18 October 2007

MI5 ‘Not Relevant’ To Omagh Bomb Bereaved

Continuing concerns, frequently expressed by campaigning relatives of victims of the Omagh bomb outrage’s victims are unhappy with government attitudes.

A Home Office Minister has told the Omagh Support and Self Help Group that the work of MI5 is "not relevant" to them.

The relatives have consistently said the government can do more in the hunt for answers about possible intelligence failures before the IRA massacre.

In a letter, Minister of State Tony McNulty, has again refused to engage with the relatives about their intelligence concerns.

Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh group, said he believes the Government is trying to fudge the issue and keep MI5 "at arm's length”.

The Omagh families have sought answers from MI5 and the Home Secretary ever since the PSNI revealed that the Security Service was warned about a possible attack on Omagh four months before the bombing that killed 29 adults and children, and two unborn babies.

Mr Gallagher said that although MI5 acted on the warning - passed on by FBI informer David Rupert – they could have prevented an attack by telling the RUC that Omagh was a target.

In raising these concerns, the relatives want to know whether or not police could have responded differently to the attack, had they been told of MI5’s suspicions about the targeting of the County Tyrone town.

Mr Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the 1998 bombing, said the families are concerned about MI5's accountability - especially since the Security Service took over responsibility for national security in Northern Ireland last week.

"We are the first to recognise that there are areas that cannot and should not be talked about," Mr Gallagher said.

"But there has to be some degree of accountability. All we are asking for is a meeting with MI5, so that we can make our own minds up about any deficiencies in the intelligence services with regard to Omagh.”

He rejected Mr McNulty's suggestion that MI5's work is "not relevant" to the Omagh families.

Mr Gallagher said: "We're not experts, but we've experienced terrorism. To me, it's saying we're not important, and that's demeaning of the people who've stood up to terrorism and been counted. "

Last year, then director of MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, refused to meet the families, and their requests for a meeting with previous Home Secretary John Reid also failed. The Home Office is directly responsible for the Security Service.

(BMcC)