A procedural hearing later this month will set the timetable and handle disclosure issues for the Omagh Bombing Inquiry, following a six-month postponement of the main hearings. The session will not take new evidence about the attack itself.

The independent public inquiry, chaired by Lord Turnbull, was established in 2024 to examine whether the 1998 Omagh bombing could reasonably have been prevented. The attack killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, and injured more than 200 others. It remains the deadliest single incident of the Troubles.

The upcoming hearing will be held in Belfast and broadcast to Omagh. It will address practical matters, including the disclosure of sensitive material from Irish and United Kingdom authorities and arrangements for witnesses who will appear during the substantive phase.

That core phase of the inquiry, which will examine how the bomb was planned and carried out and who bears responsibility, was originally due to begin in March. It is now scheduled to start on 21 September, with delays linked in part to the scale and pace of cross-Border disclosure.

In May, retired police officers who responded to the bombing temporarily withdrew their participation. They stated they would resume only after improvements were made to the inquiry’s trauma support services.