A suspended Garda sergeant, who had penetrated the "Real IRA" through a key informant, has given a 60-page statement to the North's Police Ombudsman, Ms Nuala O'Loan. It includes the claim that gardaí knew the "Real IRA" had stolen a Vauxhall Cavalier car two days before the Omagh bombing.
The information, if proven, would mean that the RUC was deprived of a vital piece of information which its officers could have used to clear the area around the 530lb bomb which killed 31 people on August 15th 1998.
It is also understood the sergeant told Ms O'Loan that three weeks before the Omagh bombing gardaí had information about another Vauxhall Cavalier which was stolen in the Republic and used in the "Real IRA" bomb attack on Banbridge, Co Down, on August 1st.
It is understood the sergeant has said he believes this information too was not relayed to the RUC.
A massacre was narrowly avoided in Banbridge. Thirty-five people were injured, one critically, as police tried to clear the area around Newry Street where the bomb was left after a warning of less than 20 minutes.
In Banbridge and Omagh the RUC received no description of the cars used. Furthermore, in Omagh there were three misleading telephoned warnings given by the "Real IRA" in the 38 minutes before the explosion.
The police were desperately trying to check the registration numbers of all the cars parked in Market Street near the Court House when the bomb exploded.
It is understood the Garda sergeant, who met Ms O'Loan earlier this year in Omagh, has made a highly detailed statement based on his dealings with the key informant, a car thief from Dublin who was used by the "Real IRA" to supply cars for bombings.
The sergeant says that in the week before Omagh the thief was specifically asked to get a Vauxhall Cavalier, which he presumed was to be used in a bomb attack.
The thief made a number of half-hearted attempts to find this model of car but had no success. Vauxhall, part of the General Motor's group, is a relatively uncommon car in the Republic as the GM marque here is Opel. Most Vauxhalls here are personal imports.
The "Real IRA" wanted a Vauxhall because it is a popular brand in Co Tyrone as there is a major dealership in Omagh.
The bombers wanted that brand of car to help to provide cover for the bombers as they approached the town. It was also relatively cheap and easy to modify the car suspension to carry the weight of the bombs.
The thief/informant told the sergeant that a few days after his unsuccessful efforts to steal the car he was telephoned by his contact in the "Real IRA" to say they had stolen a Vauxhall and that he didn't need to bother trying to find one. This was on August 13th or 14th, after the Cavalier used in Omagh was stolen at Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan.
The sergeant says he passed this information on to the Crime and Security Division at Garda Headquarters.
On the afternoon of Saturday, August 15th, the RUC received a telephoned warning relayed from the "Real IRA" that a car bomb had been parked near the Court House. There was no description of the car. The police began clearing the area, unknowingly ushering people towards the Cavalier parked outside Kells shop in Market Street.
The bombers gave no detail of the type of car in the three misleading warnings which were received by Ulster Television and the Samaritans and passed on to the RUC in the 38 minutes before the explosion.
At 2.32 p.m. a warning was telephoned to Ulster Television in Belfast, saying only: "There's a bomb, courthouse, Omagh, main street, 500 lbs, explosion 30 minutes." One minute later, at 2.33, UTV received a second call. The caller said: "Bomb, Omagh town, 15 minutes."
Another minute elapsed before the third call, at 2.34, came to the Samaritans at Coleraine, about 70 miles from Omagh. The caller said: "Am I through to Omagh? This is a bomb warning. It's going to go off in 30 minutes." The caller then went on to say the bomb was on Main Street about 200 yards from the courthouse.
After receiving the statement from the sergeant, Ms O'Loan visited the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, in Dublin in March. The Government subsequently appointed the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Eamonn Barnes, and former government secretaries, Mr Joseph Brosnan and Mr Dermot Nally, to investigate the sergeant's allegations.
During the Garda investigation into the Omagh bombing the car thief was arrested and questioned. It is understood he made a number of detailed statements during which his dealings with the sergeant emerged. It is understood he was charged with a stealing cars and received a short sentence before being released.
From 1996 to 1998 the sergeant is believed to have been the Garda's most important Special Branch officer dealing with the "Real IRA" as a result of his relationship with the car thief - who supplied at least six vehicles, including two BMWs, two Nissan all-terrain vehicles to the "Real IRA" for bombs.
On at least four occasions the bombs were followed and intercepted by gardaí. One interception was of a large bomb being taken from Dún Laoghaire to Holyhead in a Five Series BMW for an attack on the Grand National at Aintree in 1998.