Bomb victim's father in plea to Sinn Féin
A father whose son was killed by the Omagh bomb tonight called on Sinn Féin to fully cooperate with investigations into the atrocity.
Michael Gallagher claimed the party had so far failed to assist inquiries into the blast, which killed 29 people, among them a woman pregnant with twins, in the Co Tyrone market town in August 1998.
Mr Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aiden was among the victims of the worst single atrocity of the Troubles, said: “It is widely known that the Provisional IRA visited those responsible for the Omagh bombing shortly afterwards.
“The IRA statement marks a sea change in republicanism and it comes just weeks before the seventh anniversary.
“If the Sinn Féin leadership is serious about the changes in republican attitudes, would it come forward and ask people who have knowledge of what happened at Omagh – before and after the bombing – to share that with the investigations, north and south of the border?
“That would give some degree of confidence to people that there has been a sea change in Sinn Féin’s attitude.”
On the content of the statement, Mr Gallagher said: “Like most right-thinking people I welcome anything that brings us back into a more normalised society.
“My concerns would be that there have been negotiations in London, Dublin and Washington but the people who who have suffered over the past 35 years have had no voice whatsoever.”
He also questioned whether independent witnesses from the Protestant and Catholic Churches would be best placed to view the decommissioning process.
Mr Gallagher said: “These people have no military background and would not be in a position to know the difference between a replica and a real AK47.”
He called for the process to be both transparent and accountable.
As the families prepare to mark the seventh anniversary of the blast next month, their quest for justice, despite six investigations, has yet to result in anyone being convicted of the bombing.
Last month a man charged in connection with the atrocity was freed after the charge against him was dropped.
Anthony Joseph Donegan, 34, from Dundalk, Co Louth walked free from prison on the instruction of the Public Prosecution Service.
Donegan had been charged in February in connection with the car used to carry the Real IRA bomb.
Sean Gerard Hoey, 35, of Molly Road, Jonesborough, south Armagh, is the only man still in custody charged with the bombing.
He was charged in May with the murders of the 29 people who died in the blast.
