Many Omagh victims angry at attitude of Irish Government
Jonathan McCambridge, Irish News and Belfast Telegraph, June 25th, 2025
OMAGH VICTIMS ‘SHAME’IRISH GOVERNMENT
VICTIMS of the Omagh bombing intend to use a public inquiry to “heap shame” on the Irish government for its failings over the atrocity, a barrister has said.
The inquiry also heard that victims are “sick and tired of platitudes, false assurances and broken promises” from Dublin over the bombing.
The Omagh Bombing Inquiry, chaired by Lord Turnbull, is hearing opening statements from core participants. Yesterday the focus moved to statements from the legal representatives of bereaved families.
The Real IRA bomb in the Co Tyrone town in August 1998 killed 29 people, including a woman who was pregnant with twins, in the worst single atrocity in the Troubles.
Omagh victims and relatives use inquiry to ‘heap shame’ on south.
Dublin government told it has ‘moral, human and legal imperative’ to set up its own probe
The public inquiry was set up by the previous government to examine whether the explosion could have been prevented by the UK authorities.
Unfair criticism - Taoiseach
Speaking in Dublin, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said any claim that his government had not co-operated with the inquiry was “not fair comment”.
He said a memorandum of understanding had been agreed with the chair of the inquiry, and the government was “very, very committed to co-operating fully with the inquiry and making material available to the inquiry”.
Barrister Alan Kane KC delivered a statement on behalf of the families of Omagh victims represented by solicitor John McBurney.
These include the families of Debra-Anne Cartwright, Olive Hawkes, Julia Hughes, Philomena Skelton, Samantha McFarland, Alan Radford, Lorraine Wilson, who were all killed in the massacre, as well as several other people who were injured.
He told the inquiry: “It is important that we always keep in focus that it was republican terrorists under the name Real IRA who planned and planted the Omagh bomb. They alone are responsible for the loss and hurt caused by it.
“On hearing the accounts of so many at the commemorative hearings, it beggars all belief as to what else was intended other than murderous carnage by leaving a bomb in a peaceful town’s main street on a busy sunny Saturday afternoon where so many innocent women, children and men were likely to be.
“The preventability of the murders and injuries was at all times within the absolute control of the Real IRA.”
He added: “Our clients are of the clear belief that whatever aspects of preventability may lie at the door of the UK state authorities, blame, to a greater or lesser extent, rests with the state authorities in the Republic of Ireland.
Renewed recall for parallel inquiry in South
“Our clients again renew their call for a parallel inquiry to be immediately established by the government of the Republic of Ireland, a call that they should not be required to repeat.
“Our clients remain greatly disappointed at the lack of any commitment of the authorities in the Republic of Ireland to meaningfully assist this inquiry.
“They regard the memorandum of understanding, agreed with the minister of justice of the Republic of Ireland as wholly unsatisfactory.
“Our clients wish to use this inquiry to heap shame on the government of the Republic of Ireland for their failures.”
Mr Kane said there was a “moral, human and legal imperative” on the Dublin government to set up its own inquiry.
He said: “As a country with a professed European inclination, it is extremely regrettable that the Republic of Ireland continues to be in breach of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights in failing to ensure there has ever been any effective investigation into the death of the people to whom they owe that duty.
“There are preventability issues which clearly arise from the territorial origin of the Omagh bomb, and the cowardly refuge which its perpetrators enjoyed within the boundaries of the Republic of Ireland.”
The barrister said his clients had likened the work of the public inquiry to an MOT vehicle test.
Inquiry ‘unfit for purpose’
He said: “To their disbelief, they are told only the engine can be inspected, all that exists beyond the engine, including the body, the suspension, the brakes, the contents of the boot, cannot be examined. Such an MOT would clearly be unfit for purpose.
“This inquiry can only examine the parts of the car made in the UK as it were, the preventability, it cannot examine the rest of the car where the terrorists sat, or the boot area where the deadly bomb was hidden.
“If this inquiry could examine the whole car then it would also be able to examine any preventability issues which fall on the Republic of Ireland state authorities and all the faults and defects in the vehicle could be identified.”
The barrister referred to comments from former taoiseach Bertie Ahern that no stone would be left unturned to bring those responsible for the 1998 atrocity to justice.
