BY MARK McKELVEY
m.mckelvey@ulsterherald.com
WEST Tyrone DUP Assembly member Tom Buchanan has refuted suggestions that an amendment he made to a Stormont motion calling for a full cross-border public inquiry into the Omagh bombing was a political points scoring exercise.
The essence of the original motion proposed by the Alliance Party and supported by local Independent MLA Dr Kieran Deeny, was the call for a
full cross-border inquiry to reveal the undisclosed information held by the security forces, both prior to and after the attack. The motion was supported by the Omagh Self-Help and Support Group.
However, Mr Buchanan says he felt aspects of this motion were "weak
and flawed". Instead he made an amendment that did not call for a cross-border inquiry, instead demanding for the release of information by the UK government that may have assisted in the prevention of the bombing immediately, in co-operation with the Dáil.
Despite receiving strong support from Sinn Féin and the SDLP, the Alliance motion failed. With Mr Buchanan's amendment receiving full backing from the DUP and UUP, objectors within the chamber said they decided not to express their views so not to be divided on such a sensitive issue, resulting in the substantive motion being passed without going to vote.
Speaking following this debate in Parliament buildings on Tuesday, Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena died in the August 15 1998 atrocity, said he was disgusted at the outcome, while venting that some politicians had turning this into a "political football".
Kevin said, "We went hoping for a full backing from everybody for the Alliance motion for a full cross-border pubic inquiry. Why Buchanan made this amendment I don't know. The only way we can find the truth to that is a public inquiry, but his amendment stopped that.
"That is what he wants because they don't want a public inquiry. They don't want the truth to come out as they know in their hearts that the British government is not going to release those tapes within three months. This was simply a political stunt.
"I was absolutely disgusted at what went on in Stormont on Tuesday."
Explaining why he felt the need to table this amendment, Mr Buchanan said the original motion would bring neither justice nor closure for the families of Omagh.
Mr Buchanan said, "The amendment that I made was carried. I pleaded with the members not to split the house on this matter as it was too important. The Alliance motion was too weak and did not go far enough and would have let the people of Omagh down for yet another occasion. That is why we put in an amendment that was much stronger and requesting the governments to act with urgency to immediately release this material that the GCHQ had."
However, after watching the proceedings on Tuesday from the public gallery, Kevin Skelton stressed his belief that this was both a DUP and Sinn Féin "stunt".
He said, "As Sinn Féin abstained from voting they might as well have been sitting over with the DUP on the opposite side of the house.
"If they had of voted against the DUP amendment it would have went to Westminster as a divided issue. If Sinn Féin were backing the Alliance motion and on the side of the families they should have voted on the DUP amendment rather than letting it pass.
"We want a public inquiry and nothing else will do and we will continue to fight for that and will get a public inquiry despite what happens up there."
Dr Deeny also conveyed his belief that this DUP amendment was a political points scoring exercise that should never have happened.
He said, "The families were very keen to go with our original motion. My view was that this whole issue should not have been politicised and I am certain that it was by the DUP making this amendment.
"This amendment caused a split in the house and when we knew we were numbered by the DUP and UUP in the vote we decided not to create division by vocalising our objections which would have been very embarrassing for the house. Out of respect to the families it was agreed amongst us to let the DUP amendment pass."
Mr Buchanan remained adamant that this move was done in the best interests of the people of Omagh and was in no way a politicising this issue.
He said, "There were no dissenting voices to overthrow our amendment. We want to go the second mile. This was not a political points scoring exercise during the debate as this is much to sensitive an issue.
"There was some families that attended Stormont for the debate and I explained to them why we put in this amendment to get them what they were looking for and that we felt it was in the best interests of the Omagh people. Some expressed some concerns about this and other seemed happy enough with it.
"Even the families legal team in the Civil case are saying that if this information is released by Gordon Brown it would have much better results than any cross-border public inquiry."
Speaking during the debate, Sinn Féin West Tyrone MP Pat Doherty expressed his full support for the Alliance motion calling for a full disclosure of all the facts from both the Irish and British Governments.
He said, "I can relate to the passion and conviction with which Tom Buchanan delivered his speech. However, the amendment tabled by the DUP prejudges the outcome of any potential investigation. Indeed, this amendment sits ill at ease with a motion that Tom Buchanan proposed to Omagh District Council in July 2005. I urge the DUP to reconsider and to support the Alliance Party motion. My party will support that motion and abstain on the DUP amendment. It is with some regret that I will abstain, because I appreciate the commitment of Tom Buchanan and his party colleague Allan Bresland in respect of this matter."
