Men win appeal against Omagh ruling
Colm Murphy is set for a civil retrial and Seamus Daly could face similar legal proceedings after their appeals were allowed by Belfast High Court.
Challenges lodged by convicted Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt and fellow senior republican Liam Campbell over their liability for the attack were dismissed by a panel of three judges.
While no one has been successfully criminally convicted of the bombing, all four men were held responsible in a landmark civil action taken by some of the families two years ago.
Outside the court, Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was killed, said he accepted the findings of the appeal court but insisted he would see the retrial process through.
“We are disappointed, we have to accept the ruling of the court, which we do, but we are disappointed.
“It has been a long struggle for the families, almost 10 years, it looks like this work will continue for a number of years forward.
“It is not something that we look forward to but if we feel it is the right thing to do we will continue to do that.”
Stanley McCombe, who lost his wife Ann, said: “We will fight on to the bitter end.”
He said he accepted it was unlikely anyone would ever be jailed for the attack and reiterated family demands for a cross-border public inquiry into the bombing and the police investigation.
“It has taken us a long time to get here, all we are asking for is the truth.”
In August 1998, 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, died when the Real IRA car bomb ripped through the Co Tyrone market town. More than 200 were injured in the blast.
In Belfast High Court two years ago, Mr Justice Declan Morgan found the four men liable and ordered them to pay £1.6 million in compensation.
A separate bid by the families for that award to be increased was also rejected by the appeal court.
Not all the bereaved relatives have backed the legal challenge and Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena died, said it had been a waste of time and money.
“At the end of the day it does not matter if the people are found guilty or not. They are not going to serve one minute (in jail).”
Delivering their reserved ruling to the court, Lord Justice Malachy Higgins directed a retrial of the claims against Murphy, from Dundalk, Co Louth, and said the court would hear arguments on a potential retrial of Daly, from Cullaville, Co Monaghan, in the autumn.
On Real IRA chief McKevitt, who is serving a 20 year sentence in Portlaoise Prison for directing terrorism, the appeal judges said: “McKevitt has failed to establish that the judge erred in reaching a conclusion that McKevitt was one of (those) responsible for trespass to the person in relation to the victims of the explosion.”
Only one man has so far faced a criminal trial over the outrage.
In December 2007, Sean Hoey, from Jonesborough, Co Armagh, was cleared at Belfast Crown Court of murdering the 29 people.
