Northern Assembly urges Irish Government to start public inquiry into Omagh bombing

The bomb killed 29 people in 1998.

A UK inquiry into the atrocity is being conducted from Omagh, Co Tyrone, which the Irish Government has said they will help with, however they have not committed to issuing their own inquiry.

The current inquiry is examining whether the bombing carried out by the Real IRA could have been prevented.

Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, said that the Dublin Government will agree on a memorandum of understanding with the UK Omagh Bombing Inquiry in the coming weeks.

On Tuesday, the Assembly passed a motion which "laments the lack of any tangible effort" from the Irish Government to begin their own inquiry into the bombing or to deal with the wider aftermath of the Troubles.

UUP MLAs Doug Beattie, Dr Steve Aiken, Robbie Butler and John Stewart brought up the motion.

According to Mr Beattie, the car used in the bombing was stolen from the Republic and the explosives were assembled there too.

He said: “Yet the Dublin Government does not feel the need to hold a public inquiry in parallel to the UK inquiry or even a commission of investigation.

“They clearly do not take their commitment to victims seriously, and many victims do not trust their hollow words.

"They do not trust some weak memorandum of understanding in regards to information sharing, and they have good reason not to trust them.”

He added that “the Government of the Republic of Ireland need to act” as the effects of the Troubles go beyond just Northern Ireland.

The Omagh bombing happened on August 15, 1998, killing 29 people includig a mother carrying twins.

Earlier this year, commemorative hearings occurred at the inquiry for all of those that had died.

The inquiry also heard evidence from those who were injured and emergency responders.