The Irish and British governments should set up a Hutton-type inquiry to investigate the 1998 Omagh bombings, the families of the victims have said. Mark Hennessy reports.
Appearing to accept that a full public inquiry will not be conceded, the families acknowledged yesterday that there "are other possibilities".
During a meeting with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, the families again criticised the report of the inquiry led by former top Irish civil servant Mr Dermot Nally.
Indicating that the full Nally report would not be released for security reasons, Mr Ahern later said the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, would brief the families again this month.
Later, one of the leaders of the families' group, Mr Michael Gallagher, said they had "talked about other vehicles of getting at the truth of what happened at Omagh.
"There are other possibilities there. What we have said is that whatever inquiry, whatever route we decide to go down, must have the support of the families."
He added: "We have asked the Taoiseach to consider a number of options to bring more clarity to what happened, both before and after Omagh - whether it be a full public inquiry, whether we go down the route of the Hutton report that investigated the death of the scientist David Kelly.
"What we have asked most importantly is that families are consulted, and brought along in this process. We don't want to wake up some morning and find the Government saying this is what we are going to do, and then we just follow suit."
He said the Nally inquiry had been "restrictive".
"The people who carried out the report, although well-gifted people in their own disciplines, did not have the investigative skills and the independence from Government that was needed.
"It had not interviewed Mr Paddy Dixon, a Garda informer who had passed on information about the "Real IRA" because Mr Dixon would not co-operate.
"We felt that that wasn't a good enough reason. There were other witnesses that were not interviewed.
"The obvious reason for it being selective is that in some ways it wasn't going to be allowed to get to the truth. That is in the worst possible sense."
Following the meeting in Government Buildings with Mr Ahern, the families' group met with the Garda Commissioner, Mr Noel Conroy.
The commissioner had assured them that the Garda had not failed to pass on information that could have prevented the 1998 atrocity.
"We accept what he says, but we feel that maybe there are other people who have an input into that. That is why it is important to have the whole area investigated. We are not against the PSNI and the Garda. We are all on the same side."