Does it look bad if I posted an article that I only read the first two paragraphs to substantiate my point?
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A High Court judge in Belfast has found there was a “real prospect” the Real IRA attack in Omagh in 1998 could have been prevented.
Mr Justice Mark Horner recommended that the UK government undertake a human rights compliant investigation into the bombing and urged the Irish Government to do likewise.
He said he was not going to order that the probe take the form of a public inquiry, explaining that he did not want to be “prescriptive”.
He also said he did not have the powers to order the authorities in the Republic to act, but he expressed hope the Irish Government would take a decision to order one.
Campaigners launched the action in 2013 in an attempt to force an inquiry into bombing, which killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.
It was the worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict.
On 4 August 1998, 11 days before the bombing, the RUC received an anonymous telephone call warning there would be an “unspecified” terrorist attack on police in Omagh on 15 August.
The force’s Special Branch, which handled intelligence from agents, took limited action on the information and a threat warning was not sent to the sub-divisional commander in Omagh, an investigation by former police ombudsman Nuala O’Loan found.
An RUC review concluded in 2000 that the information should have been passed to the commander.
Mr Justice Horner told Belfast High Court: "I am satisfied that certain grounds when considered separately or together give rise to plausible allegations that there was a real prospect of preventing the Omagh bombing.
"These grounds involve, inter alia, the consideration of terrorist activity on both sides of the border by prominent dissident terrorist republicans leading up to the Omagh bomb.
“I am therefore satisfied that the threshold under Article 2 ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) to require the investigation of those allegations has been reached.”
The Memorial Garden in Omagh which commemorates the 1998 bombing
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed in the 15 August 1998 blast, launched the judicial review after former Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers decided not to order a public inquiry.
Ms Villiers argued that a probe by former police ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire was the best way to address any outstanding issues.
Mr Justice Horner said in his ruling: “Any investigation will have to look specifically at the issue of whether a more proactive campaign of disruption, especially if co-ordinated north and south of the border, had a real prospect of preventing the Omagh bombing, and whether, without the benefit of hindsight, the potential advantages of taking a much more aggressive approach towards the suspected terrorists outweighed the potential disadvantages inherent in such an approach.”
In the brief hearing, Mr Justice Horner only read the conclusion of his judgment to Belfast High Court.
He explained he was unable to read the full open judgment setting out his reasoning because the person whose job it was to check the document to ensure it did not contain sensitive material was self-isolating with Covid-19.
Responding to the judgment, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said: "The Omagh bombing was a terrible atrocity that caused untold damage to the families of the 29 people who were tragically killed and the 220 who were injured. The reverberations of that awful event were felt not just in Northern Ireland, but across the world.
"I want to put on record my deep regret that the families of those killed and wounded have had to wait so long to find out what happened on that terrible day in 1998. They deserve answers and I have great respect for their patience, grace and determination.
"We recognise that today the court has set out that there are ‘plausible allegations that there was a real prospect of preventing the Omagh bombing’ and that more should be done to investigate this.
“The UK government will take time to consider the judge’s statement and all its recommendations carefully as we wait for the full judgment to be published.”
Earlier this year, former first minister Arlene Foster said the Omagh families deserved an apology over the delay to the ruling.
She said: “No one should be expected to wait eight years for a court judgment.”
At the time the lord chief justice’s office said the judgment was “taking longer than initially anticipated”.
It added: "Due to the sensitive nature of the material involved in this case, the court is required to produce both an ‘open judgment’, which has been prepared in draft, and a ‘closed judgment’, which has to be completed before the open judgment can be published.
In their legal case the Omagh families claimed that intelligence from British security agents and Royal Ulster Constabulary officers could have been drawn together to prevent the dissident republican bombing.
Be very interesting to see the response now from both the FS and British governments here now.
Does @flattythehurdler still maintain there’s nothing to see here, move along?
You’re backtracking like a French platoon here mate.
You can strawman away and argue with yourself.
I’m not backtracking. You have consistently refused to countenance that British Intelligence, Gardai and the RUC sat on information regarding Omagh, this position flies in the face of all information. So much so that today a British judge has said there are very valid grounds for investigating these claims and recommended the British and Irish gov do so.
Yet you are here flat out denying any possibility they failed to act on information. You’ve made an absolute fool of yourself here but you’ve dug in now and seem to be too arrogant to acknowledge all the information and today’s ruling.
No. ‘Incredulous’ is an adjective of human emotion, not of human situation.
“Is incredulous being used incorrectly?” - yes it is being used incorrectly.
There is no excuse for that level of stupidity, thank god I am free from it.
No I haven’t. I simply don’t believe your assertion that the gardai knowingly sat back and allowed a car bomb to obliterate scores of people on a shopping day in Omagh.
You’re now on record as stating the gardai had a listening device in the car bomb.
I don’t believe it or you.
Sin e.
Well, there we can agree.
‘I am incredulous John Rawls is not more often quoted.’ Etc.
It’s not just my assertion. The judge today has said there are very valid grounds for this to investigated. You want to rule the possibility of that flat out which seems to be an utterly incredible position.
What is telling is that neither the British or FS gov seem interested in investigating these very serious allegations which the judge today said have valid grounds for. What scares you about the truth coming out over Omagh? Why are you so against the families finding out the full role of British Intelligence, RUC and Garda’s role in failing to prevent Omagh.
It absolutely stinks to the high heavens, the families know this, the judge knows this and the FS and British governments know this this but they don’t want the truth to come out. Why do you think that is?
And you state “grounds for investigation” as absolute fact.
I am saying now, that the gardai did not knowingly conspire to allow scores of innocent families to get blown to bits.
I would be very very surprised if the PSNI or the UK govt did either, though less so.
The judge to me is quite clear that it needs investigating whether the bomb could have been stopped, rather than a criminal conspiracy.
It’s alleged they did. The judge has said that there is sufficient grounds for this to be investigated. The only completely ignorant one here is you who cannot even countenance this would happen. I have contended that RUC, British Intelligence and Gardai had all the information at the their fingertips to thwart this attack. They chose not to, by design or fault is anyone’s guess.
Oddly enough you don’t think this should be pursues it investigated for some bizarre reason. Maybe you should tell that to the victims families who don’t want it dismissed out of hand like you do. You’ve made your mind up but the families want answers.
Michael Martin agrees with Fulvio on this one imagine
There you go windmilling away at your own strawmen again.
The only one creating strawmen is you. It is a statement of fact that you won’t countenance that RUC/British Intelligence/Gardai sat on an ocean of prior information that could have prevented Omagh.
And you now seem to be trying to distance yourself from those comments, but they’re here on record and they are in direct contrast with what the judge said today.
I am not. You have stated that the gardai colluded in the Omagh bomb, to the point they had the bomb car bugged.
This is not true. You are lieing.
The end.
It is true. You have consistently objected against any chance Omagh could have been stopped and was allowed happen when there are very strong signs pointing out to this. Your position here is utterly incredible.
Why are so quick to dismiss an investigation on what the judge described as valid claims? You have point blank ruled out any chance of it whatsoever.
I haven’t and this is the last time I’m going to respond to your lies. I have stated that I do not believe the gardai colluded in the Omagh bombing. Absolutely 100% not.
You have stated as a fact that they did, and have stated they had a bug in the bomb car. This is a lie.
I have not stated anywhere that I have any issue with an open honest investigation. You can shriek it all you like. It isn’t true. You are repeatedly making it up.
So you now accept that there’s a possibility Gardai/British Intelligence/RUC sat on extensive information that would have prevented Omagh from happening?