He said: “That is a promise which has significance only for the ignoring and disregarding of it which has taken place over the almost 27 years which has passed since the Omagh bombing.”
Mr Kane added: “I have the authority of those I represent to say they are sick and tired of platitudes, false assurances, broken promises and grand but empty words from the state authorities of the Republic of Ireland.
“Their resolute refusal to institute a parallel inquiry and their ongoing failure to provide real and meaningful cooperation with this inquiry speaks far louder than their words.”
The barrister referred to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreed between the inquiry and the Irish government to allow access to material held in Dublin.
Mr Kane said the MOU is “redundant” due to the terms of how it was drafted.
He said: “First because the assessment of relevance is in the power of the Republic of Ireland, secondly because it only relates to relevance concerning preventability by the UK state authorities. This is an unacceptable yet significant escape clause for the Republic of Ireland.
“Under the memorandum the Republic of Ireland state authorities, and therefore any information which reflects badly on them, could be determined by them to be irrelevant.”
He added: “This voluntary statement of participation by the government of the Republic of Ireland lacks any degree of real commitment and does nothing to give our clients any degree of confidence in it.”
Omagh bereaved will use inquiry to ‘heap shame’ on Irish government
Freya McClements and Jack Horgan-Jones, Irish Times, June 25th, 2025
Those bereaved and injured in the 1998 Omagh bombing wish to use the inquiry “to heap shame on the government of the Republic of Ireland for their failures”, their legal representative has said.
Delivering an opening statement to the inquiry yesterday, Alan Kane KC said those he represented were “sick and tired of platitudes, false assurances, broken promises and empty words from the State authorities of the Republic of Ireland.
“Their resolute refusal to institute a parallel inquiry, and their ongoing failure to provide real and meaningful co-operation with this inquiry speaks far louder than their words,” he said.
“One of our clients’ main areas of significant concern is the responsibility of the government of the Republic of Ireland and their State authorities to have prevented the Omagh bomb.”
Speaking on behalf of the families of seven victims of the bombing: Debra Ann Cartwright; Olive Hawkes; Julia Hughes; Mena Skelton; Samantha McFarland; Alan Radford; Lorraine Wilson; and a number of the injured, Mr Kane said they were “of the clear belief that whatever aspects of preventability may lie at the door of the UK state authorities, blame to a greater or lesser extent rests with the State authorities in the Republic of Ireland”.
Parallel inquiry call
He renewed their call for a parallel inquiry “to be immediately established by the Government of the Republic of Ireland, a call that they should not be required to repeat”.
The barrister was also strongly critical of the memorandum of understanding agreed between the State and the inquiry in April, which sets out working arrangements to cover disclosure of materials.
Mr Kane said his clients “remain greatly disappointed at the lack of any commitment on the part of the authorities in the Republic of Ireland to meaningfully assist this inquiry”.
He said they regard the memorandum of understanding agreed with the Republic’s Minister of Justice as wholly unsatisfactory.
It was, he said, a “cynical effort to appear to be assisting and co-operating and to alleviate the pressure of the commencement of this inquiry on themselves”, adding, “they grasped this opportunity of a fig leaf”.
The inquiry chair, Lord Turnbull, said these were “understandable concerns” and he had “no doubt the more strongly worded and sceptical remarks ... were formulated through the lens of long previous experience”.
But, without this, he was allowed “the luxury of an open mind” and he therefore took “the various assurances which have repeatedly been made by senior members of the government of Ireland at face value, and I assume they are made in good faith.”
A total of 31 people, including unborn twins, died and hundreds were injured when a car bomb planted by the dissident republican group the Real IRA exploded in the centre of Omagh on August 15th, 1998.
The inquiry into the bombing, which opened in the Co Tyrone town last year, was ordered by the UK government to examine whether the atrocity could reasonably have been prevented by British authorities.
Alleged security failures
It followed a High Court judgment in 2021 that found it was potentially plausible the bombing could have been prevented and recommended the UK government should carry out a human rights-compliant investigation into alleged security failures before the attack.
The judge said he did not have the power to compel a similar inquiry in the Republic of Ireland, but urged the State to establish its own investigation.
Ireland has not done so, but has repeatedly stressed its commitment to assisting and supporting the inquiry.
