Families ask for two republicans to give evidence

Relatives of the victims of the Omagh bombing have called for two dissident republicans to be brought before the inquest into…

Relatives of the victims of the Omagh bombing have called for two dissident republicans to be brought before the inquest into the bombing which sits next week.

At a preliminary hearing, the chairman of the Omagh Self Help and Support Group called for the chairman of the 32-County Sovereignty Movement, Mr Francis Mac key, and Mr Colm Murphy, the only person charged in relation to the bombing, to be witnesses at the inquest.

Mr Michael Gallagher said the families understood the 32-County Sovereignty Movement to be "inextricably linked" to the "Real IRA" and they would like to hear of the precise nature of that link.

He said both men could "add something" to the proceedings and that it would be useful to the inquest for Mr Mackey to "be called and some clarity and information given in relation to the nature and status of the organisation he represents".

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Mr John Leckey, the coroner for greater Belfast, said Mr Gallagher should make a statement to police setting out his reasons for the two men being called and he would consider the matter.

Mr Leckey has the power to compel witnesses to attend an inquest but he noted that under the rules governing inquests, he would be obliged to give adequate notice of the location and time of the inquest to anyone summonsed.

In a significant break with previous inquests, Mr Leckey also acceded to calls from the families' legal teams that they be given witness depositions, maps and photographs before the inquest. This "pre-inquest disclosure" is within a coroner's discretion and has not been granted before in inquests in the North.

Earlier in the hearing, both legal representatives and family members who were representing themselves said the disclosure was necessary so they could prepare for the inquest.

Mr Gallagher said the families felt that "freedom of information should be a right, not a privilege".

Mr Ciaran Mac Lochlainn, a Donegal solicitor representing the families of Sean McLaughlin (11) and Oran Doherty (8) from Buncrana, who died in the bombing, also sought advance disclosure of documents.

Mr Mac Lochlainn said the inquest "must be regarded as a most exceptional case".

He specifically needed maps and photographs to acquaint himself with locations in Omagh because his clients needed to know why a busload of children from Buncrana and Spain "was directed to a car-park in Omagh some 20 minutes after a bomb warning had been given".

He told Mr Leckey: "I want to do my job properly, to do that I need copies of the documents you have before you."

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, set up under the Belfast Agreement, had also prepared a lengthy submission in support of the request for pre-inquest disclosure.

Mr Leckey said the information would be available from tomorrow afternoon. In reaching this decision, he had borne in mind "the large number of deaths, the fact that a number of families will not be legally represented, the international dimension of the tragedy and the large number of witnesses who will give evidence".

The coroner expected all information to remain confidential and warned that he would "take a very serious view of it" if there was publication in advance of the hearing.

After the hearing, Mr Gallagher welcomed the coroner's decision but added that the relatives would struggle to cope at the inquest. "It's a very difficult thing to come into the centre of Omagh. Next week is when the difficult time is going to come."