Man found liable for Omagh bombing, Colm Murphy, has died

One of the men found liable in the civil courts for the Omagh bombing, Colm Murphy, has died.

Mr Murphy, from Ravensdale, outside of Dundalk, Co Louth, died on Tuesday in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, according to a death notice published online.

Mr Murphy had been a suspect in the Omagh bombing carried out by the Real IRA, one of the most high profile atrocities of the Troubles.

The bomb exploded in the Co Tyrone town on August 15th, 1998, killing 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, while hundreds more were injured in the explosion.

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The bombing took place several months after the signing of the Belfast Agreement peace deal, in April 1998.

Several men were arrested in connection with the bombing, including Mr Murphy, who was charged in 1999 with conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or cause injury. He was found guilty in 2002 at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin and jailed for 14 years.

However, the conviction was overturned in 2005 and a new trial ordered. He was then cleared of the criminal charges following the retrial, after interview evidence from Gardaí was ruled inadmissible.

Following a lengthy legal battle in a civil action, in 2013 Mr Murphy was found by Belfast’s High Court to be liable along with three other men for the bombing.

Mr Murphy, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Seamus Daly were ordered to pay Stg£1.6 million in damages to 12 relatives of those killed by the bomb.

Due to their failure to pay, bankruptcy proceedings were taken in the Republic against Mr Murphy, Mr McKevitt and Mr Campbell, with all three were adjudicated as bankrupt in 2019.

[ Omagh bombing: Timeline of families’ campaign for justice ]

It is understood Mr Murphy, who had been a publican and businessman, had been unwell in recent months, according to one source who knew him.

A subsequent court action taken over the alleged transfer of assets from Mr Murphy to his partner and his sister-in-law, while civil and criminal proceedings were pending, was settled at the start of this year.

Mr Murphy, who was born in Belleeks, a small village in south Co Armagh, is survived by his partner Anne, his four children, as well as several siblings.

“Colm will be sadly missed and fondly remembered by his entire circle of family and friends”, his death notice states.

Earlier this year the UK government announced it intends to set up an independent statutory inquiry into the Omagh bombing.

John Fox, a solicitor representing 15 families of victims killed in the bombing, as well as around 100 people who were injured, said it was disappointing Mr Murphy would now not be able to give evidence to the future inquiry.

“With the passage of time it becomes ever more difficult for the families to get to the truth of what happened in Omagh on the 15th August 1998,” he told The Irish Times.

There was an “ever-increasing need” on both the Irish and UK governments to establish the public inquiry into the Omagh bombing, he said.