The Sunday Times
John Lee
A new report alleges that gardai had an inside track on the activities of Real IRA. Did informants hold vital clues to the bombing that killed 29 people, and was this information kept from the RUC? Last January, Martin Bridger, a chief superintendent in Northern Ireland, found himself sitting in the Silver Birch hotel in Omagh for a meeting to which he had reluctantly agreed. He was coaxed out of his Belfast offices by a man whose son had been killed in the Omagh bombing. Michael Gallagher wanted to share with Bridger a disturbing account he was told in the republic of how gardai investigated terrorism.
Bridger, once an anti-corruption officer for London's Metropolitan police, was now on secondment as a deputy investigator working with the police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan. He was apprehensive - he didn't have jurisdiction in the republic.
But Gallagher was a powerful persuader. Since his son Aidan died in the Real IRA atrocity in August 1998, he had campaigned relentlessly for justice for the Omagh victims - both from the police, whom he criticised for failing to bring the perpetrators to justice, and the terrorists themselves. Gallagher wanted Bridger to meet his source.
And so, on January 21, Bridger found himself sitting opposite an "extremely nervous" man with an extraordinary story to tell. His story may not be true; gardai say he is discredited and motivated by a serious grudge. But in that nondescript country hotel, the allegations he made have since sparked an internal inquiry into the top-secret workings of the anti-terrorist unit of the Garda Siochana in the run-up to the Omagh bombing on August 15, 1998.
Bridger said this weekend: "This man came to us, had confidence in coming to us, gave us an account of what had taken place down south, we identified that it was of sufficient importance, that if what he was saying was true it should be passed to the appropriate authorities down south. The allegations were very detailed and in great depth."
Bridger wrote a report on the allegations for the Irish government, "Report raising concerns of the activity of Garda Siochana officers during 1998", and for the police ombudsman of Northern Ireland. The document, seen by The Sunday Times, alleges a catalogue of covert activities employed by the Garda Siochana. The report was passed to the government, and its claims are now being investigated by a three-man commission, appointed by John O'Donoghue, then justice minister. Garda management has denied all of the allegations.
ACCORDING to Bridger's report, the story begins in 1985. A Dublin teenager was arrested in the capital for stealing a car. He was anxious not to be prosecuted, so on the prompting of the gardai, he agreed to pass them information on low grade crimes if he got off.
It was the start of a long and fruitful relationship, particularly when the criminal, known as Budget in the ombudsman's report, was asked to steal cars for the IRA.
In his report, Bridger wrote: "He only provided information to get off offences. At this time he was criminally involved with Jones (codename for a top Kildare-based Real IRA operative), an individual who was to play a significant role in the activities of 1998."
According to the allegations in the report, senior officers "were aware of the informant's involvement in major criminality involving firearms and murder ... and that he was heavily involved in the importation and distribution of drugs in Ireland, but allowed him to continue in exchange for information".
In late 1997, a group of IRA dissidents walked out in protest at the peace process, and re-formed as the Real IRA. The gardai were desperate to find out more about the new terrorist group.
In January 1998, Budget telephoned his handler. He told him: "The boys are back in business." Budget's terrorist contact in Kildare, Jones, had told him a new bombing campaign both in Northern Ireland and England was about to begin. He wanted Budget to steal two vans to use in terrorist attacks - most likely in the North.
Gardai allegedly allowed Budget to go through with the theft. According to Bridger's report, the informant was assured that he "would not be caught in possession of the vehicles (immunity from prosecution)".
A month later, on the night of February 12, Budget reported back to his handler. Jones had wanted a car for a mortar attack on a security base in Northern Ireland. Budget was to organise it. A black Mazda 626 had been stolen for the job and left at a yard in Clane, Co Kildare. It was due to be moved on to another location at 9am the next day.
According to the allegations in the report, the intelligence was discussed by gardai, who debated whether there was still time to put "technical surveillance" or a tracking device on the car. But, it goes on to note, gardai concluded that "no immediate action was required because it was unlikely that anyone at a security base would be killed".
A couple of days later, Moira police station was attacked with a mortar bomb. A black Mazda was found burnt out two miles south of Armagh - it had been used in the attack. Afterwards, according to Bridger's report, Budget's handler was asked not to disclose to anyone that the force had advance knowledge of the attack.
A month later, Budget was asked to steal two Mitsubishi Pajeros for other Real IRA attacks. Gardai insisted that Budget was "to steal the next jeep in the general area of Castleknock, which is close to the Phoenix Park. The informant would have to hand over the stolen vehicle to the gardai in the park for a short period of time, for the purpose of attaching an electronic tracking device".
Budget was nervous for his safety. If the terrorist conducted a sweep and a bug was found in the car, the informant could "be tortured and executed". He made his fears known, but agreed to go through with the theft.
One of the vehicles was later fitted with a tracking device by the national surveillance unit, and afterwards Budget delivered it to his Real IRA contact in Dublin. A surveillance plane tracked it to Kildare and eventually to a shed in Dundalk.
On March 21, two terrorists were arrested in the shed with the Pajero which was packed with 1,200lb of home-made explosives (HME), booster tubes and other bomb-making paraphernalia.
Intercepting the bomb was hailed as a coup for gardai. Derek Brady and Kevin Murray were eventually sentenced to 12 years in jail for their role, but Brady failed to appear in court and is still on the run.
