Omagh bombing victim’s husband: I’m finished with inquiry after Garda evidence

A man who lost his wife in the Omagh bombing has said he is “finished” with a public inquiry into the atrocity following the delivery of video evidence from a senior Garda officer.Kevin Skelton accused the Irish Government of “not co-operating” with the proceedings and described watching the evidence on Thursday as “torture”.It came as a barrister said the inquiry intends to “seek answers from the Republic of Ireland” about “outstanding questions” relating to the theft of the car used in the 1998 bombing.The hearing on Thursday was played a “sequence of events” statement from Detective Superintendent Emmet Casserly, attached to the Special Detective Unit of An Garda Síochána with responsibility for dealing with terrorism.The scene in Omagh following the 1998 bombing (Paul McErlane/PA)PA MediaBut lead counsel to the inquiry, Paul Greaney KC, said the process of evidence being delivered in this way had “limitations” and was not the “fully dynamic process” of questioning witnesses who attend the hearing.The dissident republican car bombing in Omagh on August 15 1998 killed 29 people, including a woman who was pregnant with twins, in the worst single atrocity in the Troubles in Northern Ireland.The Omagh Bombing Inquiry, chaired by Lord Turnbull, is holding evidential hearings in Belfast.The latest phase of hearings, which will last for several weeks, is concentrating on the period before and after the bombing and will examine how it was carried out and who was responsible.Chair of the Omagh Bombing Inquiry, Lord Turnbull (Liam McBurney/PA)PA WireThe inquiry was set up by the previous government to examine whether the explosion could have been prevented by UK authorities.Mother-of-four Philomena Skelton was 39 when she died in the attack while on a shopping trip with her husband and three daughters.Her husband, Kevin Skelton, said he was “disappointed, but not surprised” at the contribution from police in Ireland.He said: “We know how many questions, there were 53 questions sent in and there was about two answered.“They are not co-operating with the inquiry. I don’t care what they say.“The Irish Government is not co-operating, they never have.”Mr Skelton pointed out the bomb was made in the Republic of Ireland.He said: “The south of Ireland has the questions to answer but they are not going to answer.”He added: “It would drive you nuts. I won’t be back. That is it, that’s me finished.“It is not doing any good, it is not going anywhere. It is not doing anything for me only putting me through torture.Read More“At my age now I need to step back… we are not going to get to the truth.”Prior to playing the video recording to the inquiry, Mr Greaney said the evidence of Irish state witnesses was delivered according to the terms of “bespoke legislation” passed by the Dublin government.He said the Irish Justice Minister had agreed on an “expressly exceptional basis” for the evidence from the statement to be “induced by questioning from the inquiry legal team”.The statement was recorded earlier this month in Dublin.Paul Greaney KC is lead counsel to the inquiry (Liam McBurney/PA)PA WireThe inquiry heard that four and a half hours of evidence were recorded, with just over an hour played on Thursday.In the recording, Mr Casserly confirms that Gardaí had identified for the inquiry the entirety of material in its original investigation into the Omagh bombing, which amounted to 107 boxes.The detective said this involved the presentation of the investigation as conducted at the time rather than a review of it.In the recording, Mr Greaney asks Mr Casserly: “Do you agree that there is no doubt that the car which contained the Omagh bomb was a Vauxhall Cavalier with the registration mark 91DL 2554?The detective said: “That’s correct.”The inquiry heard the car had been stolen from outside a house in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, between 11pm on August 12 and 3.30am on August 13.Mr Greaney said: “It’s clear that the vehicle used in the Omagh bombing was stolen from within the Republic of Ireland?”Mr Casserly said: “That is correct.”The detective explained that after the car was stolen, the owner reported the theft to local Gardaí and information was passed on to other stations.The Omagh Bombing Inquiry is being held in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA)PA WireMr Greaney asked if the immediate Garda response was what the detective would have expected.Mr Casserly said the details about the stolen car were also included in a list sent to the RUC in Northern Ireland on August 13.He said this was a “standardised report” of stolen vehicles that was distributed daily.The detective said in the days following the Omagh bombing, Gardaí carried out searches of the scene where the car was stolen but they did not uncover anything of assistance.The inquiry also heard there had been three other attempts to steal similar vehicles in Carrickmacross on the same evening.The detective said subsequent to the bombing, Gardaí made a public appeal for information about the stolen car which led to reports of a number of potential sightings.One of these was from a Garda officer who had reported seeing a maroon Vauxhall Cavalier travelling fast in Main Street in Carrickmacross in the early hours of August 13.Mr Casserly said: “The investigation was unable to conclusively state what happened to the vehicle subsequent to its theft.”He said this was due to a lack of accurate detailed descriptions and CCTV.After the statement was played, Mr Greaney told the inquiry he wanted to “provide some context”.He said: “The position of the government of Ireland was that the questioning of Detective Superintendent Casserly should be restricted to matters contained within the sequence of events statement that had been prepared.“Notwithstanding that position, the inquiry legal team indicated a wish to ask additional questions, and indeed we provided a list of those questions.“With a small number of exceptions, the government of Ireland declined to permit that additional questioning to happen.“It’s important to say, however, that it wasn’t simply a no, because what was indicated was that supplementary questions should be posed through the statutory procedure.”The barrister said it was clear “that there are other questions that need to be asked and answered” about the theft of the car.He added: “Overall, we hope that once everyone has seen all four hours and 30 minutes of the evidence of Detective Superintendent Casserly, they will conclude that what we undertook on September 1 was a meaningful exercise.“Nonetheless, it had the limitations that we have described, and it was not the fully dynamic process of questioning and pressing of witnesses that will happen, we are sure, here.“But what is important, everyone should know, is that we do fully intend to utilise the statutory procedure to seek answers from the Republic of Ireland to the outstanding questions which undoubtedly do exist. “