Northern Ireland: Amnesty welcomes court challenge on Omagh inquiry refusal

Amnesty International has welcomed a decision in Belfast High Court today to grant leave for a judicial review into the refusal by Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers to hold a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the Omagh bombing.

In September 2013, the Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers ruled out the possibility of holding a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the attack on 15 August 1998, in which twenty-nine people were killed and over 200 injured.   

Northern Ireland Programme Director of Amnesty International, Patrick Corrigan, said:  

“Amnesty welcomes this decision to enable a legal challenge to the government's refusal of an inquiry.

“The Secretary of State's decision not to hold an inquiry into the Omagh bombings was a betrayal of the victims and families who have longed for answers for over 16 years.  

“All that families want is the truth, yet the government slammed the door in their face.

"What the families, and Northern Ireland more broadly, deserve is the fullest account possible of what happened in Omagh.  Questions of serious public concern surrounding the circumstances leading up to the Omagh bomb and the failed investigations that followed, remain unanswered.”