Summary

  • The Omagh Bombing Inquiry is examining whether the single worst atrocity of the Troubles could have been prevented

  • Twenty-nine people, including a woman expecting twins, were murdered in the Real IRA attack on 15 August 1998

  • This is the fourth week of hearings

  1. Looking for brotherpublished at 10:40 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    After evacuating, she stopped at the Royal Arms Hotel, where her brother was working.

    But she was told he had left after lunch so "assumed he had gone home".

    People were ushered further up the street.

  2. Taken out the front of the shoppublished at 10:40 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    She says she "can't remember why" but staff were taken out of the front of the bakery rather than the back, which she says would have been safer.

    She says that as she came out of the shop there were "a few cars" but that the street was mostly evacuated.

    She says they thought about going down Bridge Street but were advised not to because it was narrow.

  3. Evacuated from bakerypublished at 10:38 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    Along with her colleagues, Mary was evacuated from the bakery at around 14:30 on the day of the bomb.

    "It was my first bomb scare at the bakery but I had experienced bomb scares a number of times before when I had worked at the Royal Arms Hotel."

  4. Many of those who died visited bakerypublished at 10:36 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    She says that many of those who died in the bombing had been to the bakery earlier that day or other days.

    "This is just an example of how close the community was."

  5. Knew people who diedpublished at 10:36 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    Mary says that, like many, she knew and cared for people who were killed in the bomb, such as Geraldine Breslin.

    "My mother and I had worked catering functions for her sister, Kate," she says.

    Anne McComb was the wife of a work colleague from the Royal Arms Hotel, she adds.

  6. Omagh a 'small town'published at 10:34 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    She says that Omagh is a "small town".

    She says that you know or know of everyone.

  7. Loved bakery jobpublished at 10:33 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    Mary says she had worked for "many years" at the bakery and "loved it".

    Staff were friendly and they had fun together "although it got very busy and we had to work hard".

    They had a busy morning rush every day, Mary says, as the bakery was on the high street and was popular with regulars and shop workers.

  8. Plan to travel to Australiapublished at 10:33 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    She says she had planned to finish her masters and travel to Australia with friends to see her sister and other family.

  9. Master's studentpublished at 10:31 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    At the time of the bomb, Mary was a part-time assistant at a bakery in Omagh and was completing a Master's at Queen's University, Belfast.

  10. Another witness statementpublished at 10:31 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    We are now hearing another written statement - that of Mary McGovern.

    Her statement begins by saying that she will "never forget that terrible day".

    She says her first thought is for those who died and their loved ones left behind.

  11. 'A warzone'published at 10:30 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    At the end of the day, Anne says she realised her clothes had blood on them.

    "I had never even noticed this - it was other people who pointed it out to me," she says in her statement.

    "Omagh was like a warzone that day and I will never forget it."

  12. Camera lying in the rubblepublished at 10:29 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    She says she found a camera lying the in rubble.

    She says she lifted it and thought "someone will think I'm stealing this".

    So she says she put it back on the windowsill.

    "I've also thought this camera was used to take photographs just before the bomb went off".

  13. 'I don't remember what I said'published at 10:28 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    She then went back to the scene.

    "Sky news interviewed me while I was there, but I don't remember what I said."

  14. 'Didn't feel real'published at 10:28 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    She says the experience "didn't feel real".

    "I couldn't go home and leave people who needed help."

  15. Helping at hospitalpublished at 10:27 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    A friend gave Anne a lift to the hospital to see if they could provide support there.

    "There were hundreds of people lying everywhere. I saw a man with his leg cut open, from top to bottom."

    She helped the nurses use sterile water to clean it.

  16. Injured police officerspublished at 10:27 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    Anne Cullen's statement continues to say that she saw police officers "with large cuts on their backs".

    She says she used children's nappies laying on the ground "to press against them to stop the bleeding".

  17. Marking bodiespublished at 10:25 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    Anne put fire extinguishers by the bodies so they could be "more easily seen".

    There was a deserted taxi which she moved out of the way.

  18. 'Face covered in injuries'published at 10:25 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    She says she also came across an older man "who unfortunately had also died".

    She says his face was "covered in injuries".

  19. 'She looked like a princess'published at 10:24 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    They both left and went up the town.

    "I didn't look anyone in the face or in their eyes," Anne says.

    "I went over the rubble at this point and I saw a lady lying and she looked like she was sleeping but I realised she was dead."

    As she lay there, she looked "like a princess", Anne says.

  20. 'Blooding running out of the bus'published at 10:22 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February

    She says that she came across two people, one of whom had glass in her head.

    She says that she helped to bandaged the person's head and put them on the Ulsterbus.

    "The blood was running out of the bus and down the street."