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The Omagh Bomb - Main Events

Main Events surrounding the bomb in Omagh
Saturday 15 August 1998

Omagh Bomb - Largest loss of life in a singleincident in Northern Ireland

At 3.10pm a car bomb exploded in Omagh, County Tyrone, killing29 people (plus two unborn children) and injuring 220 others. 21 died where they fell while8 more died on the way to, or in, hospital. Of those injuredat least 11 were described as critical, including two children,and 113 were detained in hospital overnight. Initially no group claimedresponsibility for the bomb but suspicion fell on a splinter group of Republicans who call themselves the"real" Irish Republican Army (rIRA). Nine children (5 girls and 4 boys; including an 18 month-old baby), 14 women and 6 men died at thescene or in hospital. Alist of the dead was later released.

[Photograph: AP Photo]
The bomb had been planted close to the junction of Market Streetand the Dublin Road in the centre of Omagh. A warning had beentelephoned to a news agency in Belfast approximately 40 minutesbefore the explosion but the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) said that the warning referred to the Omagh Courthouse which isroughly 400 meters from where the bomb exploded. Indeed manyof those killed and injured had been moved from the vicinity ofthe courthouse and into the area where the car containing thebomb was situated.

Like many market towns in Northern Ireland, Omagh was full ofSaturday afternoon shoppers. Many people had travelled into Omaghfrom the surrounding villages and countryside. It was a particularlybusy time as women and children were in the town buying schooluniforms and supplies in anticipation of a return to school.In addition a cross-community carnival was also being held inthe town at the time of the explosion. Among the dead and injuredwere a group of Spanish children who had been studying Englishin Buncrana, County Donegal, and who were taken on a coach tripto Omagh along with some Irish children from Buncrana. One 12year old Spanish boy died as well as a teacher from Spain. Threeyoung boys from Buncrana, aged 8, 11 and 12 years, were killedin the explosion. Three generations of women from one familyfrom Augher, County Tyrone, were killed: a 65 year old grandmother,her 30 year old pregnant daughter, and the 18 month old granddaughter.

The bomb was in a car which had been parked close to the centreof the town and when it exploded it ripped through crowds of peopleand demolished a number of buildings. Those who had been injuredwere initially taken to the two local hospitals, the Tyrone CountyHospital and the Erne Hospital. Buses and cars were used to ferrythe injured to the hospitals, but many of the most badly injuredwere then flown or driven to other hospitals in Northern Irelandincluding the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and AltnagalvinHospital in Derry. There were many horrendous injuries with anumber of people losing limbs. Medical staff described the sceneas "battlefield conditions". The bodies of the deadwere taken to a temporary morgue at a nearby British Army base.

There was condemnation of the killings by all sections of thecommunity and all shades of political opinion in Northern Irelandand around the world. Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, condemnedthe attack as an "appalling act of savagery and evil"by people determined to wreck the peace process. Bertie Aherne,then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), described the event as "themost evil deed in years" and said those responsible wouldbe ruthlessly pursued. Willian Thompson, then Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP forWest Tyrone, called for a clampdown by the security forces. GerryAdams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), said that he was totallyhorrified by the Omagh bomb and condemned it without equivocation. [This was the first time any member of SF has used the word "condemnation"in connection with any act of Republican violence.] Paddy McGowan, thenan independent Nationalist councillor, who had been a Fire Officerfor many years during 'the Troubles' was an eyewitness to thescene and said that the "devastation was beyond anythinghe had every seen". The leaders of Northern Ireland's fourmain churches joined together to condemn the bomb attack. Therewere also messages from Bill Clinton, then President of the UnitedStates of America, the Pope, and the Queen who sent a messageof sympathy.

Sunday 16 August 1998

A number of political leaders who were on vacation at the timeof the explosion broke off their holidays to return to the UnitedKingdom (UK). Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, returnedfrom holiday in France and flew to Northern Ireland. Marjorie(Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, alsoreturned to Northern Ireland from her holiday in Greece. JohnPrescott, then British Deputy Prime Minister, paid a visit tothe scene of the explosion in the early afternoon. Mary McAleese,then President of the Republic of Ireland, also paid a visit toOmagh.

An ambulance transferring patients to hospitals in Belfast wasinvolved in a traffic accident with a car on the Knock Road whichresulted in the death of the driver of the car. Concerns were expressed over how Loyalist paramilitary groups would response. Late on the second day two of the dead still had not been identified. Omagh Leisure Centre was used as a base for the relatives and friends of the dead and injured to learn news about what had happened.The Spanish Ambassator also visited the town and some of the injured. Bertie Aherne, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), said thatinternment had not been ruled out of his security review. Whateverhas to be done would be done to crush the group responsible. TheThirty-Two County Sovereignty Committee issued astatement saying that it was not connected in any way to the explosion.

Aftermath

Following a visit to some of those injured Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, issued astatement.

The bomb also prompted theIrish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) to issue astatement calling on theIrish National Liberation Army (INLA) to announce a ceasefire. The group calling itself the "real" IRA issued astatement claiming responsibility for the bomb and then asecond statement saying that "all military operations have been suspended". [The rIRA subsequently returned to violence.]