OMAGH BOMBING

The 'Omagh bombing' was a car bomb attack carried out by the Real IRA (RIRA), a splinter group of former Provisional Irish Republican Army members opposed to the Belfast Agreement, on August 15, 1998, in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
Twenty-nine people were killed as a result of the attack, including one woman who was pregnant with twins, and approximately 220 people were injured.^[2] The attack was described by the BBC as "Northern Ireland's worst single terrorist atrocity" and by British prime minister Tony Blair as an "appalling act of savagery and evil".^[3][4]
The victims included people of different religions and none, and also included Spanish tourists together with other tourists on a day trip from County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.

Contents

Chronology

Warnings

Responsibility

Police Ombudsman Report

Victim's Support Group

Memorials

See also

Notes

External links

Chronology

★ The Vauxhall Cavalier carrying the bomb, was parked outside a clothes shop on Omagh's Market Street at 14:00. It had been stolen in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan a week before, it then had its Republic of Ireland number plates replaced with Northern Ireland plates. The driver and another occupant left the car and walked down Campsie Road.

★ At 14:32 the first warning was received by an employee of UTV in Belfast. After passing the information to the RUC, the employee received another warning one minute later. Another minute later a warning was given to the Coleraine office of the Samaritans.

★ At 15:10 the bomb detonated.

Warnings

On the day of the bombing, three warnings were recorded and reported:
Received by Ulster Television at 14:32
:''"There's a bomb, courthouse, Omagh, main street, 500 pounds, explosion 30 minutes."''
Received by Ulster Television at 14:33
:''"Bomb, Omagh town, 15 minutes."''
Received by the Coleraine office of the 'Samaritans' charity at 14:34
:''"Am I through to Omagh? This is a bomb warning. It's going to go off in 30 minutes."'' The caller then stated the bomb was placed on Main Street, 200 yards from the courthouse.^[5]
There has been considerable debate about the subject of these warnings, the tapes of some warnings have not been released to the public, and some information about the location of the bomb may have been recorded incorrectly or ignored. One warning mentioned that the bomb was 183 metres (200 yards) away from the courthouse, the actual bombing was between 275-365 metres (300-400 yards) from the Courthouse.

Responsibility

After the attack the Real IRA claimed responsibility and apologised for bombing the courthouse at Omagh^[6] and on 14 December 2001 released a statement claiming the organisation had "minimal involvement" and that two MI5 agents were largely responsible for the bombing.^[7]
The BBC's ''Panorama'' programme, ''Who Bombed Omagh?'', shown in 2000, gave the names of the prime suspects as Séamus McKenna, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy, and Seamus Daly. Police believe that the bombing of BBC Television Centre in London was a revenge attack for the broadcast.^[8]
Builder and publican Colm Murphy, from County Louth, was charged and convicted in 2001 by the Republic's Special Criminal Court for "conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or cause injury". He was sentenced to fourteen years. In January 2005, Murphy's conviction was quashed and a retrial ordered by the Court of Criminal Appeal, on the grounds that two Gardaí had falsified interview notes, and that Murphy's previous convictions were improperly taken into account by the trial judges.^[9]
Many of the others were later sued in a civil action by the relatives of people killed in the bombing, including the families of James Barker, 12, Samantha McFarland, 17, Lorraine Wilson, 15, and 20-month-old Breda Devine.
On September 6, 2006 Sean Hoey, an electrician from Jonesborough, County Armagh went on trial accused of 29 counts of murder, as well as terrorism and explosives charges.^[10] Hoey's trial has been completed, but a verdict has not yet been reached.^[11]

Police Ombudsman Report

The Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, strongly criticised the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) (Now the PSNI) over their handling of the investigation. Her report stated that RUC officers had ignored previous warnings about a bomb and had failed to act on crucial intelligence. She went on to say that officers had been uncooperative and defensive during her inquiry into the investigation. RUC officers had been seen moving people towards the bomb, which they claimed was because the warnings had been for the Courthouse.^[12] On 24 February, 2006, it was alleged that an agent paid by MI5 and the FBI, knew of the plan to bomb Omagh, but that MI5 never passed this information to police.^[13] In 2006 Hugh Orde stated that the senior officer in charge of the case believed that MI5 did not withhold information.^[14]
The Mirror report that initially, the Police Association, which represents senior officers and rank and file members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), went to court to try to block the release of the O'Loan report, but dropped their efforts after being given more time to review the report before its release to the public.
However Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan stated that the multiple warnings were given to cause confusion and ultimately a greater loss of life.^[15] Flanagan retired following the O'Loan report.

Victim's Support Group

The families of the victims of the bomb created the Omagh Support and Self Help Group after the bombing. Their website provides newsletters, references and news archives regarding the bombing. The group also provides support to victims of other bombings in Ireland, as well other terrorist bombings, such as the 2004 Madrid train bombings.^[16]

Memorials

The bombing inspired the song "Paper Sun", by rock group Def Leppard, as noted in the commentary of their album ''Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection''.
Another song inspired by the bombings was "Peace on Earth", by rock group U2, and includes the line "They're reading names out over the radio. All the folks the rest of us won't get to know. Sean and Julia, Gareth, Ann, and Breda." The 5 names mentioned are five of the victims from this attack. Another Line, "She never got to say goodbye, To see the colour in his eyes, now he's in the dirt", was about how James Barker, a victim, was remembered by his mother Donna Maria Barker in an article in the ''Irish Times'' after the bombing in Omagh.
Omagh maintains a memorial garden in the town centre, however, a memorial stone is still to be erected.^[17]

See also

★ ''Omagh'', a 2004 TV movie dealing with the bombing

Notes

1. Black Operations: The Secret War Against the Real IRA, John Mooney & Michael O'Toole, , , Maverick House, ,
2. Omagh bombing kills 28
3. Bravery awards for bomb helpers
4. The Omagh Bomb - Main Events
5. ''Omagh bomb warnings released'', BBC News
6. ''Real IRA apologises for Omagh bomb'', BBC News
7. 14 December 2001 Real IRA Statement in Full
8. ''Ealing Bomb: The Real IRA'', ''Independent 4 August, 2001
9. Relatives disappointed with Omagh ruling
10. Sickness halts Omagh trial
11. O'Loan stands over report on Omagh bomb
12. Statement by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland on her Investigation of matters relating to the Omagh Bomb on August 15, 1998
13. MI5 withheld intelligence ahead of Omagh
14. ''MI5 "did not retain Omagh advice"'' BBC News
15. Appendix B: Police Press Releases on the Omagh Bomb
16. Omagh Support and Self Help Group
17. BBC News

External links

★ CAIN: Key Events - The Omagh Bomb, 15 August 1998

★ CAIN: Brief biographies and photos of those killed

★ Website dedicated to the Omagh bomb event ''Warning: Contains graphic eye-witness accounts''

★ Reflections on the Omagh bombing on the 5th anniversary

★ http://www.omaghbomb.co.uk/