Families' sorrow as police absent from Omagh bomb service for first time

One former officer raised questions of a police force who could send officers to the Pride festival in Belfast, but not a memorial for the single biggest atrocity of the Troubles.

Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aiden was one of 29 people killed in the Omagh bomb, said the absence of the PSNI on Sunday was noted with disappointment by the families.

He said he hoped the writ served against Chief Constable George Hamilton last week had no bearing on the decision not to send a representative to the 19th anniversary service.

Mr Gallagher commented: “I’d have liked them to be there. Their attendance would have been very much appreciated. It was a great regret that they were not there.

“I hope the writ had no bearing on the decision not to attend. I really don’t know if it did.”

He added: “We fully support the police. We took a writ against the chief constable about failure to investigate the Omagh bomb, but that should have absolutely no reflection on our relationship with the police.

“The people responsible for this crime are the terrorists that delivered that bomb. We will never shift the blame onto anyone else, but what we need to know is why those people were not arrested, and that goes for investigations on both sides of the border.”

He added: “We prayed for the police in the service, we prayed for the officers who attended that day.

“It was disappointing not to have them here.

“To the best of my knowledge this is the first year they haven’t attended.

“The families were very disappointed as they would have been very welcome at the service.”

Gerry Carolan, a former member of the RUC, whose interest in the subject stems from his desire to see an end to the “hurt” of Omagh families, said the absence of the PSNI on Sunday was “significant”.

He said: “It was noted by a lot of people who attended that no senior PSNI representative was there. The only police officers at Omagh on Sunday were on traffic duties.

“There were people there from Dublin, there was an English Labour MP there, there were church representatives. People had travelled considerable distances, but there was no senior police representatives there.

“It’s very, very sad that the PSNI couldn’t find 45 minutes out of their day to send a senior representative.

“A fortnight earlier you had the PSNI parading in Belfast at Pride yet they fail to send a representative to the memorial for the single biggest atrocity in Northern Ireland.

“It’s rather unusual that they can attend the Pride parade in Belfast but not this service.”

Mr Carolan, who has attended the Omagh memorial service on many occasions, said of the Omagh families: “Their unsurpassed level of respect, dignity and commemoration of the loss of their loved ones is truly a gateway to a new future for the next generation, but the absence of the senior PSNI serves to illustrate the betrayal of some innocent victims both in an investigative role and respect being afforded to the Omagh bombing families.”

Mr Carolan added: “One could be forgiven for thinking that it might have something to do with the Omagh families issuing a writ to the chief constable just a few days previously.”

The former police officer suggested the absence of senior officers was “attributable to their loyalty to the chief constable”.

When asked why police did not send a representative to the Omagh bomb memorial service on Sunday, Chief Inspector Graham Dodds said: “PSNI officers have previously attended the annual memorial service to show our support for the victims of this terrible tragedy, at the invitation of the families concerned.

“At this stage we do not believe that local police received an invitation to this year’s service however we will seek to clarify the matter.”

Mr Gallagher said Omagh Support and Self Help Group who organise the annual memorial service did not send out formal invites.

He said the event was open to everyone in the community.