PETER KELLY meets Omagh’s victorious campaigners who defy the odds for justice
Families bereaved by the Omagh bombing have welcomed the historic breakthrough of securing a Public Inquiry into the 1998 atrocity.
Following over a decade of pressure from survivors, current Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris unexpectedly announced to the House of Commons that an independent statutory inquiry would be established.
It reverses persistent British government refusals to victims for a formal probe into the failings by security authorities investigating the worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
The announcement follows a Belfast High Court ruling in 2021 that a new investigation should take place. This was prompted by legal action taken by Michael Gallagher whose 21-year old son Aiden was among the 31 people killed in the dissident Real IRA car bomb in August 1998, just four months after the signing of the Good Friday Peace Agreement. The legal victory was featured on the front page of this publication almost two years ago.
Speaking again exclusively to the Irish Examiner USA, Mr Gallagher said, “The Secretary of State has given us all that we asked for and we appreciate it. We now look to the Dublin government to follow suit.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told reporters that the Irish government “would not be found wanting” in the forthcoming investigation.
Michael Gallagher revealed a high level of personal engagement from the UK Secretary of State during his visits to the Omagh bomb site. “Unlike some of his predecessors, Chris Heaton-Harris took a dedicated, personal interest in our case,” he said. “He was genuinely moved and affected by what we told him and showed him in Omagh. He followed through for us.”
It is likely that the Inquiry will examine four areas, ranging from the handling and sharing of intelligence to cellphone analysis, advanced knowledge of the attack, and ultimately whether the bombing could have been prevented.
The Tyrone campaigner said the families are prepared for the emotional challenges that the investigation’s revelations may produce: “We have no doubt that it’s going to be a difficult process. But for the rest of our lives, if we don’t have this process, we are going to be wondering, ‘what if’?
“We hope that this will be the beginning of the end of a long journey to the truth.”
Mr Gallagher paid tribute to a trans-Atlantic support network that has helped sustain the campaigning survivors over the years.
“We’ve been very grateful for support from the Irish-American community,” he said. “In particular, FBI agent David Rupert, who was the Irish State’s key witness against Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, securing his conviction for directing terrorism in 2003.”
McKevitt was sentenced to 20 years in prison and died in January 2021.
The next step in the investigative process is the establishment and makeup of the Public Inquiry Investigation Panel, and crucially its terms of reference.
The Omagh families’ legal team remain determined to secure the most inclusive and satisfactory terms to maximize the power and impact of the official probe.
Nuala O’Loan was formerly Northern Ireland’s Police Ombudsman, who prepared and delivered the controversial Omagh Report in 2001.
It backed the survivors’ call for greater police accountability and an investigation into the attack.
Mrs O’Loan said in 2018 that she believed that the Omagh bomb “could have been prevented”.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner USA this week she cautioned, “the inquiry will need every cooperation from everyone. The terms of reference mustn’t be limited by reference to just the bombing.”
Now a member of the House of Lords in London, Baroness O’Loan continued, “The investigation should focus on intelligence received in respect to possible attacks. It has to be as wide as it needs to be”, and she urged investigators to “look at the right places.”