MI5 intelligence on Omagh ‘only passed on this year’

THE North’s chief constable yesterday told the families of those killed in the Omagh bomb that intelligence gathered by MI5 before the attack was only passed to police in the North earlier this year.

Michael Gallagher, whose son was among the 29 people killed by the Real IRA in August 1998, said if the intelligence had been passed on before the attack it might have made a difference.

Mr Gallagher and others who lost loved ones in the bombing, together with a number of those injured, spent two hours in heated discussion with the chief constable.

It was the first time they had met and Mr Gallagher described the discussions as “very long, at times difficult and sometimes very frank”.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Mr Gallagher said: “We talked about the way things had been handled, the intelligence, particularly MI5. He confirmed that it was only earlier this year that the PSNI was aware of that intelligence for the first time. It was important for us to hear it from the chief constable.

“That was something outside his control, but nevertheless we believe it could have made a difference and the police in Omagh had a right to know that intelligence so that they could at least have had a chance.”

He said many other opportunities had been missed. “It may or may not have had a bearing on the Omagh bomb, but at least it would have raised the state of awareness that there was a bomb attack on its way.”

The families left Sir Hugh Orde in no doubt at their dissatisfaction that nearly eight years after the bombing no one had yet been convicted of murder.

So far only south Armagh electrician Sean Hoey, 36, had been charged with killing those slaughtered in the car bombing. He is due to go on trial in September.

The families are planning a civil action against several men they believe to be responsible for the attack.

Mr Gallagher said that once the two cases were completed the families would be pressing for a full cross-border public inquiry.

Mr Gallagher said the criminal police investigation must now be coming to the end of its active life and, once it and the cases were over, they wanted the inquiry.

They will be pressing the British government to commit to one and local politicians to support them in their call.

Yesterday’s meeting went ahead weeks after the families failed in a bid to have talks with the head of MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller. They had wanted to discuss allegations that the security service withheld intelligence months before the bombing that either Omagh or Derry were possible targets.