The Omagh inquest should not turn into a trial of the RUC, but deficiencies in police procedures in relation to such attacks had been highlighted yesterday, family members of two of the bomb victims said.
Referring to shortcomings which emerged on the first day of the inquest in the way the RUC had handled the bomb warnings, Mr Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh Self-Help and Support Group, expressed surprise that the procedure was not more efficient.
"After 30 years we would have thought that the procedures would have been down to a fine art," said Mr Gallagher, whose son Adrian died in the blast. "From what I have heard I would say that there probably are deficiencies and I would hope that there would be recommendations made from this," he said. This should not deflect attention from the people who carried out the attack, he added.
He was relieved to have the first day over, particularly hearing the details of the bomb warnings which he said had been difficult to sit through. "We are just delighted to get over that," he said.
Mr Stanley McCombe, whose wife Ann was killed in the bomb, said that the process should not turn into a trial of the RUC. "I don't think the police are on trial here. The people who planted the bomb here should be facing questions . . . but we all know the truth has to be known as to how the situation was handled, not by the ordinary constable on the street but by the higher departments," he said. Mr McCombe said he expected the inquest to become more difficult for the families as time went on and the pathologist's reports on individual cases were made public.
Welcoming any improvements in police procedure in relation to bomb warnings that may follow the inquest, Mr Gallagher said that sort of development could produce a positive result from a tragedy.
He said there were two sides to the story: "the people that created a dangerous situation and the people that were tasked to deal with that danger, and it is the latter part we can only deal with".
He added that until there was a criminal court case concerning the bomb attack, the truth about the tragedy would never emerge. "Until that happens we will never hear what the people had in mind that planted the bomb . . . ultimately I think the families really need justice to have closure in this," he said.