The trial of the man accused of Northern Ireland's worst single paramilitary atrocity was adjourned in Belfast today.
The trial of Seán Hoey was adjourned until September 18th after defence lawyer Orlando Pownall, QC, revealed he was unfit to proceed.
Relatives of the Omagh bomb victims were bracing themselves for a harrowing new ordeal as the trial of Mr Hoey (36) from south Armagh, got under way in Belfast Crown Court.
Mr Hoey is charged with the murders of the 29 people killed in the bomb attack on the Co Tyrone town. The victims included a mother of unborn twins. The case, among the biggest in British and Irish legal history, could last for three months.
The court is due to hear weeks of painstaking evidence as prosecution lawyers seek the first conviction in Northern Ireland for the dissident republican attack in August 1998.
Expert voice analysis and DNA evidence are expected to be central to the case.
For the families of those who died when the 500lb Real IRA car bomb tore through Omagh town centre eight years ago, another painful ordeal lies ahead.
Stanley McCombe, whose wife, Ann (48) was killed in the blast, admitted his anticipation was laced with dread. "It's a day I have been waiting for, but yet I'm not looking forward to going near the court."
Mr McCombe said after the adjournment that he was now even more doubtful of ever getting justice.
He said: "It's not really good enough. It's hard on the families. We've been up since early morning travelling to be here and then you get this. "It's taken eight years to get to this stage and within 10 or 15 minutes senior counsel says 'I'm not well enough, I can't deal with this'.
"This just intensifies what we have been doing and saying these last eight years. "This is as far as we can go, yet something simple like someone taking ill can delay everything. "The way it's starting off is not promising for us.
"Even if it does start, I can see there being more of this sort of thing."
The bombing, on a Saturday afternoon in mid-summer, was the single worst atrocity in 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.
Mr Hoey has been charged with the 29 murders among a total of 61 terrorist and explosive charges, all of which he denies.
The decision to prosecute him followed a marathon police investigation which has been mired in controversy.
A damning report by Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan was heavily critical of the initial police inquiry and the then Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
Warnings from two informants in the days before Omagh that an attack was planned for Northern Ireland were not properly followed up, she found.
But amid all the intrigue over agents, the families have demanded justice for their loved ones.
Most of those living in Omagh will find it impossible to make the daily three-hour round trip for a trial that could last for months.
Requests have been made to set up a videolink system in the town for the duration of court proceedings.