Flanagan ‘no’ to new chief for Omagh massacre probe

Sir Ronnie Flanagan has rejected Northern Ireland police ombudsman Nuala O’Loan’s call for an outside officer to head an investigation into the Omagh bomb atrocity, it was revealed tonight.

Angry relatives of the victims are expected to intensify demands for a full public inquiry when he meets them tomorrow.

An officer who headed the original inquiry, which was heavily criticised by Mrs O’Loan, is to stay in charge and he will be advised by a senior policeman from Merseyside.

The Ombudsman had recommended a team headed by a senior officer, independent of the police service of Northern Ireland, be set up.

But Superintendent Brian McArthur, the former deputy senior investigating officer who has been running the probe for the last 18 months, is to remain in control working with the senior Merseyside detective who, according to Sir Ronnie, will have unrestricted access as part of moves to ‘‘quality assure’’ the investigation.

Mrs O’Loan had also recommended a second outside officer be called in to investigate terrorist incidents linked to the Omagh outrage.

Sir Ronnie will meet families and survivors of the August 1998 outrage tomorrow when he will hit back at the Ombudsman’s claims of defective leadership and poor judgment.

He will tell relatives he is keeping a Northern Ireland officer in charge as he believes there is a difference between how terrorism is investigated in Ulster as opposed to the investigation of crime in England and Wales.

The Chief Constable will also agree that the investigative team should be given access to appropriate intelligence on the bomb, but will argue that consideration must be given to the sensitivity of information obtained by Special Branch through its network of informers.

It is expected to be a tense and difficult private session with the relatives, with Sir Ronnie issuing a strong rebuttal of the Ombudsman’s criticisms.

He will accuse her of ‘‘factual inaccuracies, unwarranted assumptions and misunderstandings’’ after her own investigative team was sent in to probe the Royal Ulster Constabulary inquiry.

That followed an internal review which revealed significant shortcomings, and led to an unprecedented row last month between the Chief Constable and the Ombudsman, who blamed Special Branch for withholding intelligence.

The rift is unlikely to be healed with confirmation that there will be no new outside officer to take charge of the hunt for the Real IRA bombers who killed 29 people, including a mother pregnant with twins, in the single biggest terrorist outrage in the 30 years of Northern Ireland bloodshed.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan, 21, was among the dead, said tonight: ‘‘People are totally disillusioned. They have nothing against the police but have lost faith in their investigation.

‘‘With these decisions, they (the police) are only tinkering with it.

‘‘Same investigation team, same obstacles and unless there is some 11th hour miracle, then I don’t think any of the families who want a full independent inquiry will settle for anything less, certainly not this.’’

Colm Murphy, a wealthy businessman and dedicated republican terrorist from Dundalk, Co Louth, convicted of bomb conspiracy charges linked to the atrocity, is facing a life sentence when he appears before three judges in Dublin on Friday.

Even though police on both sides of the Irish border believe they may have identified the gang responsible, nobody else has been charged.

A senior British detective who is part of Mrs O’Loan’s investigative team based in Belfast believes they can all still be caught, provided new resources are drafted in.

Chief Superintendent Martin Bridger, the deputy director of investigations who helped head the inquiry into the RUC’s flawed probe, said: ‘‘We believe a new senior investigating officer and a new team of investigators has to be appointed.

‘‘With that new impetus, and the taking up of the evidential opportunities that were available and some which remain available, we believe there is a realistic prospect of bringing others concerned in the Omagh bombing to justice.’’

Lawrence Rush, whose wife Libby was among the 29 dead, said tonight there must be a complete change of personnel.

‘‘We have the same old game, the same old faces, but the script has changed,’’ he said.

‘‘There must be a completely new team. The present one has too many holes.

‘‘With one or two exceptions, I have no confidence in the present team, but everybody presently working on the inquiry should be removed.’’

Some of the relatives are to have talks with lawyers in London next week to discuss the next stage of a High Court civil action seeking compensation from the men whom they have named as responsible for the bombing.

They are also pushing for a full judicial inquiry, but in the meantime are backing the Ombudsman for a fresh investigative team to take over.

Murphy, 49, was found guilty of conspiring to cause an explosion at the time of Omagh in August l998.

Families of the victims also believe the main men who planned and carried out the attack can be caught.

Stanley McCombe, whose wife Ann, 48, was killed, said: ‘‘I am convinced that Murphy’s conviction will have some sort of knock-on affect.

‘‘There are bound to be tensions among the rest of the gang, and it only takes one of them to step out of line ... maybe break under the pressure.’’

Detectives believe the men who bombed Omagh were also part of the same team linked to a series of other attacks in the run up to the atrocity, including a bombing in Banbridge, Co Down the previous fortnight.

Mr McCombe added: ‘‘I don’t know if it will be possible to apprehend every one of them, but I believe they can still reach the ringleaders.

‘‘Murphy will have plenty of time in jail to reflect on what happened in Omagh. He’s in jail, but the rest are out and about.’’