Former NI Secretary 'fell asleep in meeting with the bereaved'

Liam Tunney, Belfast Telegraph, Belfast Telegraph, February 5th, 2025

FATHER WHO LOST SON IN BOMB TELLS INQUIRY OF 'ASTONISHING' INCIDENT

A former Secretary of State fell asleep during a meeting with families of the Omagh bomb victims, a bereaved father claimed.

Michael Gallagher's son Aiden (21) was among 29 people, including a mother carrying unborn twins, murdered in the Real IRA blast on August 15, 1998.

At the inquiry in Omagh, Mr Gallagher alleged that a previous Northern Ireland Secretary had dozed off in front of victims' families.

“I can recall a meeting with a previous Secretary of State when they actually fell asleep during the meeting,” he told the inquiry. I don't know if it was out of boredom, but it was quite astonishing.”

Mr Gallagher also reflected on the moment when another Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris, revealed to the families in 2021 that the public inquiry they yearned for would take place.

It followed a 2013 rejection of their request by then-incumbent Theresa Villiers, who cited an ongoing Police Ombudsman investigation as the reason for the decision.

“From the very first meeting we had with Chris Heaton-Harris, though, there was a different atmosphere,” Mr Gallagher said. “He made a point of coming to Omagh and visiting the Memorial Garden.

“We owe a huge gratitude to him for the difficult decision he had to make and I have no doubt he had to overcome many obstacles in order to make that decision. His whole approach to victims, for me, was completely different.”

Mr Gallagher also told the inquiry that the victims of the Omagh bombing have become the freedom fighters that their killers claimed to be.

“That day, the so-called Real IRA declared war on an unsuspecting civilian population for their own political aims,” he said.

“This is a group that describes themselves as freedom fighters. In fact, I think they are freedom takers. The victims have ended up being the freedom fighters.”

Mr Gallagher said he hopes the inquiry will finally secure justice for all those affected by the Omagh bomb.

“We had all committed to this process and we could not give up. We felt that it was hugely important to get the public inquiry,” he said.

“Hopefully in this inquiry we will see the fruits of that. It's not an easy task to apply yourself to. Over the past 25 years, it's taken almost all of my time.”

Mr Gallagher recalled the last time he saw his son alive before the blast.

Aiden had gone into the town centre along with his close friend Michael Barrett to buy a new pair of jeans. “He was a normal young person,” Michael said. “He went out on the weekend with his friends. He enjoyed having a beer and having fun. He had a very wide group of friends from different backgrounds and interests.

“Aiden would have been the joker in the pack, there is no question about it. He was fun to be with.

“He enjoyed fun. He enjoyed company. If there was somebody in the crowd who was backward or didn't like to come forward, he would notice that and would engage with that person.”

Even on the day he died, Aiden had been asking his mother for advice about clothes sizes and had “a pleasant conversation” with his dad, who remembers telling him where to park the car.

“He turned around and walked down the hall. I remember he looked back for the last time and said: “I won't be long.' That was really the last time we saw Aiden,” Michael said.

The father was working on a car later that afternoon when he heard the explosion and headed straight out to look for his son at the hospital and leisure centre. Within hours, he was called into a room with two young police officers.

“They started asking me questions about Aiden's height, identifying marks and the clothing,” Michael said. “I knew by the nature of the questions that it wasn't going to be a good outcome.

“A short time later, we were told to go to the temporary mortuary, which had been set up at Lisanelly Army Camp. James went with me and we identified Aiden. I remember driving home in the early hours of the morning. It was starting to break day and I could hear birds singing in the trees.

“It seemed a normal situation but my greatest concern was how I was going to tell my family Aiden was dead.”

Following a question from lead counsel to the inquiry, Paul Greaney KC, Michael spoke of the impact it has had on his life. “If I have a regret, it is that I would have liked to, and probably should have, spent more time with my own family and less campaigning,” he said.

