The Omagh bombing inquests hearing yesterday entered a new stage as it dealt with the first six individual inquests out of the 29 made necessary by the atrocity. As the prolonged hearing approached the core of its legal purpose, it also touched the core of the personal tragedies and sadness caused by the bombing in a busy shopping street of the town two years ago.
While the coroner, Mr John Leckey, as legally required, signed off each life, young and old, with identification and medical evidence, there were many poignant human touches. Several witnesses were emotionally overcome.
Lawyers, inquest staff and medical witnesses attempted to ease the pain inflicted on relatives by the seemingly impersonal, clinical descriptions of their loved ones' injuries. It was stressed that in most cases death must have occurred instantaneously, or almost so.
In each case, the coroner expressed his personal sympathy to the family involved. Where a family member took the witness stand, he conveyed his solicitude directly. After Mrs Marie Conway had confirmed her identification statement concerning her 18-year-old son, Gareth, Mr Leckey inquired how she was coping with her loss, adding that it must be affecting her badly. "From time to time," Mrs Conway answered quietly.
The most moving details concerned not the terrible injuries described in the autopsy reports, but the small personal touches added by relatives - a father describing his daughter's simple jewellery, a mother describing her son's clothing when she last saw him, a woman confiding that her sister bit her fingernails.
Some relatives felt unable to face the inquest ordeal and their statements were read in and recorded after being authenticated, or proven, by a police officer. One or two families asked to look at the medical photographs of their relative's injuries - a request that caused surprise and concern initially, but one woman explained that they felt "it might give a picture" to the coldly clinical material they had been reading and hearing.
The first individual inquest dealt with the death of Gareth Conway (18), one of two Carrickmore teenagers killed by the bomb. He had just left Omagh Technical College and had been accepted for a place on an engineering course at Magee College. His exam results had been due out the week he was killed.
RUC Constable Norman Haslett gave evidence of having attended two bodies at Market Street, Omagh, on August 15th, 1998, one of which he knew to be that of Mr Conway.
Mrs Marie Conway, of Aghagogan Park, Carrickmore, Co Tyrone, gave evidence of identifying the body of her son at Lissanelly army barracks at 11 p.m. on August 15th. In her deposition, she said he was born on April 12th, 1980. He had been working in Omagh Meats for the month before he died.
Mrs Conway said she had been in Omagh town centre with her son on the day, and at about 2.10 p.m. Gareth went off on his own to do some shopping. When she last saw him he was wearing a cream corduroy shirt, black jeans and black shoes. She told Mr Leckey she was still in the neighbourhood of the town centre when the bomb detonated, but she was not injured.
Dr Derek Carson, former deputy state pathologist for Northern Ireland and lecturer in forensic medicine at QUB, now retired, gave evidence of conducting the post-mortem at Omagh Hospital on August 17th. He concluded that the cause of Mr Conway's death was multiple injuries due to a bomb explosion.
The second inquest concerned the death of Ms Esther Norah Gibson, a 36-year-old clothing factory dispatch clerk who was a Sunday school teacher for the Free Presbyterian Church at Sixmilecross, Co Tyrone. She was the eldest of 11 children of a farming family at Beragh, Co Tyrone.
Evidence was given of identification by her sister, Ms Elizabeth Catherine Gibson, who said Esther had left home to go into Omagh at about 2 p.m. on the day of the bombing.
Dr Carson gave evidence of the post-mortem examination, which concluded the cause of death was laceration of the brain associated with fractures of the skull, due to a shrapnel wound to the head.
Mr Barry Fox, the family's solicitor, expressed their appreciation for the help shown to them by the security forces and all the other services.
The third inquest was that on Mr John Joseph (Sean) McGrath (61), of Omagh, a retired marketing consultant, who was married with four children. He died in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, on September 5th, 1998, three weeks after the explosion.
Giving post-mortem evidence, Dr Carson said his severe injuries were mostly of a type caused by flying shrapnel, mainly to the front, indicating that Mr McGrath had been facing the seat of the explosion.
In reply to the coroner, Dr Carson agreed that Mr McGrath would probably have died much more rapidly had he not been given expert medical treatment.
The fourth inquest concerned Ms Julia Victoria Hughes (21), of Beltany Road, Omagh, a university student who had been at home in Omagh for the summer and was working in a holiday job in a photographic shop in the town.
Mrs Sandra Blackwell, who was in tears as she took the oath, described meeting Julia in the street and talking with her a few moments before the explosion. "There was just an almighty bang and everything went black," she said. She herself had been injured and was still recovering.
The post-mortem report on Ms Hughes, by Prof Jack Crane, state pathologist for Northern Ireland, concluded the cause of death was multiple injuries due to the bomb explosion.