Garda's allegations on Omagh bombing dismissed by inquiry

Allegations by a detective at the centre of inquiry into Garda behaviour in Donegal - that intelligence in the possession of the gardaí before the Omagh bombing was not passed on to the PSNI - have been dismissed by an official inquiry.

The inquiry into the allegations made by Det Sgt John White was headed by former senior civil servant Dermot Nally. It was established in 2002 and reported a year later but has not been published until now for legal and security reasons.

An edited version was made available last night. The Nally Group was appointed in 2002 to examine the allegations, as submitted to the Minister for Foreign Affairs by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.

The Department said in a statement that it was publishing an edited version of the report which did not contain elements unrelated to Det Sgt White's allegations about the Omagh bombing.

Neither did it contain elements which might jeopardise covert Garda operational procedures and/or national security.

According to the edited report, every opportunity was afforded to Det Sgt White to clarify and expand on his assertions that he made his allegations because of his sense of personal guilt and responsibility for the Omagh atrocity.

"The group has given careful consideration to his evidence in this regard and has concluded that his assertions that he was motivated by guilt regarding the Omagh bomb (and by a sense of responsibility to its victims) are inherently incredible. The question of what in fact motivated Det Sgt White to make such serious allegations remains for consideration.

"In the course of interviewing Det Sgt White it became quite clear and was undisputed by him that in fact he did not pass any of the details of his allegations to named individuals or to anyone else prior to his being aware that he was subject to investigation.

"Indeed it is clear from what he said to the group that he made no allegation or mention whatever of his concerns to any person, not even his wife, until after his arrest on March 21st, 2000. In his PSNI statement he confirmed his arrest was before he had raised any issue concerning Omagh.

When the group met the NI Police Ombudsman and her officers they named certain individuals as having been spoken to by Det Sgt White. It transpired that he had spoken to none of these individuals prior to his arrest on 21 March 2001."

The report concluded that there was no foundation for the allegations made by Det Sgt White and they were motivated solely by concerns arising from the difficulties in which he found himself with his superiors and with the criminal law.