“It seemed to be the way things worked out. We don't have the benefit of hindsight, but I do think I would personally have benefited if I had done less campaigning. That's a hugely difficult but honest thing that I have to say. If there is a consolation in all of that, it's the fact we are here today.

“I've sat through all of the testimonies and [they have] moved me enormously. To put a human face to the person, rather than a statistic, has been one of the consolations. I do hope we will continue to answer some of the very difficult questions we haven't had answered so far.”

Bereaved Stardust families show solidarity at inquiry

Rebecca Black and Cate McCurry, Irish News, February 5th, 2025

RELATIVES of some of those killed in the Stardust tragedy have shown solidarity with the families of Omagh victims, as one of the best known campaigners gave evidence to the long-waited inquiry.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was among those murdered in the blast, was described as a “figurehead” for many of those affected.

The inquiry was announced last year after a legal challenge by Mr Gallagher resulted in a High Court judgment which recommended a public inquiry into alleged security failings in the lead-up to the atrocity.

Among those at the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh yesterday were Gertrude Barrett, whose son Michael Barrett died in the Stardust nightclub fire in Dublin in 1981, and survivor Lorraine Sorohan, whose sister Teresa McDonnell died.

“ We have each other ’s backs… We’ve all walked the same walk when it comes to loss

Last year an inquest concluded that the 48 people who died in the fire had been unlawfully killed, prompting a state apology to the families, delivered by then-taoiseach Simon Harris in the Dáil.

Ms Barrett said they were there to support the Omagh families.

“They’ve had a long slog like ourselves,” she said.

Ms Sorohan said she wanted to show the Omagh families they are behind them and wishing for the best outcome.

They said Mr Gallagher had supported them in the past, adding “we have each other’s backs”.

“We’ve all walked the same walk when it comes to loss,” Ms Sorohan added.

During the inquiry hearing yesterday, chairman Lord Turnbull told Mr Gallagher that he was known to governments around the world, as well as senior politicians, and was recently praised by Mr Harris – now Tánaiste – for his campaigning work.

Mr Gallagher described the toll his campaigning had taken on his family but said there was a measure of consolation in hearing all the moving evidence at the inquiry.

“I feel, to put a human face to the person rather than a statistic, I think that’s been one of the consolations, even if we achieve no more than that.

“But I do hope that we will continue to answer some of the very difficult questions that we haven’t had answers to so far,” he added.

'You could feel death in the air'

Liam Tunney, Belfast Telegraph, February 5th, 2025

The widower of a woman who died in the Omagh bomb recalled how he “could feel death in the air” when he arrived home from a trip the day after the atrocity.

Ann McCombe (48) was working in Watterson's draper store when the 500lb bomb detonated on August 15, 1998.

Her husband Stanley, who had been in Scotland with their son Clive to take part in a pipe band championship, gave evidence through his solicitor.

In the statement, he recalled desperately trying to find out more details as news of the incident began to filter through.

“I tried to phone but it was impossible to get through,” Stanley said.

“After the final, Clive and his friend went to a nearby pub to try and get more information.

“We were on the coach and everyone was on mobile phones trying to get through, but we were unable to. Not for one minute did I think that Ann would be down that part of the town.

“It must have been around 11pm when Clive got through to my brother again. He found out that my minister had gone to the temporary morgue and had identified Ann.”

Stanley's statement described the foreboding they experienced as they arrived back home to Omagh the day after the attack.

“You could feel death in the air. We did not come past the bomb site because you were not allowed to drive past it,” he said.

“It was the Tuesday after the bomb when I was able to go and identify Ann. Prior to that, I was taken into a room at the temporary morgue and I was interviewed by an inspector from Belfast.

“I had to describe Ann from head to toe so that he could match the description and be sure it was Ann.”

Stanley remembered his late wife as a “wonderful [and] caring” woman.

“I suppose that is why I fell in love and married her,” he said.

