Former RUC officers haunted by ‘what might have been’ bomb blast before Omagh

In what was an almost carbon copy of the bombing of Omagh town centre on August 15, 1998, the Real IRA used the same make and colour of car, and the same size of bomb, to bring terror to the streets of Banbridge.

Although now largely forgotten due to the scale of the carnage at Omagh – where 29 people and unborn twins died in the massive blast – police officers working in Banbridge on Saturday, August 1, have been haunted by the thought of ‘what might have been’ that sunny afternoon had it not been for some good fortune and the quick reactions of officers on the ground.

Had two RUC members on patrol not been almost adjacent to the car containing the bomb in Newry Street when the 20-minute warning was phoned in, it is almost certain that the town centre – described by one officer as “rammed” with shoppers at the time – would have become a killing field.

One of the officers who risked his own life to urge people to leave the immediate area was less than 50 yards from the 500lb device when it exploded.

Although afforded protection from flying debris by a shop building, the blast threw him against a wall with such force that he suffered multiple serious injuries, leaving him unable to work.

“We were on our way to a band parade in Lurgan but got a call on the radio to come back to Banbridge as there was a bomb in the town.

Having established that a number of premises had not been cleared, the ex-officer, who does not wish to be named, moved from shop to shop along the Jingler’s Court mall.

"I was maybe three-quarters of the way down when the thing went off,” he said.

Now aged 51, the former officer said “people don’t remember Banbridge” but he would rather have that than the alternative.

“It's not that I want them to remember, but had we not acted so quickly that day, the whole group on duty, I’m sure the death toll would have far exceeded Omagh. Banbridge was absolutely rammed with people that afternoon.

"From us stopping the Land Rover until the bomb went off was probably no more than two minutes at the most. What is annoying me now is this rewriting of the history of it all.

"Some people are trying to make out that we were no better than the terrorists – that is the hard bit to stomach."

He also said he is convinced there is a link between negative media reports, alleging collusion and other police wrong-doing, and PTSD flare ups.

"They are 100% connected as far as I am concerned. The rewriting of history and PTSD go hand in hand.

"On the one hand I am extremely lucky to still be here, and that I'm not more severely injured, but it still has had a huge impact on my life," he said.

Looking ahead to the Omagh Inquiry, he said: "Only in Northern Ireland can you have an inquiry into the worst atrocity of the Troubles and the losers out of it will be the people who were actually trying to save lives.”

Former senior RUC detective Alan Mains, who served in the RUC and PSNI between 1978 and 2007, witnessed first-hand on numerous occasions the devastating consequences of terrorist bombings and other atrocities.

He recalls how responding to terrorist bomb calls was done with only the safety of others in mind.

"How we policed Northern Ireland at that time, and the challenges that we had, meant that unfortunately we lost lives within the police,” he said.

"I wouldn’t say we were unsung heroes because I think that was very much part of the job we had to do unfortunately, but we did it at that time without thinking... other than focusing on the protection of life.”

Mr Mains, who served in a number of Belfast stations and in south Armagh during his 30-year career, said it was much easier for the terrorists to carry out atrocities than it was for the police to prevent them.

"We were always up against a system where the terrorists could sit, they could wait, they could plot and they could scheme.

"Sometimes we were ahead of it and sometimes we weren’t – terrorism is always about trying to exploit the weaknesses of the community and the intelligence services, and also the police and the army as it was then. It wasn’t easy.”

Mr Mains said there are now, as in the past, many politicians and others who are determined to “demonise the police”.

He said: “One thing that people need to understand, is that if you apply today’s standards 30 or 40 years ago it just doesn’t work. It’s easy to do, it’s easy to say and it’s easy to allege, but if you can put yourself back to that time when I and my colleagues investigating serious crime, you can see why you can’t apply today’s standards.”

Mr Mains also believes this demonisation of Troubles-era police officers is exacerbating the mental health struggles of many who served.

He said: "I often reflect on the past, and think of the debris that has occurred within our own organisation, and the effects, including people who have taken their own lives – due to circumstances that they shouldn’t have been faced with but they were. That post-traumatic stress is very prevalent within many former police officers unfortunately.

"Did we go over and above and beyond [the call of duty]? Absolutely, no doubt about it, but there were consequences for that.

"People may have retired but they don’t forget what they had to do in the past...and they did it very well.”