Omagh bomb warning was 'unreliable'

A warning of Real IRA activity three days before the Omagh bombing never reached Special Branch.

Northern Ireland’s police chief Ronnie Flanagan says information from a police informant "could not have prevented the Omagh attack".

The informant had said the Real IRA was about to move "something" across the border.

Mr Flanagan says there was "an unacceptable breakdown in procedures".

He added, however, that the informant was unreliable and had been caught previously "fabricating information".

Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan launched her investigation into the Omagh bombing last August after press reported that the informant, who goes under the pseudonym Kevin Fulton, had given police information which, if acted upon, could have prevented the attack.

The Omagh bomb killed 29 people, including a woman heavily pregnant with twins.

The Chief Constable said that, as reported in the ombudsman's report, Fulton had passed information on supposed dissident republican terrorist activity to his CID handler on five occasions between June and August 1998.

The ombudsman alleged the information was not given sufficient weight, was not properly handled by police after being received and was not adequately followed up during the subsequent investigation.

However, she reached the conclusion it was unlikely the bombing could have been prevented even if reasonable action had been taken over the information.