Doug Beattie MC MLA said, “In March this year, the Northern Ireland Assembly debated an Ulster Unionist Party motion calling on the Irish Government to do more in regard to the Omagh Bombing. It called on the Irish Government to hold its own inquiry to identify how a bomb could be built, loaded onto a vehicle, moved across the border from Ireland to Omagh, and detonated, with the perpetrators able to escape back across the border. The motion passed unanimously and as a follow up I wrote to the Irish Justice Minister outlining the Northern Ireland Assembly's united view on the Irish Government's failures to address the legacy of our past.

“Not only has the Irish Justice Minister not replied to my letter but now we have a hallow Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that goes nowhere close to meeting the Irish Government's responsibilities. It has nothing on witnesses, nothing allowing victims and their legal representatives to see unredacted material, and no legal duty to provide evidence. It's a staggering jumble of words and platitudes that centre around if, but or maybe.

“I was disheartened to see the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland welcome the MoU. Yet again the UK government have allowed the Irish to do the bare minimum. The likelihood is that we will never know if the bomb could have been prevented from crossing the border and reaching its murderous target as the Irish close shop and wash their hands of any responsibility.”