International Co-operation (Omagh Bombing Inquiry) Bill 2026: Committee Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-19 ============================================================ Tom Clonan (IND), University of Dublin I thank the Minister of State and his officials for being here this evening. I spoke at length with the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, about this issue last week. I made the point that this is a vocational House where we bring life and industrial experience to bear on legislation as it progresses through the Houses. Having been an Army officer serving on the command stand-to on the day of the Omagh bombing and having been a staff officer at the time to the Chief of Staff, who attended the monthly intelligence briefings, I am very aware of the security environment that pertained post the Good Friday Agreement and in the few weeks after the signing of that historic document. We were aware that certain groups continued to monitor, surveil and shadow very prominent members of society for assassination or abduction. Notwithstanding the ceasefires, a lot of activity continued. In relation to the desire for the people of Omagh to know what happened to their loved ones, there is an emphasis in the Omagh Bombing Inquiry on what the UK authorities or British security services knew. I know from direct first-hand experience, not from hearsay, that the Irish authorities knew a great deal about this bomb. Last week, I raised the fact that the vehicle used was carefully selected in Carrickmacross and stolen on 13 August. Even though it had a southern registration plate, it was an import from Northern Ireland - it was a Vauxhall Cavalier and not an Opel Vectra. A Northern Irish registration plate was then put on it. It was then transported somewhere else within the Republic and 140 kg or thereabouts of fertiliser-based explosives were placed in it, along with a time-powered unit and a detonator. It is my understanding that this vehicle was shadowed and surveilled up to the point at which it crossed the Border and entered Northern Ireland. If members of An Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces are unwilling to come forward to give evidence or do not offer themselves willingly and with consent, in the interests of truth and reconciliation, they should be compelled to do so. I am also aware that very senior members of our security services actively engaged - I do not want to use the word "colluded" - with all of the British security services, including the then RUC Special Branch, the force research unit, British military intelligence, MI5 and MI6. I outlined a number of clear examples of this. There has been little interest in these disclosures, which I find curious to say the least. That was the purpose behind the amendment I proposed. It is also worth noting that another car bomb, which was very similar in design and construction to the one that detonated in Omagh killing so many people, was intercepted by An Garda Síochána on its way to a roll-on roll-off ferry in Dublin. It was apparently bound for Cheltenham, to be detonated when members of the royal family were there. Similar to the bomb used in Omagh that went off prematurely, if this other car bomb had gone off prematurely on board a car ferry going across the Irish Sea, the loss of life and catastrophic consequences do not bear thinking about. However, is it not interesting that the one that was intercepted south of the Border was intercepted prior to detonation whereas the one bound for Omagh in Northern Ireland was allowed to continue on its way across the Border? We need to be ethical and upfront. As I said last week, we have a narrow window of opportunity to talk to senior members of An Garda Síochána, many of whom are still alive and might be persuaded to give an account of what actually happened during the Troubles and the role the Irish State and Irish security services played in that dirty war. We cannot stand on any supposed moral platform if we are not prepared to be upfront. Given the prospect of an all-island settlement, this is an issue of such importance that if those individuals or officeholders, for example, members of the Defence Forces who were directors of intelligence, are unwilling to come forward, speak about what actually happened and give an honest and frank account, they should be compelled to do so. They took an oath of allegiance that requires them to uphold the Constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann. We all did. It would be interesting to see them discharge their responsibilities and duties under that oath and not to usurp the authority of the State, the aspirations set out in our Constitution and the will of the Irish people. Of course, Irish people want to know what happened on the day of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. As a staff officer to the Chief of Staff, I was approached by a senior ordnance officer at the rank of commandant who told me that he was on the scene of the bombing in Dublin and found components of that improvised explosive device that were standard British army issue. He believed that the British security services had assisted in, facilitated and supported that bomb attack. Two nights later, having filled in his ordnance forensic report, he was approached and asked to redact it by a senior member of An Garda Síochána and a member of a British intelligence agency who was based in the British Embassy in Dublin. He refused to do so. That matter should be pursued. Where is that document now? Has it been destroyed? If so, by whom - by which director of intelligence or other authorised officer in the Defence Forces - and why? That is the spirit in which I address this, because in the same way we would like to know what happened to our families in Dublin and Monaghan in the 1970s, so too the people of Omagh want to know. The Republic was the centre of gravity in the logistics and supply chain effort of the Troubles and we should be ethically and politically obliged to tell the truth and step up to the plate. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-19/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:57+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-19