Omgh bomb victim’s sister says the Irish government on ‘defensive’ inquiry

The sister of a man killed in the Omgh bombing, who has initiated a legal bid to force the Republic of Ireland to establish his public inquiry, has branded his government “cold” and “defensive”.

Gareth, brother of 18 -year -old Shaunn Conway, was one of 29 people, including twin children as well as a woman who died in a real Ira attack in 1998.

The people of Northern Ireland had torture after less than three months after voting to do yes. Good Friday Agreement,

The Department of Justice of Ireland said that it would be unfair to comment on any ongoing legal proceedings, but said Memorandum signed in April The UK’s Omag was a “important step” in support of the bombing investigation.

It said that the questioning chair, Lord Turnbull, had expressed reservation about two “composite parallel inquiries”.

Ms. Conway said that her “kind” and “hardworking” brother Gareth had only obtained a place to study engineering in the university and when he was killed, “expecting” for the bright future “.

In her first interview, Ms. Conway told BBC News Ni that she feared a public investigation of the UK, which began in January, would be “waste of time” if only half of the truth is checked “.

“There are two sides,” he said.

“It included intelligence and safety failures on both sides of the border, and if the real accountability and understanding are going to be, both governments need to be completely transparent.

“UK investigation is a step in the right direction, but without a parallel investigation in the Republic, it is not going to go anywhere – it will be a waste of time.”

Ms. Conway and her sister Michela Taggart told BBC News Ni that her brother Gareth’s disadvantage “shattered” her family.

He said that he loses another brother after seven years of the bomb, and both his parents died four years ago – desperate for truth and justice.

Ms. Taggart said: “After Gareth passed, I used to go home and we will talk with Mummy and Dad and keep her memory alive.

“But now that both Mummy and Dad have gone – when they died, it was like losing her again.”

“It completely destroyed them,” said Ms. CONW.

“And both of them died not to know the truth, which is terrible.

“My mother told me that she would not be able to find it, but she hoped that I would do it, and what she wanted. She wanted to know why, and she wanted justice.”

If a public inquiry was established to investigate the attack Could be stopped by Britain officials.

Earlier this year, Irish government Agreed on a cooperation agreement with UK checkThis allows access to materials organized by the Irish state.

But the families of some victims argued that an inquiry in that jurisdiction would be the only way to ensure complete disclosure of information and force the witnesses in Ireland to provide evidence.

Ms. Conway is one of the two applicants who initiated legal proceedings in the High Court in Dublin at late July. Another applicant, Emet Tuni, is a seriously injured survivor of the bomb.

They are trying to bring a case to force the Irish government to establish their investigation. It is understood that the Irish state is to oppose the applications, and is until 4 November to respond to the proceedings.

Ms. Conway said that there was very little communication with the Irish government and when it arrived to talk to the families of the recently killed or injured people, she did not think it had gone well.

“They were very cold, very defensive, there was no sympathy, no care,” he said.

“And I understood that they did not want to know – they don’t want to know. They just want it to get away and they feel that if they ignore it, it will happen.”

In a statement, the Department of Justice of Ireland said that it would not be appropriate to comment on “ongoing legal proceedings”.

However, it was said that Lord Turnbull in April, a memorandum with Omgh Bombing Inquiry Chairman, was a “really important step” in distributing the government’s commitment to “facilitates and support the Omgh investigation”.

It was also stated that Lord Turnbull had expressed reservation on the issue of two parallel inquiries running concurrently, especially “by assessing the same evidence and witnesses around the possibility of deviation between two inquiries, and questions that would prioritize the conclusions”.

It said: “In June, the main contestant margins the hearing, the Irish government officials used an opportunity to call a meeting to listen to the families and the remaining people.”

Next week – August 15 – is a symbol of the 27th anniversary of the bomb, which remains the biggest atrocities of troubles.

Ms. Taggart said that her brother’s body was one of the most difficult tasks that she had to do.

She said that every anniversary brings her back in that destructive day.

“I come back – emotionally, everything. I’m back to the room. I am awake with his body – because it’s the last place he was for me.”

The two sisters said that the truth behind the bomb was to achieve some levels of closing them.

Solicitor Coner Kullen, who represented the Conway family in a legal challenge, told BBC News NI that a parallel investigation into the Republic of Ireland was necessary to highlight “The Universal Truth”.

He said, “We do not want to come into a situation where we come at the end of the UK public investigation and still some questions are arising, which we say that the Irish state can probably answer,” he said.

He said that “it was” important “to achieve all facts of intelligence and Irish officers’ functions or income.

Mr. Kulen said that it was important that an Irish investigation was before the next phase of the UK investigation, during March 2026, during which evidence would be heard in relation to who was behind the bombing and how it was done.

He said: “We say that you cannot understand the Omgh bomb properly if you only see in response to the border.”

For example, he said, a parallel investigation would be “everything for families”.

He said, “He currently has a seat on the table in the UK Public Inquiry. We say that he should also have a seat on the table in a public inquiry established by the Irish state,” he said.

“And I think for families, this will really show them that their lives and their disadvantages no matter what boundary they live.”

Three days after the attack, the real IRA issued a statement claiming responsibility for the explosion.

It apologized to the “civilian” victims and said that its goals were commercial.

Nearly 27 years later, no one has been convicted by a criminal court to complete the murders.

In 2009, a judge ruled that four people – Michael McCwit, Liam Campbell, Kolm Murphy and Seemas Daily – were all responsible to the Omgh bomb.

Four people were ordered to pay a total of £ 1.6M in loss to relatives, but the appeal against the ruling delay the compensation process.

A fifth man, Seemas McCena, was acquitted in civil action and later died in a roof accident in 2013.