Supplementary Memorandum submitted by
The Omagh Support and Self Help Group
The Omagh bomb happened at a time when we were
all looking to the future. Many families thanked God that they
had survived the thirty years of the troubles and were untouched
by terrorism. That illusion was to shatter for many hundreds of
innocent people on that sunny Saturday afternoon. From that day
many of us have made it part of our lives and our reason for living.
The most important thing is to get the truth and establish the
facts. We were never left in any doubt as to who was responsible
for this wicked and evil act! It was the so-called real IRA. They
proudly announced that an active service unit from their group
had parked the explosive-laden car in Market Street, Omagh. Without
proper warning they returned over the border to safety before
it exploded with horrific consequences. The innocent men women
and children of Omagh, Buncranna and Madrid were left to pick
up the pieces. There still remains many unanswered questions about
how much intelligence was available and how it was used by both
authorities. It has now emerged that the Irish government was
in secret talks with the RIRA at the highest level. The RUC murder
investigation team's failure as identified by the McVicar review
and the damning report by the police ombudsman. The garda investigation
south of the border also failed to charge one single person with
murder at Omagh, despite a confession by the person who stole
the car in Carrickmacross used in the Omagh bombing. He was not
even charged with car theft considering he was the person who
provided the murder weapon used at Omagh. It has also emerged
that the garda had well-placed informants close to and at the
top of the RIRA leadership. The bomb attack was launched from
the republic and the bomb team spent less than forty minutes in
Northern Ireland. The Irish government has repeatedly failed to
assist the PSNI investigation team in Omagh with DNA profiles
which they have repeated requested. This matter was raised with
the Irish justice minister Michael McDowell by the Omagh relatives
and the leader of the opposition Enda Kenny. The garda have also
refused access to the PSNI to interview an informed witness called
Paddy Dixon. He is on a witness protection program run by the
Irish government. The PSNI investigation team north believe this
man could be a crucial witness but he is not being made available.
After several formal requests the SIO is still waiting to interview
him. The ombudsman's office investigated allegations by detective
sergeant John White's claims about having vital information regarding
the RIRA and the Omagh bomb. The ombudsman's office carried out
a thorough investigation and believed these claims to have substance.
Nula Olone personally delivered her finding to the Irish foreign
affairs minister Brian Cowan. The Irish government appointed three
senior retired civil servants to carry out the enquiry. None of
these three individuals had any investigative skills. One was
a former DPP and may have made decisions about Omagh. This was
known as the Nally enquiry. It was selective in the witness that
they selected for interview. Paddy Dixon was not interviewed by
this team despite the fact that he was the central figure in this
case. John White's telephone records were not examined even though
he gave permission for them to be acquired. Norman Baxter (SIO,
Omagh) was not interviewed or other potential witnesses who made
themselves available. This report completely exonerated the garda
of all blame. The report was considered not to be independent
and had no judicial powers or powers of investigation and the
report was not published.
We have experienced nothing but failure and
excuses. We were promised both publicly and privately that those
responsible would be brought before the courts yet nothing is
further from the truth. In this file you will see monumental failures
of intelligence, investigative and administrative mishandling
which undoubtedly minimised the chances of a successful prosecution
of those responsible for the worst atrocity of the troubles.
When people ask why do we require an enquiry
into the Omagh bombing the answer is:
— to establish the facts and the circumstances
surrounding the Omagh bombing;
— to review and revise standards and
procedures;
— to improve security readiness and
crisis management;
— to access the efficiency and effectiveness
of intelligence surrounding Omagh;
— to determine the adequacy of co-ordination
of intelligence and anti-terrorism counter measures amongst Northern
Ireland's security services, Republic of Ireland security and
business organisations generally;
— to access issues of personal accountability
for security; and
— to provide recommendations on how
to prevent new attacks or minimise the damage of successful attacks.
We must make sure that the lessons of Omagh
are learnt, so that mistakes can never happen and what is done
well is passed on so that others can learn from our tragedy. Never
has so much been known about an atrocity and yet so little done
to stop it or catch those responsible. Surely that's the least
we owe to the 31 innocent people who lost their lives in such
a cruel way.
On 18 January 2005 John White was acquitted
of six charges in Letterkenny courthouse in Co Donegal.
On 21 January 2005 Colm Murphy successfully
appealed his conviction for conspiracy in the Omagh bombing and
is now free.
Please support a full cross-border inquiry for
Omagh.
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