It had been 30 years of violence, murder and general fear in Northern Ireland. It is known as the troubles. It was a very unsettle time but the end of violence was nearing making hope seem possible. The Good Friday Agreement had a 71% backing. This would propose a Northern Ireland assembly with a power-sharing Executive. This was in the summer on 1998.

On the 15th of August 1998 at 3:10 pm (BST) a car exploded in the busy town centre of Omagh.Many thought the troubles were over but this was a terrible atrocity which claimed the lives of 29 people and two unborn babies. This was the worst single attack in the history of the troubles.

THE ATTACK

PREPERATION

It was across the border where the preparation for this attack first occurred. The perpetrators stole a maroon Vauxhall,Cavalier from outside of some flats in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. They then swapped out the Irish plates for some fake Northern Ireland ones. It was then loaded up with 230 kg of explosive made with fertiliser.

After crossing the Irish border the perpetrators parked the car outside S.D Kells clothes store at approximately 14:19 at Omagh’s Lower Market street which is located at the southern side of the town centre.The car arrived from the east but the two male occupiers could not find a parking spot near there original targeet which was the courthouse. They armed the bomb and exited the car heading east down Market Street towards Campsie Road. There is a photograph where two Spanish tourist were standing next to the car. The person who took the photo died but the man and child luckily survived this was moments before the explotion.

THE WARNINGS

Two weeks prior to the Omagh attack the real IRA used the code word “Martha Pope” in the Banbridge attack which was a car bomb where only two serious injuries occurred along with extensive damage.

There was three phone calls made warning everyone about the attack. The first phone call was made at 14:32 to Ulster Television stating “There’s a bomb, courthouse Omagh main street, 500Ib explosion 30 minutes.” The second warning came 1 minute later they received stating “Martha Pope (which was the real IRA’s code word), bomb, Omagh town, 15 minutes.” The caller claimed the warning on behalf of “Óglaigh na hÉireann” which is a phrase kind which roughly means the IRA. Another minute later the Coleraine (large town) office of the Samaritians recieved a call stating “A bomb would go off on “main street” about 200 yards (180 m) from the courthouse.” The RUC was notified.

The RUC cordened of the area. They then began to evacuate the buildings and move people down the hill from the top of High Street and the area around the courthouse to the bottom of Market Street where the bomb was placed. There is no ‘main street’ in Omagh so the police got confused although market street is the main shopping street but the police where pushing people towards the bomb without even realising it. I feel like this error probably was on purpose so that the IRA would create more devastation.

THE EXPLOSION

The car exploded at 15:10 BST at the crowded shopping area killing 21 people who were near the car and a further eight died in or on the way to the hospital. Theese deaths included 6 children, six tennages and a woman who was preganat. It also claimed 3 generations of one family. All the victims were protestant.Seán McGrath was the last victim to die who died three weeks later in hospital.

One survivor called Marion Radford described the day by saying she heard “a unearthly bang”, followed by “an eeriness, a darkness that had just come over the place”, then the screams while she witnessed “bits of bodies, limbs or something” on the ground while searching for her 16-year-old son, Alan.He had died only a few feet away from her.

THE AFTERMATH

THE POLITICS

After the attack fears ran high about a retaliation by the loyalist paramilitaries and this would mean chaos because they would have to break there cease fire. Luckily they did not but this did add pressure on the British prime minister Tony Blair to make the IRA decommission its weapons.

Sinn Féin members in the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland asked disaffected colleagues to give the peace process a chance,

THE HUNT

Both the priministers Tony Blair (British) and Bertie Ahern (Irish) agreed that the bombers need be caught. Tony Blair stated the bombers would be “pusued to the utmost” and Bertie Ahern stated “we are at one as to what is required.”

There has yet to be a successful criminal conviction. Sean Hoey, an electrician from south Armagh, was acquitted of murder in 2007 because that the police investigation was thoughtless. There was a cross border investigation which cost over ten million pounds.

PANORAMA

Back in 2000 Panorama named the suspects in there “Who bombed Omagh?” The presenter John Ware described the preparation of the bomb, mobile phone exchanges and explained how the police were moving people into danger. This is highly unusual way of doing things.

RIP;Elizabeth Rush,Sean McLaughlin,Sean McGrath,Samantha McFarland,Brian McCrory,Ann McCombe,Esther Gibson,Alan Radford,Frederick White,Mary Grimes,Julia Hughes,Brenda Logue,Jolene Marlow,Deborah-Anne Cartwright,Maura Monaghan,Gareth Conway,Breda Devine,Oran Doherty,Adian Gallagher,Philomena Skelton,Veda Short,Bryan White,Rocio Abad Ramos,James Barker,Fernando Blasco Baselga,Geraldine Breslin,Avril Monaghan,Lorraine Wilson