Omagh bomb victims’ names read aloud as public inquiry reopens
Omagh bomb victims’ names read aloud as public inquiry reopens
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Inquiry chair says evidence will make clear the ‘devastating and lasting impact’ of Real IRA attack in August 1998. The names of each of the 29 people killed in the Omagh bombing, including a mother and her unborn twins, have been read out as the public inquiry into the attack reopened.
Bereaved families and survivors gathered at the Strule arts centre in County Tyrone for the inquiry, which will examine whether UK authorities could reasonably have prevented the Real IRA bombing on 15 August 1998. In a hushed hall, the inquiry chair, Alan Turnbull, thanked those who had chosen to engage.
He opened by speaking of the “distressing and difficult experience” of those who had volunteered to engage in the process, with memories inevitably flooding back to when the 500lb bomb exploded killing 29 and injuring 220 others. It was the largest single incident in the Troubles in Northern Ireland and sent shock waves across the island of Ireland and beyond, with casualties from Northern Ireland, Ireland, England and Spain.
“For many, revisiting the thoughts and emotions of loss and injury has been very upsetting,” Turnbull said. Some of the statements submitted to the inquiry have been redacted but Turnbull said he had read them all. He said some of the evidence would be triggering and the inquiry would from time to time warn of the harrowing detail to come to allow people to exit the room should they wish.
