NEARLY 27 years after the deadliest attack of the Troubles, victims and survivors of the Omagh bombing are demanding more than condolences and symbolic gestures.
They want the full truth - and they believe that can only be achieved through meaningful cooperation from both the British and Irish governments.
The Omagh bombing on August 15, 1998, carried out by the Real IRA, killed 29 people, including a pregnant woman expecting twins.
It happened shortly after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, shocking both sides of the Irish border.
Despite civil actions in 2009 that found four men liable, no one has ever been criminally convicted for the attack.
Today, an ongoing public inquiry that began in january, chaired by Lord Turnbull is investigating whether the bombing could have been prevented.
While the inquiry primarily focuses on the actions of British authorities, victims’ families have expressed deep frustration with the perceived lack of genuine cooperation from the Irish government.
Barrister Alan Kane KC, representing several families, did not mince words.
Speaking during the inquiry’s recent hearings, Kane said the victims are “sick and tired of platitudes, false assurances and broken promises” from Dublin.
The Republic of Ireland’s failure to establish a parallel inquiry or to engage in what the families consider meaningful cooperation is a central point of contention.
“There is a moral, human and legal imperative for the Republic of Ireland to establish its own inquiry,” Kane said.
“The perpetrators of the bombing found cowardly refuge in the Republic, and there are serious concerns about intelligence failures on that side of the border.”
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed earlier this year was supposed to allow the inquiry access to relevant materials held by Irish authorities.
However, Kane described the MOU as “wholly unsatisfactory” and “redundant”, criticising its clauses that allow the Irish government to unilaterally decide what is deemed relevant.
The inquiry also heard troubling revelations about missing documents and alleged intelligence gaps.
Counsel Hugh Southey KC highlighted concerns that intelligence-sharing between British and Irish security services was ineffective, noting that the Garda Síochána rarely provided actionable intelligence to preempt threats.
He also raised the disturbing possibility that state informants were allowed to operate without oversight, possibly endangering public safety.
Families have likened the current inquiry to inspecting only the engine of a vehicle when the whole car - including where the bomb was planted - is what's truly relevant.
As one victim's representative put it: “This inquiry can only examine the parts of the car made in the UK. It cannot examine the rest of the car where the terrorists sat or the boot area where the deadly bomb was hidden.”
For many, this limitation underscores the need for a full, transparent parallel inquiry in the Republic of Ireland.
Without it, they argue, the truth will remain incomplete and justice unfulfilled.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has defended his government’s position, insisting that cooperation has been full and transparent.
Speaking to RTÉ, he called accusations of bad faith “not fair comment” and pointed to the MOU as proof of their willingness to collaborate.
However, the families remain unconvinced. They see years of inaction and redacted documents as evidence of evasion, not engagement.
“There is reason to believe that intelligence was known by the Garda but not the RUC,” said Southey.
“Effective protection would have required cooperation across the border, and that simply didn’t happen.”
As the Omagh Bombing Inquiry continues, the families hope their long pursuit of truth and accountability will finally yield results.
