Names of Omagh bomb victims read into the record and minute’s silence observed as Inquiry opens
The names of the five Buncrana victims of the Omagh bombing were read into the record of the Omagh Bombing Inquiry at a preliminary hearing in the Strule Arts Centre on Tuesday.
Oran Doherty, aged 8, Sean McLaughlin, aged 12, James Barker, aged 12, Fernando Blasco Baselga, aged 12, and Rocio Abad Ramous, aged 23, were among the 29 people and two unborn children who died when a Real IRA car bomb exploded in Market Street in Omagh at approximately 3.10pm on August 15, 1998.
Oran and Sean were from Knockalla Drive. James was originally from England but was living in Buncrana at the time of the atrocity. Madrid-natives Fernando and Rocio were staying in Inishowen during the summer of 1998.
On Tuesday the first hearing was held by the Inquiry to allow the Chairman Lord Turnbull to consider procedural issues relating to the conduct of future public hearings and the Inquiry’s investigation.
At the hearing Paul Greaney, KC, to the Inquiry read out the names of those murdered in the bombing. This was followed by a minute’s silence in memory of the victims.
During the course of the hearing Lord Turnbull said: “I know that the pain of bereavement and the trauma caused by the bombing was felt far beyond the community of Omagh.
"Those who were killed were from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, England and Spain. I know that those killed and injured ranged in age from those yet to be even born, through babies, infants, children and young people with their whole lives ahead of them, men and women in their prime, and those who were looking forward to a time in which they could share in their experiences of their adult children and grandchildren.
“I also know that the impact of this terrorist attack spread beyond the death and destruction brought to this community. The fact that such an outrageous attack took place only a few short months after the people of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland had voted so comprehensively in support of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement caused outrage and consternation across national boundaries and across continents.”
Lord Turnbull noted that political, religious and community leaders had been united in ‘expressing the unforgiveable nature of what had occurred’ and insisted that the Inquiry will adopt ‘a trauma-informed approach in all of its contact with family members and others affected’.
The Scottish judge vowed that the defining character of the Inquiry ‘must be its independence’ and that its purpose was to establish 'whether there were reasonable steps which could have been taken by UK state authorities to prevent the bombing from occurring'.
“The Inquiry will undertake that task rigorously and fearlessly. It will not allow itself to be deflected from its purpose by the difficulties which may lie in its way on account of the passage of time or the volume and complexity of the materials it may be asked to consider,” he said.
Lord Turnbull said the public nature of the Inquiry’s work would provide him with an opportunity to exhibit that commitment.
However, he indicated some evidence may have to be heard in camera for national security reasons.
"Of course, some of the evidence and materials which the Inquiry will assess may be of particular sensitivity and it may be that for reasons of national security it becomes necessary to hear some of that evidence in private or in what are known as closed sessions,” the hearing was told.
The judge said that if this was the case any evidence laid in closed session would be subject to ‘the same level of rigorous scrutiny’ as that which was laid in open proceedings.
He promised the Inquiry’s work would not be amenable to influence from government or any state agency and that he would chair it with an open mind and without any pre-formed opinion as to whether the atrocity could have or could not have been prevented.
The Omagh Bomb Inquiry was announced by the former British Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris in February 2023.
It was called after a High Court judgment that found there were specific issues that gave rise to plausible arguments that the bombing by the Real IRA could have been prevented.
Among the Inquiry’s terms of reference is that consideration be given to ‘the adequacy of the measures taken by UK state authorities, including the police, security forces and Intelligence and Security Agencies, to disrupt those dissident republican terrorists who had been involved in terrorist attacks or attempted terrorist attacks in the period from 1st December 1997 to the Omagh Bombing’.
It will also look at the handling and sharing of intelligence, the use of cell phone analysis, whether there was advance knowledge or reasonable means of knowledge of the bomb, and whether disruption operations could or should have been mounted, which may have helped prevent the Real IRA attack.
Speaking at the time of the original announcement Mr. Heaton-Harris said: "The Omagh bomb was a horrific terrorist atrocity committed by the Real IRA, which caused untold damage to the families of those who were tragically killed and injured. Its impact was felt not just in Northern Ireland, but across the world.
“Having carefully considered the judgment of the High Court, I believe that an independent statutory inquiry is the most appropriate form of further investigation to address the grounds identified by the Court.
“I would like to thank the victims and survivors and all those affected by the Omagh bomb for their patience whilst I have reflected on the judgment and taken into account a range of sensitive, complex and technical factors.”