Mr Kane said his clients believe “there is a moral, human and legal imperative on the Government of the Republic of Ireland to establish a parallel inquiry into the deaths of people who were their own citizens, visitors to their country, and those who would have been entitled to Irish citizenship under their laws”.
Speaking in Dublin, Taoiseach Micheál Martin rejected the suggestion there had been a lack of assistance from the Irish authorities. “That’s not a fair comment,” he said. “We have reached an accommodation with the chairman of the tribunal, we have reached a memorandum of understanding and we’re very, very committed to co-operating fully with the inquiry and making material available to the inquiry.”
The next hearing will take place on July 21st.
Charity Zoom meeting at Stormont Zoom hacked with obscene graphics
Kurtis Reid, Belfast Telegraph, June 25th, 2025
A charity volunteer has said her organisation is reaching out to parents left “disgusted and distressed” after a Zoom meeting at Stormont was hijacked by someone who broadcast graphic sexual content and abusive threats.
Police are investigating the incident, which disrupted an online event co-hosted by two parent-led groups, SEN Reform NI and Caleb's Cause, who support families of children with special educational needs.
The meeting, which was held in Stormont's Long Gallery in Parliament Buildings on Monday was attended by parents and young people. MLAs were also in attendance including Sinn Fein MLA Linda Dillon.
The Zoom link to join the meeting was made public to anyone who wished to join and learn about the resources the groups provided.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Fiona Cole, a volunteer with SEN Reform NI, said the meeting was designed as a hybrid event to improve accessibility for parents who cannot leave home due to their caring responsibilities.
However, shortly after it began someone using the name 'Gemma' entered the call.
Graphic images displayed
“Somebody with a woman's name joined, changed their profile picture to a penis, and took over the whiteboard function,” she said.
“They began displaying graphic images of genitalia and wrote disturbing messages including rape threats. There were also swastikas and repeated messages saying, 'You're hacked.'”
The incident unfolded just minutes into the meeting, which had started at 5pm.
Around 46 people were in the Zoom session at its peak, according to Ms Cole, who said the abusive content remained visible for around 25 minutes before organisers became aware and terminated the online element.
“It wasn't immediately visible on screen because the camera had swivelled to the panellists,” she explained.
“By the time I got back to my seat and could see the screen, it had been going on for some time.”
The meeting, which was intended to allow parents to engage directly with senior civil servants, had to be cut short online.
“One person ruined it for everyone,” said Cole. “It stopped so many families from getting answers to questions they've been asking for so long.”
People felt violated in their homes
In the aftermath, organisers have been contacting attendees to offer support.
“A lot of them feel violated that someone could do this right into their homes,” she said.
“The organisers feel responsible. We've all worked so hard on top of full-time jobs and families, and now all anyone is talking about is this one awful moment instead of the wider issues we were raising.”
Ms Cole confirmed the incident has been reported to both Zoom and the PSNI. “The person who hosted the Zoom made the reports. The police were helpful, but I doubt much more can come from it. It's sickening that whoever did this might just get away with it.”
Reflecting on the wider implications, she said the event's open format — designed to reduce barriers for overburdened parents — would now need to change.
“We wanted to make it easy,” she said.
“Parents already have to chase the system and fill in endless forms. We didn't want to make them jump through more hoops to access help. But this has changed things.”
She described the incident as deeply upsetting and said she was “absolutely devastated”.
Children saw images
“Once again, vulnerable families have had their privacy violated. We should be talking about how parents with lived experience were finally able to speak directly to decision-makers. Instead, we're just trying to make sure everyone's okay.”
Ms Cole added that the situation had laid bare the risks of online abuse and the ease with which bad actors can sabotage good-faith efforts.
“This was a tiny, community-driven event trying to do something positive. The fact that someone targeted it shows just how vile and sick they really are.”
In joint statement, SEN Reform NI and Caleb's Cause NI issued an apology for the incident, calling what had happened “disgusting” and saying they would be monitoring future events.
“The whole purpose of SEN Reform NI is to keep parents at the heart of everything we do. This is why when we have events, we love to have parents involved and included at every step of the way,” the groups said.
“For our event in Stormont today, we has many parents come along but also arranged a Zoom as we understand what it's like to find childcare, or even leave our children at all.