Budget was to be rewarded for his intelligence. According to the ombudsman's report, he was granted a hackney drivers' licence by gardai. Criminals are normally denied licences, but Budget's information was so good that the gardai apparently wanted to keep him sweet.
A FEW days after St Patrick's Day 1998, at Jones's request, Budget stole a red BMW 318 in south Dublin. The car was fitted with suspension springs so it wouldn't show it was carrying a heavy load. Unknown to the terrorists, gardai had fitted it with a tracking device in a dark industrial estate.
On March 31, national surveillance unit detectives observed four men loading home-made explosives into the car at a yard in Kilcock, Co Meath. The packed car bomb was left overnight in the car park of the Spa hotel in Lucan. The next day, the BMW was driven all over Dublin and Meath, by terrorists using counter-surveillance measures. It was eventually left outside a pub in Clonee, Co Meath.
At 6am on April 2, the BMW pulled up at the ferry port in Dun Laoghaire. The driver joined a queue to board the HSS Stena Explorer to Liverpool. According to the ombudsman's report, the gardai wanted to create the impression that they were carrying out random searches - to protect the informant. Armed detectives searched several cars, including the BMW. A 980lb bomb was found in the boot, and its driver, John McNamara, was arrested. He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison. Other cars were also searched, including an expensive saloon - Bridger was told that its four innocent occupants were arrested and taken to Dun Laoghaire garda station.
The seizure was another widely publicised coup. Jones conducted an internal Real IRA inquiry to discover the mole, but suspicion did not fall on Budget. The following month, the gardai were less successful.
Jones asked Budget to steal a car with its key and ignition intact. He didn't specify the type of car and told him that it was to be used to set alight outside someone's house. Budget didn't believe him, and surmised that it was going to be used for a mortar attack in the North.
He claims he was authorised by his garda handlers to steal the car. The ombudsman's report contains allegations that one officer "stated that this may be a 'test' and in any event, a mortar attack would be unlikely to result in a loss of life and he was therefore going to let the vehicle 'go' and wait until a larger vehicle would be required in which a bomb would be placed".
Budget organised the theft of a grey Fiat Punto from Hartstown, on May 5. This one wasn't tracked. Eight days later, according to the ombudsman's report, Budget was told that the car was used in a mortar attack on an RUC station in Beleek, Co Fermanagh on May 10. Nobody was injured.
Budget claimed other successes. Later that month, he stole two more cars, which gardai fitted with tracking devices. Detectives stopped the two cars near the border - each one carrying 500lb of explosives. On May 28, 1998, his garda handlers gave Budget a £10,000 (Euro 15,910) reward.
By now, the gardai were so successful that the Real IRA was getting suspicious. The terrorists entrusted Budget with one final operation. On July 24, Jones asked him for a vehicle for a bombing within two weeks or so.
On August 11 or 12, gardai met in a pub in Castleknock for around two hours. The ombudsman's report alleges that at the end of the meeting, gardai feared that the terrorists could be setting a trap for Budget. They allegedly decided to let the car "go through", rather than seize it and put Budget in danger.
"There had been 'inquiries' by the Real IRA after previous incidents where attacks were intercepted and thus, he rationalised, it was reasonable to assume suspicion was aroused," the report claims. Bridger was told that some garda were concerned about possible injuries - it had been less than two weeks since a Real IRA bomb in Banbridge, Co Down had come close to causing carnage when 35 people were injured.
Budget was allegedly told to go ahead with the robbery, but the Real IRA contact cancelled the job. On August 14 - the day before the Omagh bomb - Jones told Budget they had found a car elsewhere.
Budget reported back to his handlers. Bridger was told that some gardai officers were concerned that Budget might be feeding them deliberately misleading information, but they decided to trust him. On Saturday August 15, a bomb had exploded in Omagh, Co Tyrone killing 29 people and injuring 300.
According to allegations in the report, Budget was told by his handler that he would have to be arrested in a round-up of suspected thieves who may have supplied the stolen car used in the bombing. He was allegedly assured that he would not be charged, and that the move was to protect his cover.
Budget was not charged, but seven others were. The charges were later dropped by the state without explanation.
Police sources in Northern Ireland are concerned that many Real IRA operatives - including Jones and his gang of car thieves - were given immunity by the government as part of a deal to draw them into the peace process.
The ombudsman's report claims: "In meetings with Jones, he told Budget that a deal had been done with the government and the charges dropped in exchange for a Real IRA ceasefire."
Jones is still at large in Co Kildare. Budget is now in hiding, under the protection of the state. His cover was blown when garda Thomas Kilcoyne, testifying against John White, a detective sergeant charged with planting a gun on a traveller, disclosed Budget's real identity in an affidavit last year.
Senior Police Service of Northern Ireland officers are examining the allegations, under a team headed by Norman Baxter, who is reviewing his own force's handling of the Omagh investigation.
In a case remarkably similar to Budget's, a police informant known as Kevin Fulton revealed last year that he had passed prior information on the Omagh bomb to the RUC, but the force never acted on it. The ombudsman's report on his claims prompted an overhaul of the investigation into the Omagh bombing.
An officer who is examining the allegations said: "They were letting attacks go ahead in Northern Ireland without passing information to us. It was despicable, letting terrorists run around up here, carrying out operations just so they could prolong their moment in the sun."
He said the information the gardai allegedly had in advance of the Omagh bombing - combined with the information provided by Fulton - could have prevented the atrocity.
"Two corroborating sources - and it seems the Garda source was 100% - could have helped stop the bomb. We would certainly have heightened our awareness."
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