RELATIVES OF those killed and injured in the Omagh bombing have expressed their delight at the outcome of their civil case after their award of £1.6 million in the High Court in Belfast against four of five named individuals and the Real IRA.
They have also renewed their call for a full cross-Border inquiry.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was murdered, said yesterday: “The curtain can never by pulled in Omagh until both governments co- operate and tell the families the truth.”
Twenty-nine people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed when the Real IRA bomb exploded in Omagh in August 1998. No one has been convicted of murder in the criminal courts, North or South. Michael McKevitt is serving 20 years for IRA membership and directing terrorism, an offence introduced in legislation passed in the aftermath of the bombing.
The investigation into the bombing has been the subject of controversy since 2001, when it was heavily criticised by then Northern Ireland police ombudsman Nuala O’Loan. This was renewed when the only person charged in the North, Seán Hoey, was acquitted in December 2007, with a stinging rebuke from the presiding judge to two police officers.
In the Republic, the conviction of Colm Murphy was found to be unsafe by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
The lack of successful prosecutions spurred some relatives to pursue the unusual route of a civil case. They relied on the fact that in a civil case, the burden of proof is on the balance of probabilities rather than the higher burden in a criminal case of “beyond reasonable doubt”.
Twelve relatives sued Séamus McKenna, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy and Séamus Daly. Mr Justice Morgan found the defendants, including the Real IRA but excluding Mr McKenna, liable for damages. The relatives said they would pursue them for the money.
Mr McKenna said he was delighted his good name had been vindicated, saying he had always maintained his innocence.
McKevitt’s solicitor Kevin Winters said his client planned to appeal his criminal conviction, citing concerns over the reliability of evidence.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said he welcomed the judgment, noting the authorities in the Republic had been happy to have assisted the Northern Ireland courts in various ways, including the hearing of evidence in the South.