The UK Government’s treatment of the Omagh bomb victims’ families has caused a lot of “unnecessary disagreements”, the wife of a man murdered in the atrocity has said.
Father and son Fred (60) and Bryan White (27) had been in the town on August 15, 1998, after returning from a holiday in Scotland the day before the Real IRA blast.
In a statement read by Hugh Southey KC, Fred’s wife, Edith, said the treatment of the families had caused tension, and she expressed hope that the inquiry will result in unity.
“I do hope I will see the outcome of this public inquiry,” she said.
“Bryan and Fred were murdered — and for what purpose I will never understand.
“But to know how such a bomb was allowed to occur in a quiet town like Omagh ought to be known. I do feel that how the Government has treated us has resulted in a lot of unnecessary disagreements amongst the families.
“I hope this inquiry will help to unite the families, as we all share the same pain and suffering.”
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A total of 29 people, including a mother carrying unborn twins, perished when a 500lb bomb exploded on a busy street on a Saturday afternoon.
The inquiry heard how Fred and Bryan were shopping for items for their garage on the day of the attack, which was an anomaly as they usually completed errands on Fridays.
“Fred was a very active person,” Edith said.
“The gardens and bits and pieces in the house would occupy him and there were various organisations he was in.
“For a number of years after the bomb, I would still go in the car to look for them, thinking that they must be somewhere.”
Bryan White was killed in the Omagh bomb alongside his father Fred
A pre-recorded statement from Bryan’s sister Linda was submitted to the inquiry in which she described the close relationship she enjoyed with her sibling.
“Bryan and I had a typical brother-and-sister relationship,” she said.
“He was the type of person who, no matter his own personal views and values, never judged anyone.
“When he worked in Strabane, part of his work was working with people with disabilities. And I think from this job he really learned to see the strengths in people, rather than their weaknesses.”
Linda recalled going to the local hospital and leisure centre in search of her father and brother in the aftermath of the horrific explosion.
“The scene at the hospital was horrendous,” she said. “There was blood everywhere — on the floor, the stairs. Just everywhere we looked there was blood.
“Somebody asked if I was OK and I just know I was in shock. I just didn’t know what to say.
“I’d been moving between the scene of the bomb, home and the leisure centre and someone told me to wait at the leisure centre. I think one of our friends identified dad and Bryan.”
The evidence session ended with a photograph of Bryan and Fred being displayed on the screen.
The image was snapped while the pair were on holiday the week prior to the bomb and would sadly prove to be the last photo ever taken of the pair together.
“For me, the inquiry process has been very difficult,” Linda said.
“It has brought back a lot of old pain, a lot of wounds of sadness and anger and loss.
“When people ask if you are OK, you say yes, because anything else is too difficult to say and you’re not sure how you are going to react if you start talking.”
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