Starting the Omagh Bombing Inquiry with a focus on the victims of the atrocity is important in “informing and educating others as to the real effect of terrorist violence”, its chairman has said.
Lord Turnbull said placing victims front and centre as the long-awaited inquiry gets underway in Omagh may show those who condoned and supported violence that such acts have “indiscriminate and devastating consequences”.
The inquiry is taking place at Omagh’s Strule Arts Centre, beginning with commemorative hearings and personal statements from victims’ loved ones.
It was officially opened by Lord Turnbull last summer, but began in earnest on Tuesday.
The inquiry aims to establish if the dissident republican attack in 1998 could reasonably have been prevented by UK authorities.
Carried out by the Real IRA, the explosion in Omagh’s Market Street on the afternoon of August 15, 1998 claimed the lives of 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.
To date, no-one been convicted over the attack, which was the most deadly single incident of the Troubles, but in 2009 four men were found liable in a civil case taken by victims’ families.
In his opening statement, Lord Turnbull said: “Those beyond Omagh who listen and watch will, as I was, be shocked at the level of grief imposed on ordinary decent members of society doing nothing other than living their daily lives.
“Those who watch and listen will be overwhelmed and humbled, as I have been, on hearing of the appalling injuries inflicted on people of all ages and of the dignity and compassion with which so many of those have coped with the changes in their circumstances which have been imposed upon them.
“The evidence sessions will accordingly have an important value in informing and educating others as to the real effect of terrorist violence.
He added: “In this way, it is my sincere hope that all of those who supported or condoned the use of such acts of violence will learn of the actual indiscriminate and devastating consequences of the such selfish conduct for innocent, hard-working and caring people of all ages and for their communities.”
Among the victims remembered through evidence on Tuesday were two from the Spanish capital Madrid, who had been visiting Ireland at the time of the blast - 23-year-old Rocio Abad Ramos and 12-year-old Fernando Blasco Baselga.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden (21) was killed in the attack, has long campaigned for the inquiry.
He said of the hearings: “It brings a lot of it back, but it’s hugely important to focus this week and next week and the week after on the victims. In all of this sometimes the voice of the victims is lost because there are so many technical arguments but this brings humanity to it.”
Meanwhile, among those attending Tuesday’s hearing was Sir Ronnie Flanagan, who was chief constable of the RUC when the explosion occurred.
Three years after the attack, a stinging report by then-Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan spoke of a “failure of leadership” in the police that impacted the chances of catching the Real IRA bombers.
Following the report, Mr Flanagan held a press conference at which he criticised its findings, threatened legal action, and said he would “commit suicide in public” if the failures it highlighted were found to be true.
