Fears ‘appalling vista’ of Omagh will remain hidden

Family members of the victims of the Omagh bomb have expressed concern that a public inquiry, which opened this week, will fail to uncover the truth of state involvement in the August 1998 attack in which 29 people were killed.

The attack in the predominately nationalist Tyrone town came four months after the signing of the Good Friday peace deal.

Claire Hayes, whose brother Alan Radford was killed in the bomb when he was 16, said she was sceptical of the outcome of the inquiry due to ongoing secrecy by the Dublin and London governments.

She believes the conclusion of the inquiry will only bring out “a very diluted version” of the truth.

Ms Hayes made her comments before addressing the inquiry, which opened on Tuesday at the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh.

The inquiry was announced in 2023 by the then Conservative government as it passed legislation to ‘draw a line’ under questions about British war crimes in the north of Ireland.

It has emerged that state agencies in both jurisdictions had tracked the Omagh bomb across the border. Telephoned bomb warnings failed to clear the area around the device before it exploded with devastating consequences.

Three days after the attack, a statement in the name of the breakaway Real IRA claimed responsibility.

Large-scale casualties in similar bomb attacks during the conflict have been linked to covert state efforts to discourage support for the armed struggle.

The Dublin government has promised to co-operate with the British inquiry, but has said there is no point in a separate public inquiry in the South.

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Hayes said the inquiry could give families an answer as to whether the bombing “could have been prevented”, in the language of its terms of reference. But she doubted the full truth of the role of state agencies would emerge.

“There are too many redactions that can be made, there are too many protections in place for the likes of MI5 or informants or whoever,” she said.

“When the Irish government isn’t partaking in it, it’s not a full inquiry so for me there’s already a flaw.

“We need complete transparency from the southern government.”

She added that while Dublin has said it will help “they’re not compelled to do so and - for me, for Alan - that’s not something I wanted.

“I wanted it to be completely robust and completely transparent for him so we know absolutely everything.”

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed, said the opening of the inquiry had been 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.”

Mr Gallagher, who has campaigned for many years for the inquiry, said sometimes he felt like he had to pinch himself that it was happening.

“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, and I’m very grateful for everybody who helped us get to this point where we can see an end.”

Urgent Appeal