Leaving Kingsmill atrocity families still waiting for answers is a scandal
Allison Morris, Belfast Telegraph, February 2nd, 2025
FOR MANY IMPACTED BY IRA MASSACRE, TIME IS NOT ON THEIR SIDE, BUT THEY STILL FIGHT ON
Throughout a long campaign, Alan Black has been at the forefront of the most dignified fight for justice.
But now in his 80s and having survived the IRA gun attack that killed 10 of his work colleagues, time is running out for the mild mannered Co Armagh man.
An inquest into the attack delivered its findings last April.
At the time, the families were told that the Police Ombudsman's report could not be released until that process was finalised. But 10 months on, they are still waiting.
This week, the DUP's Joanne Bunting called for the immediate release of the report.
The party's justice spokesperson said that previous timelines for its publication have come and gone, “leaving families in a perpetual state of uncertainty in their search for truth”.
Speaking in the Assembly, Ms Bunting said that further delay is unacceptable and cruel.
“This is no way to treat innocent victims of terrorism who have already suffered so much. It is a shame and disgrace that the victims are left to use their funeral costs to pursue a legal challenge to simply obtain reports to which they are entitled.”
In response, Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson's office said that “communicating the outcome of her Kingsmill investigation is a priority”.
Shot 18 times
Mr Black is in poor health, having lived for almost 50 years with the pain of his multiple injuries.
He miraculously survived despite being shot 18 times — 136 rounds were fired in total.
The IRA never admitted the attack, but it was widely known that members from south Armagh were involved in the massacre.
The heavily-armed unit, posing as soldiers, ordered the textile workers off a minibus as they made their way home in January 1976.
They had just finished their shift at a factory in Glenanne and were travelling on a rural road to Bessbrook.
After being ordered off the minibus and asked their religion, the only Catholic among them was ordered to run away. The 11 remaining men were made to line up outside the van before being fired upon.
Mr Black says that he fears he will go to his grave without finding the answers he has sought for decades.
The Kingsmill families have been tireless in their dignified quest for justice. The inquest they fought for promised so much and yet they were disappointed in the outcome.
They hoped some of the suspects could be named, but that information was withheld.
Information Withheld
Last April, the coroner released his findings, saying the attack was an “overtly sectarian IRA operation”.
The so-called South Armagh Republican Action Force admitted responsibility, but the coroner was clear that this was a lie.
Many of those involved in the IRA gun attack have since died, taking their secrets with them to the grave.
Mr Black has repeatedly called for the release of the Ombudsman's report.
Withholding it at this stage, he has said, is “cruel” given his advancing years and deteriorating health.
The Police Ombudsman's office added: “We are currently in the process of finalising detailed closure letters for the families and complainants.
“We will be contacting them in the near future to discuss arrangements for communicating the outcome and responding to any questions they may have.”
While the report is clearly in its final stages, time is not on Mr Black's side.
The Ombudsman's office has been poorly resourced for years, meaning legacy complaints can and have taken decades.
Alan Black deserves answers. As a survivor of such a horrific attack, he should not have to fight for those answers until his last breath.
OMAGH INQUIRY
Bomb changed my life forever, survivor says
Julian Fowler, BBC News NI south west reporter, February 19th, 2025
Rodney Patterson had travelled to the County Tyrone town to buy a bike and get his hair cut when the attack took place in August 1998.
His evidence was being heard at the inquiry into the Real IRA bombing, which killed 29 people, including a woman who was pregnant with twins.
The Omagh Bombing Inquiry concluded the commemorative and personal statement hearings on Wednesday, and will resume in Omagh during the week commencing 23 June.
The next stage of the inquiry will hear opening statements from the core participants including the UK Government, police and security services.
On Wednesday, barrister Paul Greaney KC said the inquiry hoped to sign a memorandum of understanding over the disclosure of Irish state materials in March.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Patterson said when the bomb exploded, it seemed to "suck all the oxygen out of my body".
He told the inquiry that after the explosion he took his hands away from his eyes and what he saw was "like a different world".
‘Life changed ‘every bit of it as a result of the bomb’
He said it was jet black with debris everywhere and people lying at different angles.
"I couldn't take it in. I was just in so much shock and disbelief," he said.
Mr Patterson said his life had been changed forever by the bomb.
He retired at the age of 55 and found it difficult to be in crowds.
"Every bit of it is as a result of the bomb," he said.
"I couldn't sit in a restaurant unless it was near a door or the corner of the restaurant where you could get away," he said.
Listening to the testimony of other survivors and giving evidence to the public inquiry, he said, had been the hardest thing he had ever done.
"It was horrendous," he said.
"I listened to the stories and took every word."
He added that giving evidence had been a positive experience and the help of psychiatrists and counsellors, including the WAVE trauma centre, had made him stronger.
