25 years after the Omagh bombing, justice is still pending

An art gallery, pretty clothing stores and attractive cafes: Market Street, Omagh’s main thoroughfare, is a reflection of this lively and prosperous small town in central Northern Ireland. Except for glass on the sidewalk down the street and a strange monument near the river made of mirrors fixed to the end of poles, not much is likely to remind passersby that the capital of County Tyrone was once the scene of the worst attack Northern Ireland had ever seen. On August 15, 1998, four months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (April 10, 1998), a car bomb exploded at the bottom of Market Street, killing 31, including 12 children and teenagers as well as 12 women – one of them pregnant with twins. The victims were all civilians; there were Catholics, Protestants and even two Spanish tourists.

In Belfast, Northern Irish authorities are preparing to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of the historic peace treaty that ended 30 years of civil war between Protestants (Unionists and Loyalists in favor of keeping Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom) and Catholics (Republicans in favor of Irish reunification). US President Joe Biden will arrive on April 11 to emphasize the conciliatory role played by the United States in resolving the conflict. But in Omagh, this anniversary will revive the memory of an unspeakable tragedy.

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For those related to the victims, the memory will be all the more painful since justice has still not been served. “I feel like everyone wanted to forget Omagh,” said Kevin Skelton, who lost his wife Philomena in the explosion. In February, the British government finally agreed in principle to a public inquiry to find out how much of the tragedy could have been avoided. “It won’t bring back the victims; it will just make money for the lawyers,” said Skelton bitterly.

‘Seriously flawed’ investigation

In the summer of 1998, peace was settling in Northern Ireland but still remained fragile. The main Protestant political parties refused to endorse the Good Friday Agreement, which instituted equal power sharing with Catholics, causing them to lose their traditional preeminence. Nevertheless, dissident Republican factions still refused to surrender their arms. On the afternoon of Saturday, August 15, a stolen car from the Republic of Ireland parked at the bottom of Market Street, across from SD Kells clothing store, a local institution. Three anonymous phone calls were made to Ulster TV and a charity, warning of an impending explosion.

The instructions were vague; police officers kept the onlookers away from the top of Market Street, the latter of which tragically converged on the car bomb. At 3:10 pm, the bomb exploded, with the blast ravaging the clothing store where mothers were buying uniforms for their children in preparation for the start of the school year. “I found my wife in the rubble. I knew right away that she was dead. Two of my daughters were with her; they were fine, but it took me two hours to find my third daughter who was also shopping. She had been taken to the hospital,” said Skelton, who in 2010 founded Families Moving On, an association to help the victims of the bombing which injured more than 300 people.

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