By 
THE Omagh Bombing Inquiry is to reconvene this week when among the issues to be discussed will be the status of so-called ‘Operationally Sensitive Material’ which may come before the probe as its work continues.
Earlier this year, the inquiry sought submissions from Core Participants – including the families, state authorities and the media – on what way the Inquiry should manage sensitive material relating to the 1998 atrocity.
A total of 31 people, including three unborn children, were killed when the bomb exploded on Market Street in Omagh on August 15, 1998.
The inquiry began in January when relatives of those killed gave personal testimonies on their loved ones. Some of the hundreds injured, as well as members of the PSNI, Fire and Ambulance Services and others who assisted the dead and injured also attended.
The inquiry will this week discuss the submissions from Core Participants to help inform its approach to handling sensitive material and for the chair, Lord Turnbull, to consider the scope of any restriction order in relation to Operational Senstive Material. The information contained within the Operationally Sensitive Material may not be capable of being published without causing a risk of harm, and could on its own or in combination with other material be capable of assisting those who would wish to carry out future terrorist attacks or other criminal activity.
While the inquiry hearings for this week are scheduled for one day only, provision has also been made for them to be extended to a second day if required.
