Victims and relatives will take centre stage as the inquiry into the worst atrocity of the Troubles gets underway today.
For the next four weeks, commemorative and personal statements about the 29 people killed in the 1998 Omagh bombing will be heard at the Strule Arts Centre in the County Tyrone town, in what victims’ groups predict will be a “harrowing” experience.
The public inquiry, which held a preliminary session last year, has been established by the UK government to examine if the Real IRA bomb attack could have been prevented.
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In 2023, when the inquiry was announced, the father of one victim described it as ‘huge step’ forward
The car bomb explosion on 15 August 1998 killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, in the single bloodiest outrage in Northern Ireland’s protracted period of civil unrest and violence. More than 200 were wounded.
Relatives will now have the opportunity to speak about their deceased family members in this initial phase of the inquiry.
Today, the two Spanish victims of the attack will be remembered.
A bomb was detonated at the junction of Market Street and Dublin Road in Omagh. File pic: MoD
Twelve-year-old Fernando Blasco Baselga, and his youth leader, Rocio Abad Ramos, 23 were visiting Omagh when the attack happened. They were part of a Spanish group learning English over the border in County Donegal.
Solicitor Michael Donaghy will read a statement on behalf of Fernando’s family, while Rocio will be remembered by her sister Paloma Abad Ramos.
The bombing, just months after voters endorsed the landmark Good Friday peace agreement, shocked Ireland and engendered a grim resolution to accelerate the peace process rather than return to violence.
In August 2023, people gathered at the Omagh Memorial Garden to mark the 25th anniversary of the atrocity. Pic: PA
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Nobody was ever convicted of the bombing, but Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt was found liable in a 2009 civil case, along with four other men – Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly.
Murphy and Daily were cleared of liability on appeal in 2011, but found liable for the bombing in a civil retrial in 2013.
Colm Murphy had also been convicted of criminal involvement in the conspiracy, but was cleared in a retrial after Irish police were found to have falsified interview notes.
Real IRA Leader Michael McKevitt. File pic: PA
Colm Murphy leaving court in 2005 after being cleared of criminal involvement following a retrial. File pic: PA
Established last year, the inquiry has been asked to decide if the bombing could have been prevented by the UK authorities, but it will not identify the people responsible for the attack.