The UK will conduct an independent inquiry into the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland that killed 29 people in 1998 to try to establish whether it could have been prevented.
Chris Heaton-Harris, Northern Ireland secretary, told the House of Commons on Thursday that the investigation would examine points raised by a Belfast High Court judgment in July 2021.
That ruling found there was a “real prospect” that the bombing, the worst attack in the three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles, could have been thwarted.
“The inquiry will focus specifically on the full grounds for giving rise to plausible arguments that the bombing could have been prevented,” Heaton-Harris said. It will be headed by a former judge and is expected to take around two years.
The car bomb, in August 1998, came four months after the landmark Good Friday Agreement peace deal was signed, signalling an end to the Troubles. The attack was claimed by the dissident republican Real IRA group. The 29 victims included a woman pregnant with twins.
The statutory inquiry will examine the handling and sharing of intelligence; the use of mobile phone analysis; whether there was advance knowledge; and whether actions could or should have been taken to foil the attack, Heaton-Harris said.
Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aidan was killed in the blast, hailed the decision as “a very important step forward” and “exactly what is needed”.
He told RTÉ radio: “Make no doubt about it . . . there will be embarrassments here for the British government. There will also be embarrassments for the Irish government.”
Heaton-Harris said it was not in his power to order a cross-border investigation.
However, Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s taoiseach, said: “There was probably a cross-border element to this crime and we are going to sit down with the UK authorities and work out how we can contribute to that.
“We certainly won’t be found wanting in terms of making sure that any aspect of this that happened in our jurisdiction, on our side of the border is fully investigated as well.”
The inquiry contrasts with the UK government’s attempt to legislate to end inquests into the atrocities committed before the April 1998 Good Friday Agreement was signed.
The bill, currently before the House of Lords, is opposed by all parties in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as victims groups. Since it was committed after the Good Friday Agreement, the Omagh bomb is not covered by the bill.
Órfhlaith Begley, an MP for the nationalist Sinn Féin party, said: “Today’s announcement of an inquiry also points up the sheer folly of the British government’s cruel and callous legacy bill this is about denying families access to the courts and due process.”
Micheál Martin, Irish foreign minister, said the inquiry was welcome and “serves as a reminder of the need to deal effectively with the legacy of the past, in a manner which advances the fundamental goal of reconciliation”.
News of the inquiry came on the day the first soldier convicted of a Troubles-era killing since the Good Friday Agreement was handed a three-year suspended sentence.
David Holden, a former Grenadier guardsman, was convicted of the 1988 manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie last November.
“Justice delayed does not need to be justice denied,” said Gráinne Teggart of advocacy group Amnesty International.
