Omagh bombing horrors revealed in hearings ‘will educate on effect of terrorism’

By Rebecca Black and Jonathan McCambridge (PA)

A focus on the victims and impact of the Omagh bombing will have “important value” in educating others about the “real effect of terrorism”, a public inquiry chairman has said.

Bereaved families and survivors have gathered at the Strule Arts Centre in the Co Tyrone town for the inquiry which will examine whether the atrocity could reasonably have been prevented by UK authorities.

Some 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins were killed in the Real IRA bomb attack in the Co Tyrone town on August 15, 1998.

The names of all those killed in the bombing were read out at the public inquiry into the atrocity on Tuesday morning before all those assembled were invited to stand for a minute’s silence in remembrance.

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.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed in the attack, said the focus on victims will “bring humanity” to proceedings.

Scottish judge Lord 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.

In his opening statement to the inquiry last year, Lord Turnbull said the pain of bereavement and trauma caused by the dissident republican bomb attack spread beyond Omagh, Northern Ireland and Ireland to families from England and Spain.

He said the inquiry will undertake its task “rigorously and fearlessly”, and emphasised the “defining character of the inquiry must be its independence”.

Michael Gallagher (left), the father of Aiden Gallagher, who was one of the victims of the Omagh bombing (photo by PA)