“Parents were sitting on a Zoom with their children, listening to the different ways we can protect and support them.
“The fact that someone decided to use this space to do what they did was absolutely disgusting.
“Unfortunately, this does mean we will have to look at putting safeguarding elements in place when planning future zooms. This is something we are going to look into and take advice on how we can ensure our future Zooms are a safe space for all involved.
“To the person who committed a serious offence during our Zoom this afternoon. The PSNI have been informed. They have your details and will be in touch with you shortly.”
The PSNI said a report of indecent exposure online in the east Belfast area was received at around noon on Tuesday.
A spokesperson said enquiries are ongoing and have asked for anyone with information that could assist police to contact them.
Catholics believe PSNI less likely to be representative of their community
Connla Young, Crime and Security Correspondent, Irish News, June 25th, 2025
CATHOLICS are less likely to believe the PSNI represents their community, a new policing board survey has found.
Details of how the police are viewed by both communities are contained in a the ‘Northern Ireland Policing Plan Survey – Statistical Report 2025’, which was published yesterday.
The survey results have been made public just days after The Irish News revealed that Catholics made up just over 17% of new recruits to the force.
Recent figures show that Catholics currently comprise 32% of the officer total, with the total for members of the Protestant community sitting at 66%.
Just 18% of civilian staff are from a Catholic background compared to 78% from the Protestant community.
The policing board figures reveal that 71.7% of respondents from the Protestant community are more likely to think the police were representative of their community than those from a Catholic background, 62%.
The report also reveals that nationalists are more likely to be dissatisfied with how the PSNI treat the public, 12.8%, compared to unionists at 8.7%.
Overall, two thirds of respondents, 66.3%, thought the PSNI treated members of the public fairly.
The difference in community outlook was also apparent in how the PSNI’s engagement is viewed.
The survey confirms that unionists were more likely to feel the PSNI “were engaged with their community”, 69.8%, than nationalists, at 62.7%.
In general, over a quarter of nationalists, 27%, thought the PSNI were not engaged with local communities compared to 21.3% of unionists.
The recently released statistics show that nationalists, 22.3%, were more likely than unionists, 17.3%, “to feel PSNI were not very supportive or not at all supportive of local communities”.
The survey consisted of 43 questions and included 2,500 respondents this year.
The survey also revealed that just 40.2% of people questioned had heard of Policing and Community Safety Partnerships (PCSPs).
Legacy one of most significant factors in low Catholic participation
“ No wonder Jon Boucher says that the issue of legacy is one of the most significant factors in the creation of a representative police service.
PCSPs, which include elected representatives and members of the public, hold regular meetings about local policing and community safety.
The results of a policing board survey have been made public just days after The Irish News revealed that Catholics made up just over 17% of new recruits to the force
Policing board member Mark H Durkan said the survey is “useful and timely and at the same time highlights concerns and challenges”.
“It can best be assessed through the lens of other hard truths,” he said.
He referred to the “intolerable muddle” over whether a £200m uplift has been made available to the PSNI, which has argued for more cash.
“At the same time in 2024 Catholic recruitment to the police was 17%,” he said.
“Meanwhile, the NIO [Northern Ireland Office] refuses a Sean Brown inquiry and digs in on national security vetoes.
“No wonder [Chief Constable] Jon Boucher says that the issue of legacy is one of the most significant factors in the creation of a representative police service.”
Durkan - survey a mixed bag
Mr Durkan added that the “survey is a mixed bag”.
“There is the good, particularly given the pressures, financially and on the ground, that the PSNI are facing and not least with the racist thuggery of recent days,” he said.
“Confidence in contacting the police endures.”
“Then there are the challenges. “Thirty five per cent of victims of crime felt police ineffective/very ineffective.
“One third of people in deprived areas felt police not effective.
“More to do on satisfaction that the police treat the public fairly and on being representative of the community.”
Comment
The PSNI doesn't have to be "representative". They have to protect and serve. What the RCs are objecting to is that the majority of the force are Protestant. Call a spade a digging instrument. Sectarianism.
Mairin de Burca
Orange Order organisation receives another £41,000 for a more ‘inclusive’ Twelfth
John Breslin, Irish News, June 25th, 2025
A NEAR TWO-DECADE old Orange Order organisation dedicated to making the 12th of July more “inclusive” has received further government funding for this year, bringing the total to more than £800,000 over the last 10 years.
