‘Moment I’ll never forget in my life’ – Sister of Spanish woman killed in Omagh bombing gives emotional inquiry evidence
THE sister of a young Spanish woman killed in the Omagh bombing has described a public inquiry into the atrocity as “allowing us to close a wound that has been open for 26 years”.
Rocio Abad Ramos, 23, from Madrid was among 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, who were killed in the dissident republican bomb attack in the Co Tyrone town in 1998.
She had been involved in an exchange trip with young Spanish children to Buncrana in Co Donegal.
They had been visiting Omagh on August 15 when the bomb exploded.
Her sister Paloma Abad Ramos gave evidence to the Omagh Bombing Inquiry on Tuesday as it started commemorative hearings focusing on the victims and those affected.
Speaking through a translator, Ms Ramos also told the inquiry she hoped it will uncover the truth of what happened, saying she felt the news in Spain at the time had been “restricted”.
She thanked those behind the inquiry, saying: “This is the only support that we’ve had for many many years.”
She also expressed gratitude for all the letters her family had received from people in Ireland following her sister’s death.
In her statement to the inquiry she said when her parents left her sister at the airport, she was so excited to be going on the trip, and having just finished her studies she had a world of possibilities ahead of her.
She said: “As our parents hugged and said goodbye to Rocio, little did they know that was to be the last time they would see their daughter alive.”
Asked about that during the hearing, Ms Ramos said: “I was thinking it would be very, very difficult to walk along the street where the bomb had exploded, well this happened to us at the airport, the airport was the last place we saw Rocio alive.”
Back in August 1998, she arrived home from a holiday to learn what had happened to her sister, and followed her parents to Belfast, on a military plane with the families of other Spanish citizens who lost their lives or were injured.
She told the inquiry: “Imagine a military plane with no seats, seated on a net with 20 more people, family members of wounded and victims, it was a very tense situation.”
She paid tribute to being sheltered from seeing the bomb scene. She also told the inquiry she wanted to thank those who recovered her sister’s remains, describing going to the morgue as a “moment I will never forget in my life”.
They returned to Madrid on a military plane, with two coffins, Rocio’s, as well as that of 12-year-old Fernando Blasco Baselga who was also killed in the bomb.
COFFIN HUG
She described hugging her sister’s coffin on the flight back.
On their return to Madrid, the two coffins were covered with Spanish flags and given a military parade, and later a state funeral which she compared to a Champions League final with crowds of people in attendance, including the King’s daughter.
She said: “I was in shock, just three days before we learned that our sister had been killed in a terrorist bombing in Ireland, it was mind-blowing and we were not able to cope with this.
“We were directed to (the) funeral parlour, it was like the final of the Champions League because there were so, so many people, our grief was made public … we were not left in peace.”
‘VERY SPECIAL PERSON’
Ms Ramos summed her sister up as an extrovert, and a “very special person” who had a love of Ireland.
She added: “She had a family here, she loved Irish and the culture and the country.”
A focus on the victims and impact of the Omagh bombing will have “important value” in educating others about the “real effect of terrorism”, the public inquiry chairman has said.
NAMES OF VICTIMS READ OUT
Bereaved families and survivors gathered at the Strule Arts Centre in the Co Tyrone town for the inquiry which will examine whether the atrocity could reasonably have been prevented by UK authorities.
Some 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins were killed in the Real IRA bomb attack in the Co Tyrone town on August 15, 1998.
The names of all those killed in the bombing were read out at the public inquiry into the atrocity on Tuesday morning before all those assembled were invited to stand for a minute’s silence in remembrance.
Commemorative and personal statement hearings will be heard over the next four weeks.
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We’re married & sleeping with another married couple – people say they feel sorry for our son but now he gets 4 parents
RAISING children takes a village and one married couple’s unique set-up proves just that.
The parents revealed they are in a “closed polyamorous quad” with another couple, with all four bringing up their kids together under one roof.
In their viral video, TikTok user Taya Hartless (@polyfamory) broke down the dynamic in her family home.
She explained that she and her husband Sean had never been involved in polygamy but became interested in the idea after “a few years” of marriage.
They took interest in the lifestyle while watching the TV show Shameless, which featured a throuple storyline.
However, the couple soon realised single women were hard to come by in the swinging community.
Instead, they decided to meet up with another couple, Tyler and Alicia Rodgers.
At first, the couples would meet up half way between their home towns, making 12 hour round trips to switch partners.
Their first night together, they attended an event before splitting into separate hotel rooms.
When it was time to go to sleep, they switched back to their spouses.
Eventually, both pairs realised they “wanted more and more” and decided to introduce their children.
Now they all live under the one roof, raising their five children all together.
Taya explained that each night the two men switch bedrooms, however she and Alicia remain metamours, meaning they aren’t romantically or sexually involved.
“I love her as the mother of my children,” Alicia told their TikTok viewers.
Sean and Tyler also maintain a strictly platonic relationship with each other.
Describing their unique set-up, Taya said they just “indulged in what our hearts told us and let our brains follow.”
Both couples say their children have easily adapted to the living situation.
What is polyamory?
Polyamory is the practice of having romantic relationships with more than one person at the same time, with the knowledge and consent of all parties.
It can refer to relationships where one person has multiple partners or spouses, or where all parties are in a relationship with each other, for example in a throuple.
According to You Gov, 6.8% of people in the UK have been in a polyamorous relationship.
In fact, Sean and Taya’s toddler even refers to Alicia and Tyler and his “Mama and Dada” while calling his biological parents “Mom and Dad.”
However, TikTok users weren’t sold on the idea of a quad raising a family together.
“I’m sorry for this little baby,” wrote one viewer.
Taya clapped back, informing the commenter that her child is perfectly fine.
“There are lots of babies that you should feel sorry for. This is not one of them,” she replied,
Another person accused the polyamorous quad of “confusing the little boy.”