Omagh
August 15. 1998 Northern Ireland
A 500-pound car bomb exploded outside a local courthouse in Omaghs central shopping
district, killing 29 and injuring more than 330 people. Authorities were in
the process of clearing the shopping area around the courthouse when the bomb
exploded. On the 17 th of August authorities arrested five local men suspected
of involvement in the bombing. The Real IRA claimed responsibility.
Omagh Bombing. caused the biggest loss of life of any single incident in the
history of Northern Ireland's troubles.
Northern Ireland came into existence with the British Government of Ireland
Act (1920) which divided Ireland into two areas: the Irish Free State, made
up of the 26 southern counties, and Northern Ireland - comprising of the counties
of Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh. Roman Catholics,
who made up around one-third of the population of Northern Ireland, were largely
opposed to the partition.
On 19 July 1997, the IRA declared a cease-fire, effective July 20. At the end
of August, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced her finding
that the cease-fire was being observed, allowing Sinn Fein, the political party
closely identified with the IRA, entry into negotiations on Northern Ireland's
political future. The July 20 cease-fire ended a 17-month terrorism campaign
and led to the opening of inclusive political talks in September. Following
the cease-fire there was a marked decrease--although not a total cessation--of
sectarian violence.
Police believe that paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland were responsible
for 22 deaths, 251 shootings, and 78 bombings during 1997. Both republican and
loyalist paramilitary groups continued to engage in vigilante "punishment"
attacks, although there was a decrease in the number of such incidents even
before the July cease-fire. Despite the lowering of the overall unemployment
rate in Northern Ireland in December 1997 to 7.8 per cent, the unemployment
rate for Catholic men in Northern Ireland remained twice that for Protestant
men. Sinn Féin is the oldest political party in Ireland, named from the
Irish Gaelic expression for ``We Ourselves''. Since being founded in 1905 it
has worked for the right of Irish people as a whole to attain national selfdetermination,
and has elected representatives in every major Irish town and city.
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