Orangefest, established by the County Grand Lodge of Belfast in 2007, has received £41,000 from the Department for Communities, largely to stage a city centre event as marchers and bands make their way to the field outside the city.
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, confirming funding, said: “This support will enable Orangefest to engage with other bodies to make this year’s Twelfth of July celebrations an even more inclusive and family-friendly event.”
Orangefest, whose directors are all senior and veteran members of the Orange Order, has received £850,000 over the decade to February 2024, mostly from Stormont and Belfast City Council, according to its annual accounts.
The organisation is “designed to modernise the Twelfth of July celebrations to make them more accessible, inclusive, and relevant to contemporary Belfast”, it says.
Its 2025 event calendar says that from 10am to 3.30pm on July 12, while the march is taking place, Belfast City Hall and Royal Avenue “will be transformed into a hub of family-friendly activities and entertainment”.
Community tribal drummers
Last year’s event included food stalls, circus performers, stilt walkers and a drumming workshop from “community tribal drummers”.
Minister Lyons said: “I am pleased to confirm funding of more than £40,000 from my department for the 2025 Orangefest.
“Orange celebrations are one of the largest, long-standing events of their kind in Belfast, attracting tens of thousands of domestic visitors, and year-on-year, increasingly many more from Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and many other parts of the world.
“This funding will help maximise the economic, social, and cultural opportunities for Belfast city centre.”
Directors “are working towards increasing city centre footfall, supporting tourism growth, developing a wider community engagement programme, and strengthening inter-community relations”.
Among those attending the official hand over of the DfC money was Belfast Alderman Dean McCullough. Mr McCullough recently expressed his strong support for a new loyalist marching band from Tiger’s Bay in north Belfast that later played ‘No Pope of Rome’ during a parade in the north of the city.
Stormont's debt collectors demand £47 from grieving mother — but Paisley's bills go unpaid for years
Sam McBride, Belfast Telegraph, June 25th, 2025
BELFAST WOMAN CONTRASTS APPROACH TO DEBTS LINKED TO FORMER MP PAISLEY
When Kate O'Halloran's husband read Saturday's Belfast Telegraph front page to her, there was a reason she was especially dismayed.
Our report revealed that thousands of pounds of rates for Ian Paisley Jr's former constituency office remained unpaid after years of debts which involved red letters to the former MP's office, court threats and bounced cheques.
Just that morning, Mrs O'Halloran had got a letter from Stormont which demanded repayment of a trifling sum owed by her dead son Gerard.
While still mourning the death of her son, who died on April 9 at the age of just 46, the cold letter demanded cash.
The unsigned letter from the Department for Communities twice said “I am sorry to have to contact you at this time” but then got to the point: She was being told to pay £47.64 on behalf of Gerard.
The letter said that the money should be paid from Gerard's estate.
“They are coming after his estate, but he had no estate,” Kate told the Belfast Telegraph.
The Belfast woman doesn't know what her son had borrowed the money for, but she doesn't doubt that it was a genuine debt.
However, her dismay is at what she believes is an inconsistency in how the Executive deals with those who owe money to the public purse.
Her son had left Belfast in his late teens and spent years working in Birmingham and London and then Dubai, where he began drinking heavily.
He returned to Northern Ireland and was living in Divis Tower, where Kate said the Housing Executive looked after him well. “The Housing Executive were very good to him,” she said.
“He probably hadn't got much money. He became very vulnerable when he came back from Dubai.”
Gerard tried to get sober with the help of a Christian man who took him to a rehab centre near Limavady but he missed Belfast and returned to the city before his untimely death.
When the letter arrived last Saturday, Kate said she “couldn't believe it”.
That same day, her husband read her the Belfast Telegraph's report on the former North Antrim MP's former constituency office.
She said: “I just thought there was one rule for the like of Paisley and one rule for everybody else. In his case, it's a lot of money compared to £47 — which I was willing to pay. They can take the money.”
Rates on Paisley’s office unpaid for years
On Saturday, we revealed that despite Mr Paisley being lavishly-funded from the public purse over many years, his constituency office rates bills had repeatedly been unpaid.
Year after year, the bills weren't paid on time.
