British funding for Omagh bombing civil action halted

BRITISH Government funding to help the Omagh families take civil action against those they believe were responsible for the Omagh bombing has been stopped following an action by Real IRA man Michael McKevitt.

The Northern Ireland High Court heard that Chancellor Charles Falconer accepted a judgment last month that he had overstepped his powers and the mechanism for providing £800,000 (€1.18 million) to help the civil action was unlawful.

At a resumed hearing Judge Mr Justice Coghlin was told by Bernard McCloskey QC that Mr Falconer accepted the judgment and acknowledged he must deal with the court’s concerns.