twins.
The Omagh Support and Self Help Group has launched a petition urging the British Government to grant a full cross-border and independent probe but Mr Skelton insists that the calls for an inquiry will not be up for discussion.
"People are entitled to push for an inquiry if that's what they want. But I don't believe there is going to be one. It's been turned down before. At the end of the day such an inquiry would interfere with the whole political process," he said.
"I was promised a meeting by David Cameron before he was elected Prime Minister and I made sure and held him to account.
"The needs of the victims will be central to our conversation although I plan to ask him straight out his thoughts on the Gibson Report, is the British government negotiating with dissidents, which I believe they are, and why some victims of the Omagh Bomb have still to receive their compensation."
Mr Skelton meanwhile is making final preparations to launch his book "Sent by An Angel' in England and the States sometime in the spring.
BY TOMMY NETHERY
t. nethery@ulsterherald. corn
IN an attempt to highlight the plight of victims the chairman of the recently formed victims group "Families Moving On", Kevin Skelton will present a copy of his book to Owen Paterson when he meets the Secretary of State early next month.
The Drumquin man, whose wife Mena was killed in the 1998 Omagh bomb, is scheduled to meet Mr Patterson at Hillsborough Castle on October 7.
Top of the agenda is the needs of "innocent" victims, who the chairman insists have been pushed to one side in the interests of political expediency.
"I going to ask Mr Paterson what he perceives to be the definition of a victim," said Mr Skelton, one of the founder members of Families Moving On which now boasts a membership Of over 100.
"I'm going to give him a copy of my book, ask him to read it and hopefully he will get some sort of idea what I and others have come through. I will also tell him in no uncertain terms that there are a hell of a lot of people who haven't come through the other side."
The meeting will come hot on the heels of the first ever meeting between relatives of those killed and injured in the Omagh Bomb and the secretary of state yesterday (Wednesday).
In recent times efforts have been stepped-up in a bid to secure a public inquiry into the bombing which killed 31 people including unborn twins.
The Omagh Support and Self Help Group has launched a petition urging the British Government to grant a full cross-border and independent probe but Mr Skelton insists that the calls for an inquiry will not be up for discussion.
"People are entitled to push for an inquiry if that's what they want. But I don't believe there is going to be one. It's been turned down before. At the end of the day such an inquiry would interfere with the whole political process," he said.
"I was promised a meeting by David Cameron before he was elected Prime Minister and I made sure and held him to account.
"The needs of the victims will be central to our conversation although I plan to ask him straight out his thoughts on the Gibson Report, is the British government negotiating with dissidents, which I believe they are, and why some victims of the Omagh Bomb have still to receive their compensation."
Mr Skelton meanwhile is making final preparations to launch his book "Sent by An Angel' in England and the States sometime in the spring.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/2015
Published Date: 23-Sep-10
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