The office at 9-11 Church Street in Ballymena is owned by Ballymena Advice Centre Ltd, a company which Mr Paisley has said is essentially a vehicle to hold the property for the DUP.
Mr Paisley told Stormont's Land and Property Services that his rent — paid for by Parliament — only covered the mortgage and he was responsible for rates bills.
We asked Stormont's Department for Communities and Department of Finance — which are responsible for the letter to Mrs O'Halloran and for gathering rates respectively — about how one part of Stormont appeared to be zealously chasing small sums and the other seems to be allowing far bigger sums to sit unpaid for years, even though they are departments which are part of the one government which is meant to be working coherently together.
In a statement, the Department for Communities said: “Where a discretionary support loan remains outstanding after an individual passes away, the department will contact the executor to advise of the outstanding balance and discuss how recovery can be made.
“The department is sympathetic to the needs of individuals and their families and will consider each case on the basis of its own unique circumstances.
“Where no estate is in place, the recovery process is stopped. Families/next of kin are not held liable for any amount that may be outstanding.
“If an executor has a query on an outstanding loan balance they should contact the department's debt management team on 0800 587 2983.”
At the time of going to press, the Department of Finance had not responded.
Coleraine Orange lodge left outraged by theft of war tribute from memorial garden
By Staff Reporter, Belfast News Letter, June 25th, 2025
Members of an Orange Lodge near Coleraine say they have been left outraged after a War Memorial at their Hall was attacked.
The Brethren of Killowen Purple Heroes LOL 930 made the discovery that a special memorial stone - which was proudly placed in their Memorial Garden - was missing.
The memorial was placed in tribute to war veterans, both Protestant and Catholic, from The 36th Ulster Division who paid the ultimate sacrifice at the bloody Battle of the Somme in the Picardy region of France during World War I.
The incident has left a bitter taste among the Brethren as it comes after the lodge has showed determination to improve community relations.
They have received top provincial recognition and awards for their charity fundraising efforts in recent years.
In a statement Killowen Purple Heroes LOL 930 expressed disappointment. "As a Lodge we were absolutely disgusted to learn that someone would have the audacity to steal such a sentimental item," they said.
"It is so disappointing because we hear so much nowadays about a shared space and our Memorial Garden is a place of Remembrance for all creeds and classes many from the local area.
No place for sectarian crime
"We must remember that members of both the Protestant and Roman Catholic communities gave up their lives during the War."
The lodge says it is aware of a video circulating on social media linked to the incident and purporting to be from a Republican youth group.
"We reported the theft to the police initially as a theft but then when the video emerged it was clear this is a hate crime,” said the lodge.
DUP MP Gregory Campbell said the incident has caused distress within the local community.
“It is with anger and sadness that I was notified about the theft of a Memorial Stone at an Orange Hall in Coleraine," said Mr Campbell.
"This act is not only a criminal offence but a deeply disrespectful attack on the memory of those whom the stone commemorates and just days before the 1st July.
"There should be no place in our society for such sectarian attacks. I call on community leaders and representatives from all backgrounds to not just condemn this act but help the police with any information they may have."
TUV Councillor Allister Kyle branded the attack as 'malicious'.
“It is deeply disappointing and an act of malice carried out by a group styling themselves as Republican Youth," he said.
“This memorial was a modest tribute, placed respectfully by Killowen Lodge on its own private grounds. It posed no threat, no provocation, and no reason for offence.
“Basic decency would demand that respect be shown to those who paid the ultimate price - regardless of the political lens through which you view the past.
“Those behind this disgraceful act may have enjoyed a momentary thrill by trying to wound a community’s memory but all they have truly done is expose their own narrow mindedness."
PSNI Inspector O’Brien, said: “Officers received a report on Sunday 22nd June that a stone was taken from a memorial garden in the Shuttle Hill area.
“We are treating this report as a sectarian hate crime and we are appealing to anyone with any information, to contact police on 101, quoting reference 1408 of 22/06/25.”
Killowen Purple Heroes LOL 930 are due to host the annual Battle of the Somme Commemoration Parade in Coleraine on Tuesday, July 1 with the parade due to depart from Shuttle Hill at 7:30pm with a short act of remembrance scheduled to take place at the Cenotaph in the town centre.