"I never knew this was going to happen. I never thought I would see this day," he said.
"I think it has just been a long time coming, maybe too long, but maybe it's never too late."
'Haunts me to this day'
‘There was nothing there’
Earlier, the inquiry heard from Simon McLarnon who heard the explosion from his house and went to the scene.
He was a community dental officer and had first aid training, but he said he felt "useless".
Mr McLarnon said he continued to feel guilt that he was unable to put his training to use on the day.
He checked the pulse of one young boy and realised "there was nothing there".
"That's the first time I'd ever done that in my life - that was hard to deal with," he said.
"I remember the look on his face as well. It haunts me to this day."
Mr McLarnon heard the explosion from his house.
Mr McLarnon said he spoke to a man recording the scene with a camcorder.
"I looked into his camera and told him to go down the street and record exactly what happened, so the world could see what these people had done to us," he said.
He also met a neighbour who had been planning to film his children taking part in a community parade.
"He was shaking, he was very shocked," Mr McLarnon said.
"He described that when he realised how bad it was he couldn't even look into the camera.
"He more or less just held it and pointed it."
Mr McLarnon said his neighbour filmed him going around from one victim to another.
His neighbour talked about destroying the film as he said you couldn't show what was on the camera.
"We told him: 'No, no, this could be very, very important both to show people what happened and also for evidence for the police'."
He said that is the footage you see now of the Omagh atrocity.
Enduring sense of injustice
He told the inquiry he felt an enduring sense of injustice that those who were responsible for planning and carrying out the atrocity had never been brought to justice.
"I don't understand if you knew that you neighbour, brother, husband was involved in this you wouldn't go to the police or the Garda (Irish police)," he said.
"That hasn't happened. I found that difficult to understand and accept."
Survivor says 'world stood still' after bomb went off
Family 'woefully let down' by police investigation
The inquiry also heard from Mary McGovern, who was injured in the bombing.
She said her trust for a peaceful and safe society in Northern Ireland left that day.
Ms McGovern was working in a bakery while studying for a master's degree and knew several of the people who were killed.
She recalled a "ferocious gust of wind" and "unmerciful noise" when the bomb exploded.
She suffered a leg wound from a lump of metal which she believes was a part of the car that contained the bomb.
'Lucky to be alive'
She said she was plagued with guilt for surviving.
"People were always kind, but I felt pity from people but also I knew that I was lucky to be alive," she added.
"It is a fine line between sadness and happiness to be alive."
Despite loving her hometown of Omagh and the people who live there, she said she knew she could never live in Northern Ireland and moved with her family to Australia.
'A war zone'
Anne Cullen, a taxi driver, went to the town centre after the explosion as she had first aid training.
She told the inquiry she saw the body of a woman lying in the rubble.
"She looked like she was sleeping but I realised she was dead," she said.
"However as she lay there she looked like a princess.
"Omagh was like a war zone that day, I will never forget it."
'I knew it was bad'
A statement was read out from Helen Kerr, who was in the town with her 15-year-old daughter to buy a school uniform for the new term.
They were inside a coffee shop when the car bomb exploded outside, showering them with glass.
She said the noise of the bomb was tremendous but the screaming "was much worse".
She was horrified by the sight of people "running, screaming, looking for friends" and bodies lying in the street.
"The sights and sounds still remain with me today and I knew it was bad," she said.
She said her daughter knew some of the young people who were killed and would not talk about what happened.
In the months after the bombing, Ms Kerr said she jumped at every, noise while her daughter suffered from panic attacks and was frightened by everything.
Could the bomb have been reasonably prevented?
Wednesday was the final day of commemorative hearings.
For the past four weeks the inquiry, in the Strule Arts Centre in the town, has been hearing evidence from victims' families, as well as survivors and those who helped in the aftermath of the atrocity.
It is an independent statutory inquiry which has been asked to consider whether the bomb "could have reasonably been prevented".
At this phase in the inquiry, those who lost their lives in the bombing have been remembered.
The inquiry has also been hearing from people injured in the atrocity, and members of the emergency services who went to the bomb scene.
These hearings have allowed the chairman, Lord Turnbull, to hear directly from those most affected by the bombing.
'Many tears have been shed'
Counsel to the inquiry Mr Greaney said the evidence had been painful and many tears had been shed, but victims and survivors had been placed at the heart of the process.
"We said we intended to commemorate publicly each person who was murdered in the bombing and then hear the personal statements of those who are injured or otherwise directly affected by the attack," he said.
"We said that we wanted to shine a bright light on the terrible consequences of the Omagh bombing and to understand the impact on both individuals and the community.
"We hope and we believe that aim has been accomplished."
He said the inquiry had learned of the "enduring strength of the community here in Omagh" but he recognised the hearings had been painful for people.
