Man who lost wife in Omagh bomb calls for full cooperation on both sides of border in public inquiry

A man who lost his wife in the Omagh bomb 25 years ago says the Irish Government won’t be forgiven if it doesn’t fully cooperate with a forthcoming Public Inquiry.

Kevin Skelton was speaking after a member of the Irish Cabinet ruled out conducting a separate Inquiry in the Republic.

Many families suspect intelligence services had enough information to stop the Real IRA car bomb.

Mr. Skelton told UTV that answers to uncovering the full truth may lie in the Republic of Ireland.

"The bomb was made in the South, the car that took the bomb was stolen in the South, the people who drove the bomb were from the South.”

Kevin Skelton is a founding member of Families Moving On, which represents some of the bereaved and injured.

The group didn’t campaign for an Inquiry.

It was granted by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland earlier this year following a long campaign by the Omagh Self Help Group led by Michael Gallagher and Stanley McCombe, relatives of two of the victims.

However, Kevin Skelton says now that it has been granted the Irish Government's full cooperation is key.

“The need to do the right thing and the right thing is to cooperate with the inquiry here because if they don’t they will never be forgiven.”

Scottish Judge Lord Turnbull has been appointed as Chair of the Inquiry.

Terms of reference are being drawn up which the Irish Government want to examine before deciding how to proceed.

In a statement released to UTV from the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin a spokesperson insisted Irish authorities are prepared to fully cooperate with the UK Inquiry.

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