“I think she was the kindest-hearted person that I have ever known and she cared for everybody.”

Ann's son Clive also provided a statement to the inquiry and described being on “autopilot” following her death.

“There were some things I remember, like standing outside my house and just seeing the street filled with people,” he said.

“After the bomb, our lives changed. A change which we had absolutely no choice over.”

Ann's youngest son Colan, who was in Omagh when the bomb went off, recalled the night before the horror unfolded in his statement.

“I was 18 years old at the time of the Omagh bomb. One memory that will always stick with me was on the night of August 14, 1998,” he said.

“I remember this particular night my mother had come into me and said, 'Colan, don't be sitting up all night, you need to go to your bed'.

“I did not know that those would be the last words she would say to me.

“I did not know that would be the last time I saw my mother alive.”

Colan remembered his mother as “a very witty person”.

“I try my best to keep this side of her alive… because it makes me think about my mother and that makes me happy,” he said.

Omagh woman 'looked for son and husband for years' after blast

Cate McCurry, Irish Independent, February 2nd, 2025

A woman whose husband and son were killed in the Omagh bombing has described how, years after the blast, she would drive around looking for them, believing they were still alive.

Edith White said she would also regularly change her son Bryan's bed sheets, but he never came home.

Bryan (27) was shopping in Omagh with his father Fred when the bomb went off. In a statement read out by Hugh Southey KC, Ms White told the Omagh Bombing Inquiry that the family has just returned home from a holiday when Fred and Bryan went into town.

She said that not long after they left, she heard a bang. She has little mem­ory of the hours and days after learning her husband and son had been killed.

"In the years after the bomb, I just couldn't accept that they were gone. I don't understand why they had to be murdered,” she said.

"For a number of years, I would still go in the car to look for them, thinking they must be somewhere.

"Whenever I saw a black Ford car, I would have looked to see if it was the number plate of Fred's car. I'd left their personal belongings, like toothbrushes and diaries, untouched for many years after the bomb.

"I regularly would have changed the sheets on Bryan's bed, but they never came home, and the silence is still there.

"I've never been to counselling because I don't see what use it would be if they did not know Fred or Bryan, but I'm also a private person.

"We were just a very normal family. The three of us were very close. We didn't socialise that much. We went on holidays and just stuck to our own activities.

"It wrecks your life, and I think if I accept it, then I will just not be able to cope. I need to be able to block it out as best I can and say it can't have happened. It's important not to change.

"But I must say, as time gets on, it gets harder to think it hasn't happened. Sometimes the anger builds up and I have to cry to myself, but then I try to distract myself by doing something else.”

Ms White said in the years following the bombing, the media reports about public fallouts and the government's response to the incident has added to the pain. "All the families want to know what happened to their loved ones, but how the government has treated us has resulted in a lot of unnecessary disagreements,” she said. "I hope this inquiry will help to unite the families as we all share the same pain and suffering when all our loved ones were murdered.”

A photo of Fred and Bryan, taken the day before the blast, shows them on the last day of their holiday.

In a pre-recorded statement, Fred's daughter Linda said her mental and physical health has been affected by the loss of her father and brother.

She said she has done things differently in life as a result of the atrocity.

"I think the bomb has forced me to relive a lot of trauma and pain and loss from my past,” she added.

She read an extract from a poem by Donna Ashworth about grief: "You don't lose somebody just once. You lose them every day for a lifetime.”

Family had to identify their 'caring and loving' mother by fingerprints

Liam Tunney, Belfast Telegraph, February 5th, 2025

A mother-of-two murdered in the Omagh bomb could only be identified by her fingerprints due to the extent of her injuries, the inquiry heard.

Olive Hawkes (60) was on a shopping trip in the town centre when the Real IRA bomb exploded.

Solicitor Beth McMullan read a statement on behalf of the victim's children, Mark and Mandy.

The siblings recalled how their mother “was always caring for her family” and had filled their childhoods with “wonderful memories”.

