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Britain to launch public inquiry into 1998 Omagh car bombing

Chris Heaton-Harris, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, told the British Parliament on Thursday that he is launching a public inquiry into the 1998 Omagh car bombing. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI
Chris Heaton-Harris, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, told the British Parliament on Thursday that he is launching a public inquiry into the 1998 Omagh car bombing. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The British government will launch an independent investigation into the Omagh car bombing that killed 29 people and injured hundreds more in Northern Ireland in August of 1998.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, announced the independent statutory inquiry before Parliament on Thursday, stating it is in response to a High Court judgement in 2021 that found plausible arguments that the tragedy could have been prevented.

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"The Omagh bomb was a horrific terrorist atrocity committed by the Real IRA, which caused untold damage to the families of those who were tragically killed and injured. Its impact was felt not just in Northern Ireland, but across the world," he said in a statement.

"Having carefully considered the judgement of the High Court, I believe that an independent statutory inquiry is the most appropriate form of further investigation to address the grounds identified by the court."

The Omagh bombing is the deadliest attack during the three-decade conflict known as the Northern Ireland Troubles.

The Real IRA, a group that splintered from the IRA, detonated a car bomb in Omagh, Country Tyrone, on Aug. 15, 1998, just a few months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in April that would go into effect that December, officially ending the conflict.

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The blast killed 29 people and injured 220 others. There have been no criminal convictions in connection to the car bombing but four Real IRA members were found liable in civil proceedings.

The investigation will examine four areas where the High Court found the state may have failed to prevent the bombing, specifically concerning the handling and sharing of intelligence, the use of cell phone analysis, whether there was advanced knowledge or reasonable means of knowledge of the bomb and whether disruption operations could or should have been mounted.

"I hope that the decision to establish an independent statutory inquiry gives some comfort to those families who have long campaigned for this outcome," Heaton-Harris told Parliament. "I recognized, however, that not all families affected by the bombing desire further investigation -- some have worked hard to process their trauma and to move on with their lives and do not wish to re-examine the past.

"I hope that the targeted nature of the inquiry, to allow it to answer the four points I mentioned earlier, will provide a middle ground whereby answers are sought for those who want them."

Daniel McCrossan, a Social Democratic and Labor Party assembly member, said the launch of the inquiry is a "huge and significant announcement" and one that they have long waited for.

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"This is a significant step but we must ensure that everything is done to uncover the truth as to what happened on that terrible dark day," he said in a video statement.

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