Britain’s Dirty War: Omagh Bomb Transporter Was MI5 and Garda Agent, Inquiry Told

The detective who led the Omagh bombing investigation has told a public inquiry he believes the man who transported the bomb was an agent for both the gardaí and MI5.

Retired Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter said British intelligence, Special Branch and GCHQ “knew prior to 15 August 1998 the identities of some if not all of the suspects.” He said the bombers had “free rein” from mid-1997, and that gardaí allowed bombs to cross the border into the North.

Baxter accused the gardaí of a “significant effort” to cover up their role. He said the Irish government “had information that a bombing was imminent” and has never investigated garda operations in the run-up to the attack.

The revelations shed yet more light on Britain’s dirty war in Ireland, and the collaboration of the Free State. For decades, the British state took the methods it had refined in its colonies, including covert units, black propaganda, agents and informers, and turned them on Irish communities.

29 people were killed in the bombing, including a woman pregnant with twins. Again and again, the role of the security services was not to protect lives, but to defend and preserve the state, imperialism, and the occupation.