The Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, has insisted there was no warning of a bomb in Omagh before the explosion which killed 29 people. He said the Police Ombudsman's report into police handling of the atrocity does not say information received ahead of the August 1998 attack could have averted the tragedy.
Dr Reid's defence of the RUC comes after they were accused of ignoring a warning of an attack on police in Omagh on the day of the bombing. The revelations came after a report by the the Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, into the RUC’s investigation of the Omagh bombing was leaked last week.
Sir Ronnie has insisted the anonymous warning of an attack on police in Omagh had "nothing to do" with the bomb attack on the town. That this warning was not passed by RUC Special Branch to local RUC officers is at the heart of the row over the leaked report.
Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan is due to publish her report into allegations the Special Branch failed to pass on warnings of an impending attack. The Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, sought a delay to enable him to respond to what he has termed "significant factual inaccuracies, unwarranted assumptions, misunderstandings and material omissions" in a draft of the report.
Dr Reid has read the report and, while refusing today to discuss its content, insisted: "The only matter of substance I am prepared to address is the accusation that there was a warning of a bomb in Omagh.
"There was no such warning, nor does the report - unfinished as it is - say that it is likely that the bomb could have been averted on the information received. There is no such comment."
Speaking on Sky News' Sunday programme, he condemned the leak of the report as "contrary to natural justice, grossly unfair to the police and unfair to the families".
He said that the leak had been "malicious" and had "hindered" the purpose of the report, which was to help the authorities find a means of bringing those responsible for the bombing to justice.
Defending the service and its chief constable, the Secretary of State said that within the past month the Police Service of Northern Ireland had thwarted an attempt to plant a 200 pound bomb with the potential to cause carnage on a similar scale to that at Omagh.
Over the past few years a further three or four such planned attacks had been prevented, he added.
He said: "I have confidence in the chief constable. There is no doubt about that.
The finished report - most likely without full comment from the Police Service as they did not submit a response to the draft by the deadline on Friday - will be given to the families of the victims and the new Policing Board on Wednesday.
It is expected only a truncated version will be released for public consumption.
Agencies