August 19, 1998: British army and police at the scene in Omagh Town where a bomb was exploded by the Real IRA on August 15.RollingNews.ie

The Omagh Bombing Inquiry began today, Tuesday, January 28 with Commemorative and Personal Statement Hearings at Strule Arts Center in Omagh, Co Tyrone.

The oral hearings, which are expected to run for about four weeks, aim to commemorate publicly each person who was killed in the bombing through ‘pen portraits,’ and also to hear personal statements from those who were injured in or were directly affected by the bombing.

The Inquiry will sit for four days a week, Monday to Thursday, and will hear approximately four commemorations or personal statements a day. The hearings will be streamed, with a three-minute delay, live on YouTube.

"Those beyond Omagh who listen and watch will, as I was, be shocked by the level of grief imposed on ordinary, decent members of society doing nothing other than living their daily lives," Chairperson Alan Turnball said at the opening of the inquiry on Tuesday.

"Those who watch and listen will be overwhelmed and humbled, as I have been, on hearing of the appalling injuries inflicted on people of all ages and of the dignity and compassion with which so many of those have coped with the changes in their circumstances which have been imposed upon them."

Turnball added: "It is my sincere hope that all of those who supported or condoned the use of such acts of violence will learn of the actual, indiscriminate, and devastating consequences of such  selfish conduct for innocent, hardworking, and caring people of all ages and for their communities."

On Tuesday, the Inquiry was hearing commemorations of victims Fernando Blasco Baselga and Rocio Abad Ramos.

Baselga, a Spanish exchange student, was 12 when he was killed by a small piece of shrapnel when the car bomb exploded in Omagh. Ramos, who was 23, was leading the exchange students.

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The Omagh bombing inquiry was established following a court ruling that directed the British government to develop a human rights-compliant investigation into the attack.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the atrocity, launched the legal challenge that resulted in the court ruling. 

The independent, statutory, public inquiry will investigate whether the bombing in Omagh, Co Tyrone on August 10, 1998, could have been reasonably been prevented by UK state authorities.

29 people were killed in the bombing, while more than 200 were injured.

The Inquiry began formally in February 2024, when the British Government issued its Terms of Reference.

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"Evil atrocity"

Marking the start of the inquiry, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Hilary Benn said on Tuesday: "It was an evil atrocity that devastated the people of Omagh and shocked the world. My thoughts are with all those taking part in these hearings which will be full of pain and sadness."

"Deliver truth"

Sinn Féin MLA for West Tyrone Nicola Brogan offered "her personal and party’s continued support and solidarity to all those affected by this tragedy" on Tuesday.

Brogan said: “Grieving families, who have campaigned for justice for decades with dignity and determination, deserve full transparency and disclosure about the killings of their loved ones.

“I am hopeful this inquiry will, at last, deliver truth to the heartbroken families of the Omagh bomb.”

Irish Government "actively engaging"

Ireland's Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said: "Everybody in Ireland remembers the horror of that sunny August afternoon in Omagh and today will be another stark reminder of the pain and suffering caused to so many families as the commemorative hearings begin.

"Testimony over the coming weeks will be difficult, especially for those who lost loved ones, and for those who responded first as the news broke. But it is important to remind ourselves of the full horror of that brutal attack, to remind ourselves of the purpose of this Inquiry.

"When I was Taoiseach, the government took a clear decision to assist the Omagh Inquiry. That commitment was made clear, publicly, at the preliminary hearing last August.

"The Programme for Government repeats that commitment in no uncertain terms, stating plainly that we will 'play our full part in legacy processes…including facilitating and supporting the Omagh Inquiry.'

"The cross-border nature of the assistance, to an inquiry established under UK law, means that it takes some work to get the details of the mechanisms of cooperation right, but we are actively engaging in this work and we will not be found wanting."

The Omagh bombing

On the afternoon of August 15, 1998, just a few months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, a car bomb was detonated in the town of Omagh in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

21 people were killed in the explosion, another eight people died in the hospital, and 220 others were injured, making it the single deadliest incident of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The attack was carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army (Real IRA), a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group that opposed the IRA's ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement, signed earlier in the year.

In 2009, a landmark civil trial found Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy, and Seamus Daly liable for the bombing. Seamus McKenna, a fifth man in the trial, was cleared of liability.

The four men were ordered to pay £1.6 million ($2.2 million) to the 12 relatives of the victims who took the case to court. 

No one has been held criminally liable for the Omagh bombing.

Omagh bombing victims

  • James Barker, 12,
  • Geraldine Breslin, 43
  • Rocio Abad Ramos, 23
  • Fernando Blasco Baselga, 12
  • Debra-Anne Cartwright, 20
  • Gareth Conway, 18
  • Breda Devine, 20 months
  • Oran Doherty, 8
  • Aidan Gallagher,
  • Esther Gibson, 36
  • Mary Grimes, 66
  • Olive Hawkes, 60
  • Julia Hughes, 21
  • Brenda Logue, 17
  • Jolene Marlow, 17
  • Ann McCombe, 48
  • Brian McCrory, 54
  • Samantha McFarland, 17
  • Sean McGrath, 61
  • Sean McLaughlin, 12
  • Avril Monaghan, who was pregnant with twins, 30
  • Maura Monaghan, 18 months
  • Alan Radford, 16
  • Elizabeth Rush, 57
  • Veda Short, 56
  • Philomena Skelton, 39
  • Bryan White, 27
  • Fred White, 65
  • Lorraine Wilson, 15