Omagh inquest focuses on warnings

RUC officers are scheduled to enter the witness box

More RUC officers are due to enter the witness box on the second day of the inquest on the 29 people killed in the Omagh bombing.

The police officers are expected to outline how they responded to three telephoned warnings which gave conflicting information about where the bomb was left by republican dissidents and when it was due to explode.

Belfast coroner John Leckey is scheduled to hear more about the Real IRA bomb warnings to the Samaritans and Ulster Television.

He will also hear how RUC officers on the ground were directed to respond.

The inquest is at the Omagh leisure centre, which was used as an incident centre after the bomb exploded in the centre of the busy County Tyrone town, killing 29 and injuring more than 200 people, on 15 August, 1998.

Mr Leckey opened the inquest on Wednesday by saying that relatives of the victims faced a "harrowing time" over the three weeks the case is expected to last.

Coroner John Leckey: Relatives face "harrowing time"

Much of the first day was taken by evidence from a woman who took down details of two telephone warnings from a caller claiming to be from the Real IRA.

Ulster Television employee Margaret Hall told the hearing that the first warning came at 1430 BST and the caller had said the bomb would explode in 30 minutes at the town's courthouse.

She said a second call was received six minutes later and this time the caller said the bomb would explode in 15 minutes in "Omagh town".

The hearing was then told that RUC Constable John Mullin had received the warning at the Belfast Incident control room and had immediately phoned the warning through to the police station in Omagh.

After the first day of the inquest ended, some of the victims' families spoke about police procedures relating to bomb warnings.

'Police not on trial'

They said that it was quite proper that the inquest would question the procedures in place for dealing with bomb warnings relating to Omagh and bomb warnings in general.

However, Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was killed in the tragedy, said the "families were very keen that the police were not seen to be on trial".

They said the "responsibility for the bombing lay with those who had created a fatally dangerous situation by bringing the bomb into Omagh" on 15 August 1998.

They feel that they are as much a part of their family as the people who they actually lost

Barry Fox
Solicitor

Earlier, the hearing was told of an application from the solicitor representing the family of Avril Monaghan.

Barry Fox asked for the deaths of her two unborn children to be included in the hearing.

"The lack of recognition that had been afforded to the twins had caused upset to the father and the family in general," said Mr Fox.

"They feel that they are as much a part of their family as the people who they actually lost."

Mr Leckey said he would consider the matter "in the coming days" when the deaths of Mrs Monaghan, her 18-month-old daughter Maura and her mother Mary Grimes were being considered.

Some of the families will be represented by lawyers at the inquest, including the leading QC, Michael Mansfield. Others will represent themselves.

Unlike inquests in England and Wales, coroner's courts in Northern Ireland do not reach verdicts apportioning blame, but instead make "findings", confined solely to the facts surrounding violent, sudden or unexplained death.

For that reason, the victims' families are divided about the effectiveness of the inquest.