“Mum was very much the boss of the home, and Dad was very content with this position,” they said.

“As children we wanted for nothing and have wonderful memories of having loving, attentive parents. And there was always laughter in our home.

“She loved her style and therefore shopping trips to Omagh were a regular occurrence.

“In essence, she was the glue that made the family so close and we were truly spoiled having her as our mum.”

Mark recalled the moment his mother left their home in Maine, on the outskirts of the town, to travel into Omagh to do some shopping on the day of the explosion.

He had been washing his lorry when he saw her off.

“Our dad was at the mart, when he heard about the bomb... and later recalled that he had a bad feeling that Mum might have been in town,” Mark said

Meanwhile, Mandy described how she had gone to a makeshift morgue, along with other family members, to identify her mother's body.

“We were not taken to see our mum,” she said. “Instead, we were shown her gold shoes that Mark knew she had been wearing when she left home.

“Mummy's identity eventually had to be confirmed by her fingerprints, and this harsh reality made our pain even more unbearable.”

The siblings outlined how their mother's death had a devastating and lasting impact.

“Our little family was torn apart on August 15, 1998,” they said. “The trauma of the manner in which we lost our mum is always with us and undoubtedly impacted the lives we now lead and the people we are.”

'UK Government the cause of division among relatives'

Liam Tunney, Belfast Telegraph, February 5th, 2025

The UK Government's treatment of the Omagh bomb victims' families has caused a lot of “unnecessary disagreements”, the wife of a man murdered in the atrocity has said.

Father and son Fred (60) and Bryan White (27) had been in the town on August 15, 1998, after returning from a holiday in Scotland the day before the Real IRA blast.

In a statement read by Hugh Southey KC, Fred's wife, Edith, said the treatment of the families had caused tension, and she expressed hope that the inquiry will result in unity.

“I do hope I will see the outcome of this public inquiry,” she said. “Bryan and Fred were murdered — and for what purpose I will never understand.

“But to know how such a bomb was allowed to occur in a quiet town like Omagh ought to be known. I do feel that how the Government has treated us has resulted in a lot of unnecessary disagreements amongst the families.

“I hope this inquiry will help to unite the families, as we all share the same pain and suffering.”

The inquiry heard how Fred and Bryan were shopping for items for their garage on the day of the attack, which was an anomaly as they usually completed errands on Fridays.

“Fred was a very active person,” Edith said. “The gardens and bits and pieces in the house would occupy him and there were various organisations he was in. For a number of years after the bomb, I would still go in the car to look for them, thinking that they must be somewhere.”

A pre-recorded statement from Bryan's sister Linda was submitted to the inquiry in which she described the close relationship she enjoyed with her sibling.

“Bryan and I had a typical brother-and-sister relationship,” she said.

“He was the type of person who, no matter his own personal views and values, never judged anyone. When he worked in Strabane, part of his work was working with people with disabilities. And I think from this job he really learned to see the strengths in people, rather than their weaknesses.”

Linda recalled going to the local hospital and leisure centre in search of her father and brother in the aftermath of the horrific explosion.

“The scene at the hospital was horrendous,” she said. “There was blood everywhere — on the floor, the stairs. Just everywhere we looked there was blood. Somebody asked if I was OK and I just know I was in shock. I just didn't know what to say.

“I'd been moving between the scene of the bomb, home and the leisure centre and someone told me to wait at the leisure centre. I think one of our friends identified dad and Bryan.”

The evidence session ended with a photograph of Bryan and Fred being displayed on the screen.

The image was snapped while the pair were on holiday the week prior to the bomb and would sadly prove to be the last photo ever taken of the pair together.

“For me, the inquiry process has been very difficult,” Linda said.

“It has brought back a lot of old pain, a lot of wounds of sadness and anger and loss. When people ask if you are OK, you say yes, because anything else is too difficult to say and you're not sure how you are going to react if you start talking.”