The son of one of the victims of the Omagh bomb has described the “torture” of not being able to see his mother before she was buried due to nature of her injuries.
Geraldine Breslin (43), who was working in Wattersons clothes shop, used her last moments to apologise for being in the town when the Real IRA 500lb bomb exploded on August 15, 1998.
She had been on a tea break with her friend Ann McCombe, who also perished in the blast.
Geraldine’s son Gareth McCrystal and niece Joanie gave evidence to the Omagh Bombing Inquiry on Thursday morning.
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“Her body had been mutilated and desecrated. She was placed in a sealed coffin. We never saw her again. It was torture, pure torture,” he said.
“I’ve made my peace with it now, I’m content that I didn’t see her, but what was done to her was despicable, appalling.
“My mother was treated by the terrorists like she was rubbish, total garbage and I have no desire to see my mother battered, bloodied and bruised.”
It is the first time Gareth has ever spoken publicly about his mother’s death.
Gareth told the inquiry his mother apologised for being caught up in the explosion while she was dying.
“My father did see her. He did get comfort out of it. He said she apologised when she was lying on the stretcher moments from death,” he said.
“She apologised to my father for being caught up in this incident – she apologised that she was even there.
“God only knows what he thought of that.”
Aftermath of the Omagh bomb in August 1998. Pic: Pacemaker
As well as recalling vivid memories of the horrific moment the bomb went off, he outlined being brought up in a single parent household before his mum married Mark Breslin in 1995.
Gareth, who was in his teens, said he had a “fantastic relationship” with his mother.
“I adored her. I loved her unconditionally and she loved me unconditionally. I worshipped her. We were very close. I was her only child and she was very protective of me as any mother is with any child,” he continued.
“She was always about helping other people if the opportunity arose. She was very kind to people whether it be customers in the shop, her friends, her colleagues, her family.
“She had a very infectious laugh; a laugh that made you want to be in her presence.
“I was a young boy who was obsessed with toys and I remember when I must have been about 6 or 7, from the boot of the car she produced a skateboard and I couldn’t believe it.”
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The family had shared a meal together just hours before the horror unfolded as Geraldine returned home on her lunch break.
Gareth recalled shouting his goodbyes down the stairs from where he had gone to play a video game.
He was out digging in the garden with his stepfather when the bomb exploded later that afternoon.
“It was extremely hot and I was thirsty, so at that time I went into the house, probably with a view to check football scores and get a glass of water,” Gareth said.
“I came out of the house and my father was standing in the back garden; He looked at me and he said: ‘Did you hear that? It sounds like possibly a bomb has gone off’.
“We then heard a cacophony of sirens heading in the direction of the town centre from our house.
“My father had lived in Belfast during the 1980s so he was more familiar with the Troubles and even at that early stage, he had a terrible feeling.
“He left the house in his car to go into town and find out what was going on.”
Geraldine had suffered devastating injuries in the bombing and was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital for surgery.
Gareth’s father and grandfather travelled to Belfast, while he fell asleep on his grandmother’s sofa around midnight and woke up the following morning.
“My father was standing there, with other family members and our priest, Fr Forbes,” he said.
“He came into the room behind me and sat me down. He sat beside me, put his arm around me and told me: ‘Geraldine is dead. Your mother is dead’.
Police officers and firefighters inspecting the damage caused by the bomb explosion in Market Street, Omagh, in 1998 (Paul McErlane/PA)
“I felt like I was going to be physically sick. I didn’t know what to do, I felt like going out onto the street and screaming.
“I looked at my grandfather and his shoulders were just slumped forward, he was totally devastated.
“I knew that was it, I knew she was gone. I knew I was never going to see her again. I just collapsed on the stairs beside me.
“I had my head in my hands and was just crying like a baby.”
The inquiry heard how huge crowds attended Geraldine’s funeral with lines of people stretching down the street next to their home.
In the years following the attack, Gareth said his mother’s death had a devastating effect on him and his family.
“The bomb ruined everything. My father was a shell of the man he was prior to my mother’s death,” he said.
“My grandfather had fought in the Second World War with distinction. He was a very resilient man but it affected him badly. He felt like he should have been there to protect his daughter.
“When I was about 20 years of age I had to leave Omagh, I couldn’t stay any longer. There were too many people here had been affected by the bomb.
“I was becoming very angry with life and society. I went to Birmingham to study computer science, to get away from everyone and everything.
“I began drinking. I was a sociable drinker initially, which turned into binge drinking. I drank every day.
“I drank to escape the emotional baggage I was carrying with me. I was squandering vast sums of money and my drinking had got out of control.
“I had become a very pathetic, pitiful person. I didn’t like the person I had become. I only seemed to care about myself.”
Gareth left Birmingham and returned to Omagh, where he is now married with three children.
“I believe I have turned my life around,” he said.
“I am definitely not the angry, bitter person I was 15-20 years ago.
“Everything I have achieved is bittersweet, because my mother is not here to witness it. She would have got a real thrill out of becoming a grandmother, meeting my wife.
“I’m proud of my achievements but it is with a sense of regret. I wish she was here. I wish she was here to see this. I think about her every day.”
Gareth said the families affected by the Omagh bombing had waited a long time for an inquiry and doubted it would ever happen.
“Now that it has come, it is a great relief,” he said.
“I hope the Inquiry can do its work and is afforded time and space to conduct this diligently.
“I know people and families, the wider community have questions that remain outstanding and that they want answers to.
“I’ve never spoke about my mother publicly.
“It’s taken 26 years for me to do it but I wanted to be here to commemorate her and to pay tribute so everybody knows what type of woman she was.
“It’s important for us as a family to be here today.”