Ahead of public inquiry, former RUC officers describe Omagh blast horror

Irish News, January 20th, 2025

TWO former RUC officers have spoken of the horror of wading through bodies and blood on the day of the Omagh bombing.

A public inquiry is to resume next week into the attack in which the Real IRA planted a 500-pound bomb which killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, on August 15 1998.

A warning phoned in to a news agency 40 minutes before the bomb went off made reference to the Omagh courthouse, with police ushering many members of the public to where it exploded on Market Street.

Speaking to the Sunday World, two retired officers who served during the carnage of that day have spoken of the toll that it has taken on them.

Phil Marshall described being frozen momentarily in the immediate aftermath of the explosion but then working to help those who had been injured and to recover bodies.

“You switch off as a human and get to work. I had young officers under my command, many of them in shock – I had to scream orders at them to snap them back,” he told the newspaper.

“I remember all that was left of the car was the engine block, which had come down on top of two people and was on fire.

“With the help of a civilian we pulled them out. One died.

“The explosion had blown the water main.

“Water stained red with blood was flowing down the street.

“I lifted a baby girl out of a shop window. I had a daughter of my own that age, she and my wife were in town that day and I had no idea where they were.

“I felt something bumping into my leg – it was a body being washed down the street.”

“We looted Boots, grabbing sanitary towels, facecloths, cotton wool – anything that could soak up blood.

A public inquiry is being held into the 1998 Real IRA Omagh bombing

“We took curtains, sheets, pillowcases from a haberdashery to cover the dead.”

Richard Scott, another officer who was off duty but lived nearby, described the hugely difficult task of dealing with the bodies of those who lost their lives.

“We had 14 bodies in here, we couldn’t fit in any more,” he said.

“We treated them with the utmost respect; they were covered and treated gently with dignity.

“You have to remember this is our town, some of us knew these people, some were related to officers who were on the ground that day.

“We picked up a young girl whose stomach was ripped open, her insides were literally spilling out.

“We tried to push them back in and we got her into a car to take her to hospital. Thankfully she survived.”

The public inquiry into the largest single loss of life in the north during the Troubles officially got underway in February 2024 when the UK government issued its terms of reference.

From Monday of next week the inquiry is hosting four weeks of commemorative and personal statement hearings in the Co Tyrone town.

Mr Scott, who helped set up support group Military and Police Support (MAPS) in Omagh, expressed caution over the resumption of the inquiry.

One of the key questions sought to be answered by the inquiry is whether the UK state could have prevented the events of that day.

The government announced the inquiry in response to a High Court judgment, which found there were specific issues which might suggest that the bombing could have been prevented.

“We [police] were abandoned,” Mr Scott said.

“There was nothing for us. Hundreds of officers were involved on that day and in the investigation.

“Thirty of them have come to us so there’s hundreds carrying this around in their heads and fearful the inquiry will blame them.

“It’s a tinderbox and this inquiry has the potential to hurt and damage a lot of officers.

“I don’t know if there was any intelligence, I don’t know if they had forewarning. That’s nothing to do with us.”

Brown family reject ICRIR option

Connla Young, Irish News, January 20th, 2025

THE family of murdered GAA official Sean Brown have repeated their pledge not to engage with a controversial legacy body in their fight for the truth.

Siobhán Brown was speaking after Secretary of State Hilary Benn suggested they talk to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

The disputed body was set up under the Conservative government’s legacy act which was introduced last year. While the Labour government says the act will be repealed and replaced, it will retain the commission.

Many people affected by the Troubles strongly oppose the ICRIR, believing it is part of British government attempts to protect state participants from accountability.

Last year the Court of Appeal found that a British government veto over sensitive material that can be disclosed by the commission to bereaved relatives is incompatible with human rights laws.

Mr Brown (61) was abducted by an LVF gang as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAC. He was beaten and later shot dead.

Last year it emerged during an inquest hearing into his death that more than 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.

It has also been revealed that a suspect in the murder was believed to be a member of the Royal Irish Regiment, while another suspect held a personal protection weapon and was regularly visited by a police officer at his home.

Last year High Court judge Mr Justice Kinney, sitting as a coroner, was forced to abandon the inquest and wrote to then-Tory secretary of state Chris Heaton-Harris to ask for a public inquiry. Last month a second High Court judge, Mr

Justice Humpreys, also concluded that there must be a public inquiry.

Mr Benn has since appealed that ruling. Writing in The Irish News on Saturday, he referred to Mr Brown’s case and urged all “those still searching for answers, for justice or for acknowledgement of what happened, to talk to the commission to hear and discuss what they propose”.

But Ms Brown said: “The ICRIR will not help our family. There are concerns with their approach to sensitive material, lack of involvement with families and ultimately the secretary of state will have the final say and if there is a threat to national security by releasing information as part of the inquest process, what difference is that going to make in an ICRIR process?

“The only way forward in Daddy’s case is a public inquiry. Two High Court judges have directed a public inquiry should be held. The chief constable has said he would not stand in a way of a public enquiry, as does Micheál Martin.

“The family are not willing to engage with the ICRIR.”

In his article Mr Benn said there are “number of families, including the family of Sean Brown, whose inquests were brought to a premature end”.

Last year the inquest was abandoned when the coroner confirmed he was unable to complete the legal process due to PSNI and MI5 failures to disclose vital information. Both made applications for multiple redactions to sensitive documents connected to the murder under Public Interest Immunity. Such certificates are used by state agencies to withhold information.

Sean Brown’s daughter Siobhan says her family will not engage with the ICRIR

Ms Brown said her father’s inquest was not “brought to a premature end because of the legacy act”.

“It was brought to an end because the coroner couldn’t discharge his duties due to the extensive sensitive material that MI5, PSNI and MoD didn’t want divulged,” she said.