Families of those who lost loved ones in the Omagh bomb have criticised former secretary of states for Northern Ireland for refusing to hold a public inquiry into the atrocity, and revealed one minister fell asleep during a meeting.
Stanley McCombe, who lost his wife, Ann, in the 1998 atrocity, said there had been 13 secretaries of state since the Omagh bomb, prior to Chris Heaton-Harris, who had failed to order the public inquiry.
Bereaved families attended the Strule Arts Centre in the Co Tyrone town for the inquiry which will examine whether the atrocity could reasonably have been prevented by UK authorities.
In a witness statement read by family solicitor John Fox, Mr McCombe said it has been the families who have held the terrorists to account through their campaigning and pursuit of a civil claim.
He said his campaign to secure a public inquiry has consumed his life and, as a result, he has lost time with his sons, Clive and Colin.
There had been 13 secretary of states for Northern Ireland in post since the Omagh bomb. Of all of them, they could have made the decision to hold a public inquiry, but they did not
“This is the real-life impact in the pursuit of truth and justice. However, I owed it to Ann and all those who died that day,” he added.
“There had been 13 secretary of states for Northern Ireland in post since the Omagh bomb. Of all of them, they could have made the decision to hold a public inquiry, but they did not.
“It was, in fact, the eighth secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Miss Theresa Villiers, who actually refused the holding of a public inquiry.
“It was not until the 14th secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Mr Chris Heaton-Harris, who finally granted the victims’ request for a public inquiry, and, of course, that was after an eight-year judicial review process whereby the courts found in our favour.
“While I may have continued with my campaign in later years, it was never about me or about any one person. This public inquiry is bigger and more important than that.
“It is about doing the right thing, about standing up for the victims whose lives were changed forever in the deadliest bombing throughout the Troubles.
“It is about making sure that something as barbaric and heinous as the Omagh bomb is not allowed to happen again.”
In his testimony, Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed in the blast, told the inquiry that Mr Heaton-Harris was a “breath of fresh air”.
He said he felt that Mr Heaton-Harris and his team “were genuinely listening to us”.
“I’m not going to name the secretary of state, but I can recall a meeting with a previous secretary of state when the secretary of state actually fell asleep during the meeting,” Mr Gallagher said.
“I don’t know if it was our boredom or what the reason was, but it was quite astonishing.
“Chris Heaton-Harris was a breath of fresh air. He was willing to look at the issues and consider the issues, and he made a point of coming to Omagh and visiting the memorial garden.”
Mr McCombe said he and Ann had celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary the year she was murdered.
He said expressing their loss is “impossible”.
“Ann was a wonderful and very, very caring person, and I suppose that is why I fell in love and married her,” he said.
“I think she was the kindest-hearted person that I have ever known and she cared for everybody. Ann was a person who looked after herself and kept herself pretty fit. She was a very good Christian and loved her church. She loved her family and she loved everyone around her.”
He was in Scotland with their eldest son Clive for the World Pipe Band championships when he was told about the bomb.
Later that night, he was contacted by his brother.
“He told me that Ann was missing and that is when it really hit home for me,” he said.
“It must have been around 11pm when Clive got through to my brother again, he found out that my minister had gone to the temporary morgue, and he had identified Ann. That was when my worst fears were confirmed.”
He got back to Omagh the following morning, a journey he described as the “longest and worst” of his life.
“I can recall every minute of it. When we arrived home on the Sunday, you could feel death in the air,” he added.
“We did not come in past the bomb site because you were not allowed to drive past it. So we had to take a detour. When we got to the roundabout, which was just about a quarter of a mile from the bomb site and a quarter of a mile from my own house, it was a very strange feeling.
I could not believe the scenes I was noticing. The area where the bomb had gone off was filled with people. I remember seeing bodies everywhere
“Everything was so still, you did not hear a dog barking or a car, and there was nobody about. Everybody had just disappeared.”
After identifying his wife at the morgue, he said the image of her will be in his head until the day he dies.
“Over the coming days, Ann was taken home and we had her funeral. There were thousands of people coming by the house.
“I stood for hours every day and night as people came from all over Northern Ireland. I had to look after my two boys and keep an eye on them. That is what kept me going.
“I had to keep them in the straight and narrow, and they had to know where they were, who they were with, what time they were going to be home, and how they were going to get home.
“Ann was well thought of and I have so many personal memories that I will hold dear to me for the rest of my life. She was kind, caring and always put herself last in every situation. We lost our world that day. Anne was one of the nicest people you could ever meet.”
Mr McCombe’s son Clive said their lives changed after the bomb.
Through his solicitor, Colin said he was in Omagh the day of the bomb and recalled the moment he heard the explosion.
“I could not believe the scenes I was noticing. The area where the bomb had gone off was filled with people. I remember seeing bodies everywhere,” he said.
“There was just so much going on. I think at this point, I had completely frozen and thought to myself, is this real life? My brain could not process what was going on. My body just went numb. It was like living in a nightmare.”
He added: “I am privileged to have been able to live my life so far. My mother did not get the privilege to live out her life naturally, she was taken from us so cruelly.”
