Omagh relatives unimpressed after meeting with Flanagan

Relatives of those killed and injured by the Omagh bomb expressed scepticism about the police investigation into the attack after emerging from a meeting with the Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.

Omagh bomb relatives Mr Stanley McCombe (R) and Mr Michael Gallagher speak to the media in Omagh today.

Today's meeting was to allow Sir Ronnie to respond to accusations made in a report by the Police Ombudsman Mrs Nuala O'Loan about police actions before the Real IRA bombing and the subsequent handling of the inquiry.

Twenty-nine people, including a woman pregnant with twins, died in the bombing. Hundreds more were injured.

After the meeting one of the relatives, Mr Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was among the dead, said the huge amount of detail given to the relatives would have to be discussed among themselves.

He told reporters the relatives "were by no means happy" with what they had heard and promised their fight to ensure convictions of those responsible would continue.

Differences between Sir Ronnie and Mrs O’Loan - two professional people - should be resolved via a televised debate, said Mr Gallagher.

He added it had been a very hard day for the relatives.

Mr Laurence Rush, who lost his wife Libby in the 1998 Omagh bombing, arriving for meeting with Sir Ronnie Flanagan today.

Plans by the Chief Constable to introduce an officer from Liverpool Police Force to act as an advisor on the investigation was described as "tinkering".

Another of the relatives, Mr Lawrence Rush, said he had heard nothing from the Chief Constable to alter his belief that Sir Ronnie was defending a "force guilty of inadequacies and deceit".

After the meeting Sir Ronnie told assembled journalists those responsible for the bombing been identified and in most cases interviewed by the investigating team.

"Force guilty of inadequacies and deceit." Mr Lawrence Rush

However, to secure a conviction in a court of law, Sir Ronnie said the police needed public support to find the evidence.

The purpose in appointing an external officer was to restore public confidence which had been shaken over the last few weeks, Sir Ronnie said.

He was joined at the meeting by two senior gardaí, Asst Commissioner Kevin Carty and Det Supt Tadhg Foley who provided details of the progress of the investigation in the State.

Tomorrow, Colm Murphy, the first person to be charged in connection with the bombing will be sentenced in Dublin.

Sir Ronnie has denied that vital information, such as the existence of an internal police review into the bomb investigation, was withheld from the inquiry.

He has also rejected a call by Mrs O’Loan for an outside officer to head an investigation into the atrocity.