While our history of political violence here has exposed some of the worst aspects of callous human behaviour, it has also shown us many remarkable examples of personal and collective dignity and decency by survivors and their families.
Among those who have been principled and patient in their search for justice are the relatives and friends of the victims of the Omagh bombing. This week has been another difficult time for them, as they marked the 25th anniversary of the atrocity.
However, despite their reasonable attitude over the past quarter of a century, they have made little progress in discovering the whole truth about the bombing which killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, and injured 220 others.
The ongoing suffering of many victims’ families in their search for truth and justice is based on trying to establish what happened and why. The Omagh victims’ families have an additional burden to carry.
Former Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, said in 2018 that the bombing could have been prevented and in response to a judicial review in 2021, Mr Justice Horner said that there was a “real prospect” that the bombing was preventable.
Read more:Omagh bomb questions can ‘only be fully answered with tandem public inquiries'
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These comments raise questions about whether the Irish and British governments have been fully transparent in their disclosures about the events leading up to the Omagh explosion. Both have strongly condemned the atrocity, but condemnation is not enough. Words mean little without action.
The failure of the Irish and British governments to come together to establish a public inquiry will raise suspicions that one or both of them have something to hide. The British government has promised an inquiry, but we do not yet know its scope or its powers.
Although the Dublin government has pledged to cooperate with any British inquiry, it has not taken the decent step of holding its own public investigation – a basic moral and humanitarian intervention in view of the fact that the bomb is reported to have been made within its jurisdiction.
This week would have been a good time to announce it.
The only way to establish whether or not the bombing could have been prevented is through all-Ireland public inquiries. Nothing less will offer justice, truth and closure to the Omagh bomb victims and their families.
It is time for their waiting to end.
