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LAST UPDATE | 28 Jan
HOPE HAS BEEN expressed that the Omagh Bombing Inquiry will be the “beginning of the end” for the bereaved in their pursuit of answers.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed in the 1998 dissident republican bomb attack in the Co Tyrone town, also pressed the British and Irish governments to fully co-operate with the inquiry.
The inquiry will examine whether the atrocity could have been prevented.
It started four weeks of commemorative hearings today, remembering the victims and hearing from those who were injured or directly affected.
Some 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins were killed in the Real IRA bomb attack in the Co Tyrone town on 15 August, 1998.
The names of all those killed in the bombing were read out at the public inquiry into the atrocity this morning before all those assembled were invited to stand for a minute’s silence in remembrance.
Gallagher campaigned for many years for an inquiry, and took the legal action which resulted in a judge in 2021 finding it was plausible there was a real prospect the bombing could have been prevented by the security services, and calling for new investigations on both sides of the Irish border.
In 2023, the UK government announced there would be an independent statutory inquiry into the bombing.
Ruairi de Burca, director-general at the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, attended the first public hearing of the Omagh inquiry last July.
He told the inquiry that he was present on behalf of his government to signal in the “clearest terms, our commitment to facilitating and supporting the work of this inquiry”.
Gallagher said today: “I just hope for me that this is the beginning of the end, that we do get the answers we need, that both the British government and the Irish government fully co-operate with the inquiry and as a bereaved parent I can say that’s all I can do.
“I’m very grateful for everybody who helped us get to this point where we can see an end.”
Gallagher also praised the focus on the victims in this phase of the inquiry as “bringing humanity” to proceedings.
The public inquiry chair, Scottish judge Alan Turnbull, said this focus on the victims and impact of the Omagh bombing will have “important value” in educating others about the “real effect of terrorism”.
Gallagher added: “It’s important to be here to support the other families, the Spanish families are giving evidence this morning, it’s going to be difficult.
“It brings a lot of it back, but it’s hugely important to focus this week and next week and the week after on the victims.
“In all of this, sometimes the voice of the victims is lost because there are so many technical arguments, but this brings humanity to it.”
Commemorative and personal statement hearings will be heard over the next four weeks.
These will begin with bereaved families giving pen portrait evidence of those who died, followed by survivors, emergency services and those working in statutory organisations.
The first commemorations heard will be of Fernando Blasco Baselga, 12, and Rocio Abad Ramo, 23, two Spanish tourists killed in the bombing.
Scottish judge Alan Turnbull, who is overseeing the probe, said he hopes all who support such acts of violence will learn of the actual indiscriminate and devastating consequences.
“Those beyond Omagh who listen and watch will, as I was, be shocked at the level of grief imposed on ordinary decent members of society doing nothing other than living their daily lives,” he said.
“Those who watch and listen will be overwhelmed and humbled, as I have been, on hearing of the appalling injuries inflicted on people of all ages and of the dignity and compassion with which so many of those have coped with the changes in their circumstances which have been imposed upon them.
“The evidence sessions will accordingly have an important value in informing and educating others as to the real effect of terrorist violence.
“In this way, it is my sincere hope that all of those who supported or condoned the use of such acts of violence will learn of the actual indiscriminate and devastating consequences of the such selfish conduct for innocent, hard-working and caring people of all ages and for their communities.”
Counsel to the inquiry Paul Greaney KC said the intention is to commemorate publicly each person who was killed in the bombing and to hear statements from those who were injured or directly affected.
He said this evidence will be a “key starting point in framing the inquiry’s investigation into whether the bombing could have been prevented by UK state authorities”.
“It will be distressing evidence to listen to, but it is vital that it is heard and heard in public,” he said.
“Understanding the impact of the bombing is critical to the investigation of the issue of preventability and for that reason we will not shy away from shining a bright light on the terrible consequences of that day.”
The inquiry was announced by then-Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris in 2023 after a High Court judgment recommended a public inquiry into alleged security failings in the lead-up to the atrocity, and also urged the Irish authorities to establish their own probe.
The Irish Government has formally agreed to provide assistance to the inquiry.
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