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The Independent
19-02-2025
- The Independent
Real IRA terrorists bombed Omagh with ‘impunity', witness tells inquiry
The Real IRA terrorists who bombed Omagh in 1998 seem to have been allowed to act with 'impunity', a witness has told a public inquiry. Simon McLarnon described how he attempted to help victims of the explosion, but was left with a lifelong sense of guilt that he was unable to do more. Mr McLarnon, who works as a general dental surgeon in Co Donegal, was at his girlfriend's house in the Co Tyrone town on the day of the blast. He told the Omagh Bombing Inquiry: 'I had first aid training because I was a recent graduate, but I wasn't able to use it on the day. 'I felt fairly useless. I did very little with the casualties and those that were injured. 'It left me with an immense sense of guilt which I carry to this day.' He told the inquiry that the explosion was the 'loudest noise I had ever heard'. He went to the town centre where he said he was met with a a 'sea of glass'. There were two ladies….the older of the two ladies, one of her legs was virtually amputated, it was held on by skin only. Simon McClarnon Mr McLarnon said he saw a man with a serious head injury being tended to by a teenager. He said he showed the youth how to try to stop the bleeding before moving on to help others. He told the inquiry he heard a woman sobbing and crying out 'my leg, my leg'. He said: 'There were two ladies….the older of the two ladies, one of her legs was virtually amputated, it was held on by skin only. 'There was a younger girl say beside her who had two limbs virtually amputated and very serious injuries. 'I spent some time with her. I had no idea what to do with her. 'I had limited first aid experience. I had actually been shown how to deal with an amputated limb but not two.' He added: 'She was awake, she was conscious, she wanted me to help her and I told her that ambulances were on the way.' Mr McLarnon said he suffered from depression and trauma due to his experiences on the day of the bombing. He said: 'I could not walk up Market Street, even after it re-opened and I avoided the town centre. 'I would have nightmares about what I had seen and I felt useless, guilt, anger and depressed about my inability to help anyone on the day of the bomb. 'I was angry with the bombers and that they have evaded justice. 'I was angry with the way victims were treated by politicians, the government and the police. 'The large number of children injured in the bomb made me feel guilty for managing to walk away from it uninjured. 'I wished it had been me instead of one of the children who were only beginning to live their lives.' Who would support the slaughter of children, babies and innocent people? The maiming and blinding of children, the murder of pregnant women? He also said he had a sense of injustice about what had happened in Omagh. He said: 'They (the terrorists) seem to have done it with impunity. 'We know several of them have lived out their lives now and never have to face justice. 'That, I find very difficult to accept.' He added: 'Who would support the slaughter of children, babies and innocent people? The maiming and blinding of children, the murder of pregnant women? 'No-one has come forward. They are protected in the communities they live in, I can't understand that. 'I can't understand that if you knew your neighbour, brother, husband was involved in this, that you wouldn't go to police or An Garda Siochana or anyone to say you had concerns about them. 'That hasn't happened and I find that difficult to understand and accept.'
