Omagh shooting: Taoiseach ‘deeply shocked’ by attack on PSNI officer

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he is “deeply shocked” by the shooting of an off-duty PSNI officer adding “It is a chilling reminder of a past that I think we all hope is behind us.”

Police investigating the shooting of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell in Omagh on Wednesday evening have arrested three men.

Mr Varadkar said he hopes Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell makes a speedy recovery and he extended his best wishes to his family and friends.

He condemned the attempted murder and said: “The circumstances really were truly awful for this to happened in a sports club, for his son to witness these events.”

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Mr Varadkar added: “I would encourage anyone who has any information on this to make it available to the PSNI.”

On the question of who was responsible, Mr Varadkar said: “I received an initial security briefing last night. But as part of that briefing, I was advised that information was as yet unclear and best not to make any comment on who was behind it and what the implications might be until we have more information.”

He said the PSNI has arrested a number of people and “that’s significant”.

Mr Varadkar said the Garda has offered assistance to the PSNI. Asked what form this will take, he said: “Really any support they need. Sometimes, as you’ll be aware, crimes that happened in the border area, or in border counties have a cross border element.

“So if there is any cross-border element to this - and we don’t know if there is yet - the gardaí are there to help.”

Asked if the incident highlighted the need to restore power-sharing institutions in the North he replied: “I think until we know who committed this crime, until we have more information,” he said. “I think it’s premature to get into that space.

“I think it’s important that we don’t jump to any conclusions at this point and that’s very much a security briefing that I’ve been given in that regard.”

Mr Varadkar was speaking to reporters after turning the sod on a road project in Drogheda, Co Louth which is aimed at paving the way for housing in the area.

Minister for Justice Simon Harris is to hold talks with Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton Harris following the attack.

Speaking in Dublin on Thursday, Mr Harris said an attack on the PSNI is viewed as “equivalent to an attack on a member of An Garda Siochána, because it’s an attack on peace and of course it’s an attack on security on our island”.

While he would not be drawn on any security assessment of who had committed the attack, he said gardaí are in “close and active contact” on both intelligence and operations with their counterparts in Northern Ireland.

He said it was a “brutal, horrific attack”, adding that he hopes to speak with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland later in the day.

Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys, who represents the constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, roundly condemned those responsible for what she said was a “heinous” crime as “murderers” and “animals”.

[ Omagh shooting: Attack on PSNI officer a ‘vicious act of thuggery’, says McDonald ]

[ Omagh shooting: Three men arrested over gun attack on PSNI officer ]

“(DCI Caldwell) was out there, he comes back to his car with his son, he’s putting the gear back in the car and these criminals, these animals, the lowest of the low come up and they shoot him and then he lies on the ground and they shoot him again,” she said. She welcomed the condemnation that followed the attack from from all parties in Northern Ireland and the Republic.

“Whatever group they belong to, as far as I’m concerned they need to be brought to justice and held to account for the awful crimes that they committed last night.”

The Taoiseach said negotiations between the UK and European Commission aimed at resolving the dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol are ongoing.

Asked when he expected a deal he said: “I really can’t say at this stage.

“If I was a betting man I’d say more likely next week than this but it’s by no means agreed yet.”

He said a lot of work has been done and “We’re not that far away from an agreement... It just requires us all to go that extra mile.

“I really hope that we don’t miss this opportunity because getting an agreement means that we can have the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly up and running, the people of Northern Ireland getting a government that they voted for and also allows us to normalise relations between Ireland and Britain, between Britain and the EU, which really is to the advantage of all of us”.