A key garda witness in the retrial of building contractor Colm Murphy in connection with the 1998 Real IRA Omagh bombing has died, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

FIRST-ROUND clears from Kevin Babington and Shane Sweetnam helped Ireland finish joint second in the USA Nations Cup in Florida on Friday night, just one fault separating them from winners Canada.

Colm Murphy was further remanded until next October by the Special Criminal Court today while he awaits the outcome of his legal challenge to a retrial on a conspiracy charge connected with the 1998 Real IRA bombing in Omagh in which 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, died.

THE High Court has rejected a bid by a man to stop his retrial on a conspiracy charge connected with the Real IRA Omagh bombing in which 29 people died.

The All-Ireland Poc Fada hurling event will take place on Saturday, August 4, at 12.30pm, it was announced today.

A man whose conviction for an offence connected with the Omagh bombing in 1998 was quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal was remanded on continuing bail until next January, at the Special Criminal Court today.

Reigning champion Brendan Cummins has been forced to pull out of this weekend's All-Ireland Poc Fada event at Ravensdale, Co Louth, due to Tipperary's involvement in Sunday's All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals.

Colm Murphy, who is awaiting a retrial for offences connected with the Omagh bombing in 1998, had the terms of his bail varied by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today.

Colm Murphy whose conviction for an offence connected with the Omagh bombing in 1998 was quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal last week walked free on bail from the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today.

Colm Murphy, whose conviction for an offence connected with the Omagh bombing in 1998 was quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal last week, remained in custody today after a technical hitch held up his expected release on bail.

THREE senior judges were criticised yesterday after the Court of Criminal Appeal ruled the conviction of Colm Murphy, in connection with the Omagh bombing, was unsafe.

The Court of Criminal Appeal has overturned the conviction of Colm Murphy for conspiracy to cause the 1998 Omagh bombing.

The only man convicted in connection with the Omagh bombing is to learn today whether his appeal is successful.

A defence counsel for Colm Murphy, the only man charged in connection with the Omagh bombing, submitted at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today that there was "a credibility problem" with interviews conducted by the gardai with the accused.

News that foot-and-mouth had spread into Ireland devastated the community clustered around the Co Louth border with Northern Ireland - and sounded alarm bells nationwide.

A new date has been fixed at the Special Criminal Court for the trial of a man accused of plotting the 1998 Omagh bombing in which 29 people were killed.