{"id":9553,"date":"2025-01-28T21:08:03","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T21:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qpol.qub.ac.uk\/?p=9553"},"modified":"2025-01-28T21:08:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T21:08:03","slug":"omagh-bombing-why-a-public-inquiry-is-being-held","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/qpol\/omagh-bombing-why-a-public-inquiry-is-being-held\/","title":{"rendered":"Omagh bombing: why a public inquiry is being held more than 25 years after the\u00a0atrocity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 1998 Good Friday agreement<\/a> is commonly seen to have ended what were euphemistically termed \u201cthe Troubles\u201d in Northern Ireland. However, just four months after the peace accord was signed, an attack on the town of Omagh resulted in the greatest loss of life in any single incident of the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bombing, on August 15 1998, killed 29 people and injured an estimated 220 more. Among those who lost their lives were nine children and a woman who was pregnant with twins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group called \u201cthe Real IRA\u201d claimed responsibility for the atrocity. It was one of the so-called \u201cdissident\u201d republican factions which broke away from the mainstream IRA after its political wing, Sinn F\u00e9in, turned toward peaceful politics. The Real IRA\u2019s assault on Omagh was clearly intended to derail the Northern Ireland peace process and destroy the Good Friday agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could be argued, however, that the bombing had the opposite effect. The atrocity encouraged Northern Ireland\u2019s politicians to come together and redouble their commitment to the peace process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public outcry over the attack also forced the Real IRA to announce a ceasefire. It later returned to violence, but widespread revulsion against the Omagh atrocity would undermine the support base that any dissident republican faction might draw upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political representatives of the Real IRA and other such groups have never been able to mobilise electoral support in the way that Sinn F\u00e9in was able to, in spite of its association with the IRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To continue reading please click here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article originally appeared in The Conversation.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The featured image<\/a> appears courtesy of a Creative Commons License. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Article originally appeared in The Conversation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2461,"featured_media":9554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe"],"mb":[],"acf":{"authors":{"simple_value_formatted":"