LAST UPDATE | 30 Jul
THE FIRST PUBLIC hearing in the UK’s independent inquiry into the Omagh bombing will begin later today.
The probe, chaired by Scottish lawyer and member of the House of Lords Alan Turnbull, is examining whether the atrocity could reasonably have been prevented by UK authorities.
In 2021, a High Court judge recommended that the UK Government should carry out a human rights-compliant investigation into alleged security failings in the lead-up to the attack.
Mr Justice Horner found that it was potentially plausible the attack could have been prevented.
His ruling came after a legal challenge by a bereaved family member against the Government’s refusal to hold a public inquiry.
The judge also recommended that the Irish Government establish its own investigation.
The UK inquiry will examine the adequacy of the measures taken by UK state authorities, including the police, security forces and intelligence and security agencies, to disrupt dissident republicans who had been involved in attacks from December 1997 up to and including the Omagh bombing.
It will assess whether that approach changed following the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998.
It will also probe alleged intelligence-sharing failures between the UK and Irish authorities in the year and a half leading up to the bombing.
The dissident republican bomb exploded in the Co Tyrone town on 15 August 1998, killing 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.
Some of the bereaved families have called for decades for a public inquiry into alleged security failings.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed in the atrocity, said today’s hearing will be the first time since 1998 that all of the bereaved families, including those caught up in the blast from Spain, will come together.
Speaking as he arrived at the Strule Arts Centre this morning, Gallagher said it had taken a long time to get here.
“It has taken us 26 years to get here and we’re just delighted,” he said.
“One of the sad ironies is that when I got up this morning and saw the sunshine, it was exactly the same on August 15, 1998. It was one of the most beautiful days of that year.
“It’s good to be here. It’s a long time but we are where we want to be and we just have to wait and see where this inquiry takes us.
“Every morning I waken up and still pinch myself, I can’t believe that we’re there.”
Stanley McCombe, who lost his wife Ann bomb, said he had great faith in Turnbull and his legal team.
“After years of hard labour we’re hopeful, we’re very very hopeful,” he added
Survivors are also expected to gather at the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh for the hearing which will include opening remarks from the chair and counsel to the chair Paul Greaney KC.
Commemorative and personal statements are set to be made during inquiry hearings next January.
Earlier this month, the Irish Government formally agreed to provide assistance to the inquiry.
A Government spokesman said this “honours a commitment” given to Omagh families.
“This is a complex process that involves working with another jurisdiction but we do have recent precedent for doing this,” the spokesman said.
“For example, the Omagh civil case and we also produced legislative means to assist inquests in Northern Ireland with Operation Denton and the independent review of activities into the Glenanne gang.
“Officials will now explore a memo of understanding for the State’s engagement with this upcoming inquiry.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said the Government intends to do “everything possible” to assist the inquiry.
With reporting from Press Association
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