An English solicitor, the father of 12-year-old James Victor Barker who died in the Omagh bombing, yesterday accused the British government of failing to grasp and convey to the public the gravity of the security alert situation in the days leading up to the Omagh atrocity.
Mr Victor Barker also condemned the "tunnel-vision barbarity" of the "Real IRA" and its political wing, the 32-County Sovereignty Committee, whom he jointly blamed for murdering his son.
Mr Barker was speaking after attending the inquest in Omagh on his son at which the coroner, Mr John Leckey, returned an identical verdict to that recorded in the 28 other inquests - that James had died as a result of a car bomb explosion and that responsibility for the bomb had subsequently been admitted on behalf of the "Real IRA".
Mr Barker gave a press conference at which he was flanked by relatives of other Omagh victims
and at which a poster was displayed bearing a photograph of James and the words: "Murdered by the 32 Co Sovereignty Committee/Real IRA in Omagh on 15 August 1998."
In a statement issued on behalf of himself, James's mother, Ms Donna-Maria Barker, and their remaining children, Esther, Estella and Oliver, Mr Barker again called on Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness to condemn, without reservation, those responsible for the bombing and to encourage everyone in the republican community who had information to come forward. He said he had invited Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness to join him in Omagh yesterday but had been told by intermediaries they were busy. He said he must have called their press secretary 10 or 15 times over the last three months, "but they don't seem to want to meet me, for some reason". He added: "They were quite happy to come to my son's funeral".
Mr Barker said he wrote several times to the Northern Secretary, Mr Mandelson, asking him to put pressure on the Sinn Fein leaders to do something about the people they knew were involved.
He said his message to those involved in the bombing was simply: "Don't talk to me about the armed struggle. Don't attempt to justify the indefensible. There was no military or political target in Omagh - you have simply murdered the innocent in cold blood, and to your eternal shame you have murdered women and children."
Mr Barker, who asked a number of questions of medical witnesses during the inquest, said he did not condemn, but rather sought to praise those who had treated James.
He said: "My condemnation, if any, is directed towards this government and their failure to grasp and convey to the public what was a real security alert situation in the days leading up to Omagh, in confining the army to barracks as part of the so-called peace settlement, and indeed their continued inaction in failing to give all the help and assistance to those who are investigating this outrage.
"I find it inexcusable that the government of Great Britain has only chosen to give us pieties about the hunt for the Omagh bombers and has singularly failed to deliver any form of justice to the innocent victims, especially the many innocent children whose lives and bodies were shattered, including my son James."
The Barker family moved from Surrey to Buncrana, Co Donegal, in 1997.
Giving evidence yesterday, Mr Barker said the last time he saw his son was the morning of the bombing, when he left to go on a bus outing to Omagh with a Spanish student, Lucretia Blanco, who was staying with the family.
Ms Blanco was the sister of Fernando Baselga Blanco, who was also killed in the explosion, and she was still recovering from serious injuries she received.
RUC Constable Mark Benson said he found the boy shortly after the explosion lying about eight feet from the car which was on fire. He was still alive and was gasping to draw breath. The witness applied dressings and rendered assistance, along with two civilians, until the boy was removed on a stretcher.
Constable Benson, in reply to Mr Barker, said the boy was unconscious all the time, and Mr Barker said that knowledge would be of great comfort to his mother.
Concluding the inquest, the coroner said he had read media reports in recent days that optimism was being expressed that the bombers would be caught, and he hoped that optimism would prove justified.