Governments 'must work together with Omagh families'

The Irish and British governments must work together to establish an inquiry which will satisfy the relatives of the Omagh bombing, it was claimed today.

The Omagh Victims’ Group called for talks with Tony Blair following its first meeting with Bertie Ahern, five and a half years after the Real IRA atrocity claimed the lives of 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.

The two leaders were urged to “get their heads together” and listen to the families.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was killed in the bombing, said the group asked the Taoiseach to consider a number of options but most importantly, to involve them in any further investigations.

“We are not against both governments, we are not against the PSNI and the Garda. We are all on the same side,” he insisted.

“Let’s all resolve to get to the truth of Omagh and get those responsible behind bars.

“Whether it be a full public inquiry or whether we go down a route like the Cory report or the Hutton report, what we have asked is that the families are consulted, it must have the support of the families and we must have an input.

“This is going to be the families, the British government and the Irish Government.”

Mr Gallagher said Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy had assured them that no other information could have been passed on which could have prevented the Omagh bomb.

He described the Nally report as very restrictive and said other people could have been interviewed who could have added something to the inquiry.

“It wasn’t as wide a remit as we felt was needed,” he said.

“In some ways it was never going to get to the truth because the people involved didn’t have the necessary criminal investigative skills.

“It may be the basis for further inquiries but in itself it could never be the end.”

Mr Gallagher, who spoke on behalf of the whole group, said whichever route they now chose to go down, the meeting had been very positive.

“We feel now that we are part of the process, we felt before that we were ignored and incidental in many ways,” he said.

“But we have been given an assurance that we will be kept up to date, we will be informed.

“If both governments can come to an agreement which satisfies the families - that’s what we want.”

He claimed Tony Blair had also avoided the group for the past five years and they were now hoping a similar meeting with him would follow.

“We need to be talking to governments, not communicating with them through the media,” he added.

Mr Ahern said the Irish Government remained determined to bring those responsible to justice and would continue to do everything they could to support the investigations of the Garda and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

“We know that dissident groups continue to plan further attacks. They must be stopped. They cannot be allowed to wreck more innocent lives,” he said.

The Taoiseach promised to provide the group with as much information as possible, taking into account issues of national security.

He assured them that the investigation was ongoing and was still following a number of lines of inquiry.

The group will meet Justice Minister Michael McDowell for a further briefing on March 23.

Victor Barker, whose 12-year-old son James was also killed in the blast, is due to meet Mr Conroy in a separate initiative tomorrow.

Mr Barker has said he will raise the issue of why a former Garda informant who supplied stolen cars to the Real IRA was not interviewed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland or the Nally team, which carried out a report into the bombing for the Irish Government.