Bomb attack 'a double insult'

A man whose son died in the Omagh bombing of 1998 has described today’s murder of a PSNI officer in the town a "double insult…

A man whose son died in the Omagh bombing of 1998 has described today’s murder of a PSNI officer in the town a "double insult".

Michael Gallagher lost his 21-year-old son Aidan in the dissident republican Real IRA blast which killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.

He condemned the killing in the Co Tyrone town of a young policeman and said the decision to once again target Omagh would revive horrific memories.

"This is a double insult," he said. "Omagh will be a very sad place.”

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"They have changed an entire family and family circle forever. That is the reality of what has happened here.

"I feel a lot of anger that another young life has been stolen, and that this has happened again in our town."

Mr Gallagher said the latest loss of life in Omagh underlined the need for stronger action to tackle dissident republican violence.

He said of the latest murder: "I heard the news shortly after it happened. I felt anger, because we have campaigned for people responsible for these kinds of attacks to be brought to justice.

"There is just anger that I know these groups have gone on to murder someone else. Anger that they murdered 31 people in Omagh, including two unborn twins.

"There is anger that the authorities on both sides of the border seem incapable of reeling them in."

PA