First hearing is held for Omagh Bomb public inquiry

THE first Preliminary Hearing being held as part of the Omagh Bomb Inquiry has taken place at the Strule Arts Centre.

Members of some of the families bereaved by the August 15, 1998, atrocity, as well as those injured in the bomb – which claimed the lives of 31 people – were in attendance.

In his opening remarks, the Chairman, Lord Alan Turnball, said that the Market Street bombing had claimed the lives of those who had yet to be burn, babies, infants, children and young people, men and women in the prime of their lives and those looking forward to sharing in the experiences of their adult children and grandchildren.

He described the attack as ‘outrageous’ and said that it had caused outrage and consternation beyond national boundaries and continents. He said the nature of what had happened was ‘unforgivable.’

The Preliminary Hearing also heard the Irish Government representative, Ruairi De Burca, director general at the Department for Foreign Affairs, assured families that officials have been engaging regularly with the Inquiry team since its appointment last November. That good faith engagement will help determine how the Irish State can assist the Inquiry. 

“Notwithstanding the particular complexities in assisting any Inquiry established under the law of another sovereign jurisdiction, including the appropriateness of a sovereign State joining as a Core Participant, the Government of Ireland is determined, together with the Inquiry team, to establish a bespoke mechanism to guide our engagement and assist the Inquiry,” they added. 

“Our commitment is to ensure that there is nothing left unanswered in our jurisdiction at the end of the Inquiry.

“It will be important to ensure the arrangements underpinning our engagement are legally robust and the Government of Ireland is committed to putting in place the most effective possible arrangements to help the Inquiry’s work. These will be consistent with the Inquiry’s own terms of reference and with Irish law, in particular with regard to the Constitutional and ECHR rights of persons. 

“This follows on from actions taken by this Government and its predecessors over the years to support the families of the victims. These include assisting the Northern Ireland Courts during the civil proceedings taken by the families, and the enactment of primary and secondary legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas to support cross-border cooperation with UK authorities. 

We will do everything in our power to ensure that this spirit of cooperation endures. This will be grounded in law to support concrete action. The Government is committed to put in place additional new legislation, if that is what is required, to support our assistance to the Inquiry. These important details are being worked through with the Inquiry team, to ensure that our engagement proceeds on the strongest possible footing. 

The Irish Government also said that the Inquiry is an opportunity to explore one of the fundamental questions that families have asked, namely around the preventability of the attack.