12 Dec 01 -
23 Jan 08
The Crown's response? awarded the Knight Grand Cross Order of the British Empire in 2002 (this the man who was in charge of "Special Branch")Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan has published a report criticising the way in which the Royal Ulster Constabulary headed up the investigation into the Omagh bomb of 15 August 1998 which killed 29 people and two unborn children.
The report released on Wednesday December 12 by the Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan has described the leadership and judgment of Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan who headed the investigation into the Omagh Bomb as “seriously flawed”.
She said that ultimately “this report is about a failure of leadership.” She added: “The victims, their families, the people of Omagh and officers of the RUC were let down by defective leadership, poor judgement and a lack of the urgency. This should not have been the response to an incident which resulted in 29 deaths...... The Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan launched a scathing attack on what he described as its “gross and erroneous conclusions” and would be investigating legal action to get the Ombudsman’s report quashed.
23 Jan 08
Northern Ireland's former police chief Sir Ronnie Flanagan has apologised to the families of the victims of the Omagh bomb.
Sir Ronnie was the head of the police at the time of the 1998 Real IRA attack, which left 29 people dead.
He met Victor Barker - whose son died in the blast - who has been critical of the lack of court convictions.
Mr Flanagan told Channel 4 News he was "desperately sorry" people had not yet been brought to justice.
"I publicly apologise to all those families and all those victims; to all those who were injured, without reservation," he said.
Last month the case against Sean Hoey collapsed and he was acquitted.
The families expressed criticism of Mr Flanagan, who is now Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary.
"Of course as chief constable, I have to take responsibility for the shortcomings that the judge highlighted and I take responsibility for those shortcomings," he added.
Last edited by IG-Calibre (2008-01-23 15:54:45)