"Many tears have been shed, some inside this hearing room and some outside," he said.
Colleagues 'couldn't fathom the number of dead', says officer
What was the Omagh bomb?
The bomb that devastated Omagh town centre in August 1998 was the biggest single atrocity in the history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
It came less than three months after the people of Northern Ireland had voted yes to the Good Friday Agreement.
Who carried out the Omagh bombing?
Three days after the attack, the Real IRA released a statement claiming responsibility for the explosion.
It apologised to "civilian" victims and said its targets had been commercial.
Almost 27 years on, no-one has been convicted of carrying out the murders by a criminal court.
In 2009, a judge ruled that four men - Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly were all liable for the Omagh bomb.
The four men were ordered to pay a total of £1.6m in damages to the relatives, but appeals against the ruling delayed the compensation process.
A fifth man, Seamus McKenna, was acquitted in the civil action and later died in a roofing accident in 2013.
The public inquiry
Lord Turnbull is chairing the public inquiry
After years of campaigning by relatives, the public inquiry was established to examine if the Real IRA attack could have been prevented by UK authorities.
This phase of the inquiry was to hear powerful individual testimonies from relatives who lost loved ones in the explosion.
The bombers planned and launched the attack from the Republic of Ireland and the Irish government has promised to co-operate with the inquiry.
However, the victims' relatives wanted the Irish government to order its own separate public inquiry.
Dublin previously indicated there was no new evidence to merit such a move.
On Wednesday Mr Greaney said members of the inquiry team had met officials from the Irish government on several occasions, most recently on 5 February.
He said it was their belief that the outstanding issues over disclosing information had narrowed.
He said they were waiting for a substantive response but it was understood a memorandum would be signed in March subject to the approval of the Irish government
The inquiry cannot compel anyone from outside the UK to give evidence.
Victims and survivors ‘shone light on consequences’ of Real IRA massacre
Jonathan McCambridge, Irish News, February 20th, 2025
EVIDENCE from victims’ families and survivors of the Omagh bombing has shone a “bright light on the terrible consequences” of the Real IRA massacre, a public inquiry has heard.
The chairman of the Omagh Bombing Inquiry Lord Turnbull was told that anyone who had listened to the commemorative and personal statements over the past four weeks would understand why his task of determining whether the attack could have been prevented is crucial.
The inquiry also heard that outstanding issues with the Republic’s government over the disclosure of material from Dublin about the incident have “narrowed”.
The bomb in the Co Tyrone town in August 1998 killed 29 people, including a woman who was pregnant with twins, the worst single atrocity in the Troubles.
In the past four weeks all who were killed have been remembered at the inquiry in the Strule Arts Centre.
It also heard evidence from those injured and impacted by the bombing and the emergency services which responded on the day.
After the final witnesses were heard yesterday, counsel to the inquiry Paul Greaney KC said the evidence had often been difficult to hear.
He said: “We said we intended to commemorate publicly each person who was murdered in the bombing and then hear the personal statements of those who were injured or otherwise directly affected by the attack.
“We said that we wanted to shine a bright light on the terrible consequences of the Omagh bombing and to understand the impact on both individuals and the community.
“We hope and we believe that aim has been accomplished.
Why hearings were important
“These hearings have been important because we believe they have placed those who died, their families, and so many others affected by the bombing at the heart of your process.”
Mr Greaney added: “The terms of reference of your inquiry require you to investigate whether the Omagh bombing could have been prevented by UK state authorities.
“No-one who has heard what you have heard and what we have all heard could fail to understand why the answer to that question is crucial.”
Mr Greaney said the next hearing of the inquiry would be in the week beginning June 23 when core participants would make oral statements
Lord Turnbull said in his closing remarks that listening to the evidence of the past four weeks had been a “humbling experience”.
He said: “I think that we are all conscious of the privilege that we have been afforded in listening to the many deeply personal accounts of grief and injury which we heard of in this room.
“And it has, I should imagine, been a humbling experience for each of us.”
“ Certainly none of the individuals involved or those who supported them have displayed sufficient moral strength to come forward and take responsibility for their conduct
Key lessons
Lord Turnbull said several points had stood out in evidence given to the public inquiry.
He said: “The first is the utterly enduring nature of the grief which is still borne all of these years later by those who lost much-loved family members.
“The second is the appalling nature of the injuries suffered by so many of those who survived the bombing and allied with that the remarkable extent to which so many of those survivors carried a sense of gratitude towards both those who provided assistance to them at the scene and the medical staff who treated them.
“The third point is the true extent to which the impact of the bombing has spread throughout so many areas of the community of Omagh and the lasting effects it has so plainly had on the psychological health of so many.”