The Independent
17-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Firefighter says he has never witnessed anything like Omagh bomb in 30 years
One of the first firefighters to respond to the Omagh bombing said he has never witnessed anything in three decades which comes close to the scenes of devastation on the day. Paddy Quinn told the Omagh Bombing Inquiry that he has never revealed to his wife what he witnessed on the day, and for years avoided returning to the site. The inquiry at the Strule Arts Centre in the Co Tyrone town is continuing to hear personal statements from witnesses and people affected by the Real IRA bombing in August 1998. Until I wrote this personal statement, my wife had not known what that day was Paddy Quinn The public inquiry was set up by the Government to examine whether the explosion, which killed 29 people, including the mother of unborn twins, could have been prevented by the UK authorities. Mr Quinn was a part-time firefighter on the day of the bombing and is currently temporary district commander for the Omagh district in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service. He told the inquiry that he and his colleagues did not speak much to each other after they had attended the explosion. He said: 'It seemed they just wanted to go back to their families, to be with their families.' Mr Quinn added: 'Until I wrote this personal statement, my wife had not known what that day was.' Referring to the impact on his colleagues, he said: 'Some of the firefighters had far worse experiences than me. 'A firefighter from another station lost a member of his family. 'Some to this day still need support for what they experienced.' Mr Quinn said he had avoided the Market Street area in the Co Tyrone town, where the car bomb exploded, for years. He said: 'I couldn't drive it, I couldn't walk it. 'I would go right round the town, no matter where I was and enter through George's Street and down past the courthouse to avoid it. 'People had died there, people were injured there. I couldn't walk over it, I couldn't drive over it.' He said his wife had eventually encouraged him to return to the scene. He said: 'One day she managed to get me to walk it. I imagined where we worked was a lot longer, it was very short, a short distance. That surprised me. 'I remembered that every time I avoided it, I remembered the day and the scene. 'But even now that I can drive and walk it, I still remember as I walk past it. My mind goes back to that day.' Mr Quinn told the inquiry that he has now trained as a critical incident stress management facilitator, to help other firefighters deal with trauma. He said: 'Now I regularly help others, so they can understand the emotional trauma and stress they have experienced and help them with that. 'I am using my experience to help them.' He said: 'My experience of the Omagh bomb, along with other incidents, helped me to support and understand others who may have been impacted by attending incidents that have the potential to cause emotional trauma.' I think that is obvious from the fact you have retained such vivid and upsetting memories, even after all the years that have passed Lord Turnbull Mr Quinn added: 'In these 29 years I have attended many tragic and horrendous incidents, but nothing I have responded to since the Omagh bomb has ever come anywhere close.' Inquiry chairman Lord Turnbull said: 'The tasks which you and your colleagues attended to on that day must have placed an intolerable strain on each of you. 'I think that is obvious from the fact you have retained such vivid and upsetting memories, even after all the years that have passed.'
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Family say their worlds ‘were' shattered by murder of mother in Omagh bomb
The four children of a woman killed in the Omagh bombing have said that their worlds were 'shattered' by her death in the 1998 Real IRA massacre. The Omagh Bombing Inquiry heard that 56-year-old Veda Short was a 'loving wife, mother and grandmother' who was very family-orientated and active within her church. She was one of three staff members of Watterson's drapers killed when they were evacuated into Market Street in Omagh on the day the bomb exploded. A statement from her four children – Alison Crozier, Frances Henry, Ian Short and Elaine Magowan – was read to the inquiry by solicitor Conor Cullen. In it, Mrs Short was described as 'very family orientated'. The statement said: 'Mum never had a bad word to say about anyone. 'Mum was just getting over the death of her own mother from the previous October. 'She and Dad had just returned home from a holiday in Alicante. 'They had so much to look forward to. 'She had eight grandchildren whom she loved and adored.' It added: 'The day before the bomb, Elaine had given birth to her fourth child in Dundonald Hospital. 'Mum was taken up to Belfast that night to see her new grandson. She had taken photographs of Lee and got to hold him. 'She was the centre of our family and had a very loving and caring nature. 'Our world was shattered on Saturday, 15th August 1998.' The four siblings said their 'whole lives changed' the day their mother was murdered. Their statement said: 'A loving mother was taken away from us in such a brutal manner. 'We never got the chance to say goodbye or see her grow old, or take care of her as she had done for us. 'Our dad was a broken man from that day on. His whole world had just collapsed and he had nothing left to live for. 'We lost both our parents that awful day. Our dad became depressed and with ill-health he passed away in June 2004, aged just 64. 'Another casualty of the Omagh bomb.' The statement said Mrs Short had missed out on the birth of three grandchildren, missed the weddings of eight grandchildren and birth of eight great-grandchildren – and also missed her son Ian's wedding. It continued: 'There is not a day goes by that we do not think of Mum.' Inquiry chair Lord Turnbull said: 'It is obvious that Mrs Short's death caused a terrible loss to her family. 'Particularly so perhaps to her husband. 'Their children rightly say that after his own untimely death, their father was another casualty of the Omagh bombing.'
