Omagh families seek compensation

FAMILIES of the Omagh bomb massacre victims are seeking more than 15 million in compensation from the Real IRA suspects blamed for the atrocity, it emerged yesterday.

Lawyers lodged a legal document confirming the scale of damages they want awarded against five men named in a civil action taken by relatives of those killed in the August 1998 attack.

Jason McCue of H2O, the London firm of solicitors representing the Omagh families, described the court action as the relatives’ final hope.

He said: “This civil action remains their best and last chance for justice. They have pursued this claim through enormous grief, with self-sacrifice and determination and, at times, in the face of indifference.”

The three-inch thick “statement of claim” details the agony endured by relatives of some of the 29 people murdered when dissident republican terrorists detonated a huge car bomb in the Co Tyrone town centre.

Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aidan died in the explosion, said the High Court action was not about money.

But he added: “Hopefully this will send a clear message that terrorism is not a profitable business to be involved in. We have cleared another hurdle and are now in the final stages now before we get to court.”

A high-powered legal team has been employed to sue Michael McKevitt, 51, Liam Campbell, 38, Colm Murphy, 51, Seamus McKenna, 49, and 33-year-old Seamus Daly.

The civil action is expected to be heard in Belfast later this year.

Before then, lawyers for the five men named must respond to the detailed claims issued. One man is understood to be seeking £300,000 in compensation for the loss of a wife and mother.

Sources close to the court action confirmed the aggravated damages and individual claims are in the region of more than €15 million.

Even though the police investigation was the biggest conducted in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, nobody has ever been charged with any of the murders.

The document, which outlines allegations against the five suspects and the level of suffering endured by the victims’ families, is the culmination of an intensive effort by their solicitors and barristers.

McKevitt is named in papers as the Real IRA’s leader and Campbell as a senior member.

Daly and McKenna are described as supporters of the terror grouping’s campaign, while Murphy, the document claims, is an active republican who advocates violence.

Writs were served against all five last July after solicitors travelled to homes and prisons in Ireland.