The inquiry chairman added: “The aftermath of the explosion plainly caused a scene such as would be difficult for anyone to comprehend. Despite that, first responders and many ordinary members of the public performed heroic acts in trying to rescue those who were trapped or injured and in the various ways in which they were quickly transported to hospital. I have no doubt that many people owe their lives to the clarity of purpose and determination which was shown by so many so quickly.”
Lord Turnbull said he hoped that those behind the atrocity might have listened to the evidence and learned of the consequences of their conduct.
“I do not of course know whether that has happened.
“Certainly none of the individuals involved or those who supported them have displayed sufficient moral strength to come forward and take responsibility for their conduct.”
Government expected to sign memorandum on disclosure of potentially relevant material
Freya McClements and Jack Horgan-Jones, Irish Times, February 19th, 2025
The Omagh Bombing Inquiry expects to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Government in March over the disclosure of potentially relevant material held by the State.
At the conclusion of a four-week sitting of the inquiry on Wednesday, lead counsel Paul Greaney KC said there had been several meetings with Irish officials on the content of the draft memorandum.
“The inquiry team’s belief is that the outstanding issues between the inquiry and the Irish Government on a framework for disclosure have narrowed,” he said.
“Our current understanding is that the Irish officials intend for the memorandum to be signed in March, subject to the approval of their Government.”
A Government spokesperson confirmed that discussions between the Omagh inquiry team and the Departments of Justice and Trade are ongoing and progressing well.
“We expect to conclude our discussions on a memorandum of understanding for the sharing of Irish State materials in the weeks ahead,” they said. “Any such assistance must take account of the complexities inherent in assisting an inquiry in another jurisdiction. At this point, when discussions are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment publicly on the content of those discussions.”
Dublin must engage very quickly says Victims campaigner
Speaking to reporters after the conclusion of Wednesday’s proceedings, Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was among the victims of the bombing, said there must be full co-operation from Dublin and London.
“The Irish Government need to engage very quickly with the inquiry and let them know in what way they are going to co-operate because we need maximum co-operation from both the British and Irish governments in this inquiry,” he said.
A total of 31 people, including unborn twins, died and hundreds were injured when a car bomb planted by the Real IRA exploded in the centre of the Co Tyrone town on August 15th, 1998.
Over the past four weeks the inquiry, which has been sitting in the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh, has heard pen portraits of the victims delivered by their loved ones, and often harrowing details from the injured, eyewitnesses and emergency service workers.
Inquiry chair Lord Turnbull said it had been a “humbling experience” and “I think that we are all conscious of the privilege that we have been afforded in listening to the many deeply personal accounts of grief and injury which we heard of in this room”.
He said he hoped those responsible for the atrocity might have listened to the evidence and learned of the consequences of their conduct.
“Each of us in this room and those who have watched can be left in no doubt at all about the nature of the consequence of the sort of terrorist activity as we have heard of,” he said.
“That outcome has only been achieved because of the bravery, strength and generosity of each of the witnesses who have given evidence to this inquiry over the last four weeks.”
The next phases of the inquiry will examine the events of August 15th 1998 and previous dissident republican attacks.
It will resume in the week of June 23rd, when core participants will make oral statements. The date for the next evidential hearings is yet to be set.
The Omagh bombing inquiry: 'The engine of the car used for the bomb landed on my legs'
Earlier, witness Simon McLarnon described how he attempted to help victims of the explosion, but was left with a lifelong sense of guilt that he was unable to do more.
One of her legs was virtually amputated… held on by skin only
Mr McLarnon, who works as a general dental surgeon in Co Donegal, said he went to the town centre and was met with a “sea of glass”.
“There were two ladies … the older of the two ladies, one of her legs was virtually amputated, it was held on by skin only,” he said.
He said a younger girl beside the woman had had two limbs “virtually amputated and very serious injuries”.
“I spent some time with her. I had no idea what to do with her,” he said. ”She wanted me to help her and I told her that ambulances were on the way.”
Mr McLarnon said he suffered from depression and trauma due to his experience. He also said he felt a sense of injustice about what had happened in Omagh.
“They [the Real IRA] seem to have done it with impunity,” he said.
“We know several of them have lived out their lives now and never have to face justice ... That, I find very difficult to accept,” he said. “No one has come forward. They are protected in the communities they live in, I can’t understand that.”
Survivor Rodney Patterson told the inquiry he was standing about 40ft away from the device when it exploded having been ordered by police to leave a hairdresser’s premises.
“There was this merciful bang,” he said. “I opened my eyes and it was like a different world. It was jet black... There were people lying at different angles.”
Mr Patterson said he did not know if he was injured, but that there was glass all over his hands and a big piece of glass in his forehead.
He said he has struggled to come to terms with what he experienced in the years since.
“I don’t like to be among people, crowds of people,” he said.
“Everything that has happened in my life has been a result of that bomb that day.” – Additional reporting: PA
