Omagh bombing inquiry proceedings

The Omagh Bombing Inquiry, chaired by Lord Turnbull, is examining the 1998 Real IRA car bombing in County Tyrone that killed 29 people. The proceedings have focused on identifying the planning network and determining whether UK authorities could have prevented the attack.

During the inquiry, lead counsel Paul Greaney described dissident republican Colm Murphy as sitting ‘like a spider at the centre of the web’ of the planning network. The investigation follows a 2009 ruling that found four men liable for the bombing.

Recent testimony has introduced new details regarding a potential bomb warning. Journalist John Ware informed the inquiry that a confidential source reported a telephone warning made to the Irish Defence Forces at Finner Camp in Donegal on August 14, 1998. The caller reportedly urged authorities to ‘check the back roads’ for an explosives-laden vehicle and repeated the name ‘Omagh, Omagh, Omagh’ three times. This testimony appears to contradict a 2009 finding that there was ‘no evidence whatever’ that warnings were received from the Gardaí. It remains uncertain if this warning was relayed to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.