Repeated demands from members of the main unionist parties for the immediate decommissioning of all paramilitary weapons dominated yesterday's adjournment debate in the Assembly on the Omagh bombing. The debate took place as books of condolences for the 29 victims were closed, one month after the atrocity.
Mr Derek Hussey, of the Ulster Unionist Party, said be believed some Assembly members knew the identity of the bombers. "I must add that there are those in the chamber who know who these people are, and they should be sharing such knowledge with the authorities, North or South."
Mr Hussey, a representative for the West Tyrone constituency which includes Omagh, said the August 15th bombing was "the deadliest tragedy ever witnessed" in 30 years of violence. He said he had no doubt it was the bombers' intention to kill, and said their "despicable attempt to transfer blame" by claiming warnings were not properly passed on "added insult to pain and misery".
Decommissioning had to take place to remove the potential for another Omagh, Mr Hussey said. "This is the overwhelming public expectation and further, for me, it is the political imperative if we are to advance the return of right and proper powers to Northern Ireland's own elected representatives," he added.
The SDLP representative for West Tyrone, Mr Joe Byrne, said that while the bomb was intended to wreck the peace process, it had in fact brought everyone, including senior political leaders, to their senses.
"The Omagh bomb, hopefully, has at long last cleared away a lot of the `fog of ambivalence' to political violence in Ireland as we approach the end of this millennium," he said. The public revulsion at the bombing had to mark a new beginning in political relations, Mr Byrne said, "because the victims and their families have paid a terrible price for the political stagnation that has existed here for such a long time".
The Rev Ian Paisley said the Assembly should have been recalled immediately after the bombing. He said "the terrible crime" should not be allowed to be forgotten. "There is no difference between the villainy, the hellishness, the hideousness of what took place in Omagh and all the killings of the past," the DUP leader said.
He said the only difference on this occasion was that the two governments had a vested interest in "their so-called peace process". "That's why they had such a quick and swift answer to this matter," he added.
The only proof he could accept that "Sinn Fein/IRA had turned from their wickedness" was the dismantling of their weaponry, the DUP leader said.
Mr Pat Doherty, of Sinn Fein, said there was "an awful onus, an awful responsibility" on all politicians to move forward after the bombing. "The attack on Omagh was not only an attack on the people of Omagh, but it was an attack on the whole peace process."
The foundation stones of a memorial to all those who died in the Troubles "should be to resolve the conflict and to resolve the issue that led to the conflict in the first place", Mr Doherty said.
Mr Sean Neeson, leader of the Alliance Party, said the bombing was "a tragedy waiting to happen" and that a similar atrocity could have happened in Banbridge where dissident republicans had previously planted a car bomb. Those who planted the bomb wanted to destroy the peace process and they should not be allowed to do so.
Mr Robert McCartney, of the UK Unionist Party, said the Omagh bombing was no different, except for its scale, from other atrocities. "At this moment, Provisional IRA retain all the armaments necessary to perpetrate 100 Omaghs," he added.
He said Sinn Fein was inextricably linked to the Provisional IRA and there were "no moral or ethical differences" between the Provisional IRA and the "Real IRA". He believed the statement made by Mr Gerry Adams recently on violence was qualified, and violence could again be resorted to by republicans at a later stage.
There were tributes from all parties for the emergency services and medical personnel who helped the bomb victims. The people of Omagh were praised for the courage and humanity they had shown. Ms Jane Morrice, of the Women's Coalition, said: "We stand in your shadow. You have shown us what greatness really is. Your determination to build a new life is a lesson to us all."
The adjournment debate on the bombing was the only official business conducted by the Assembly yesterday.