Ulster Unionist Party Leader, Robin Swann MLA, attended the memorial service in Omagh today which marked the 20th anniversary of the Real IRA atrocity. Following the service Mr Swann said:
“Today the focus should be on remembering the 29 people and 2 unborn children who lost their lives in the Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh on August 15th 1998. It should be about giving support to their families and the hundreds injured in the horrific terrorist atrocity and acknowledging the work of the emergency services and health professionals on the day of those terrible events and in the weeks after.
“It was a privilege to be in Omagh today to attend the memorial service in the town centre to pay my respects along with hundreds of others. It was a very moving and poignant experience and demonstrated that despite the passing years, the pain endures for the families and friends of those so cruelly murdered 20 years ago.
“The blame for this atrocity lies at the feet of those who planned, made and delivered the bomb to Omagh on 15 August 1998.
“It is regrettable that the former Police Ombudsman Nuala O`Loan has chosen today of all days to make her controversial comments when the focus should be solely on the families and not her.”