Omagh suspect's sentence angers families

Relatives of the Omagh bomb victims condemned as “lenient” the sentence given today to one of the men suspected of being responsible for the atrocity.

Seamus Daly, aged 34, of Culloville, near Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, was jailed for three and a half years after pleading guilty at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin to membership of the Real IRA.

He is one of five men being sued in a landmark civil action by the families of victims.

Justice Paul Butler said he had no evidence of Daly’s level of involvement with the IRA. He noted that Daly had no previous convictions and had to be given credit for his early guilty plea.

The maximum sentence for the charge is seven years.

Daly, Seamus McKenna, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Colm Murphy are being sued for €14m by relatives of the 29 people killed in the blast on August 15, 1998.

Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aidan was killed, said he was incredibly disappointed with the jail term.

“Given the statement that justice minister Michael McDowell made just two weeks ago saying that this was an organisation still attempting to commit more Omaghs, the message the court is giving does not make sense,” he said.

“The lenient sentences that these people are getting do not suggest they are as wicked and evil as Mr McDowell says.

“This is a further blow to us.”

Laurence Rush, whose wife Elizabeth was killed, said he was “astounded, disgusted and sad”.

“In six years we have not had a charge for murder or a charge for Omagh,” he said.

“This was a pre-meditated outrage which ended in the death of my family.

“I can’t cope with this type of sentencing and this type of law. Where is the justice?

“I feel so hurt and am shattered by this sentence – the judiciary are betraying everyone maimed that day.”

Relatives have been invited to meet Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Dublin later this month and Mr Gallagher said they would be raising their concerns with him.

They are hoping their civil case will be heard in Belfast at the end of the summer.

The British government has agreed to provide £800,000 (€1.2m) of the £1.5m (€2.2m) legal costs.

Daly was arrested in November 2000 and charged in February 2003 for being a member of an unlawful organisation styling itself the IRA.

He is the fourth of the five to be jailed.

McKevitt, Campbell and Murphy, the only one to be convicted in connection with the Omagh bombing, are all serving sentences in the Republic of Ireland for IRA membership.

Murphy, a Dundalk-based builder and publican, was sentenced to 14 years in January 2002 for plotting the Omagh attack.

Real IRA leader McKevitt was jailed for 20 years last August for directing terrorism while Campbell was jailed for five years in October 2001.

Solicitors acting for the Omagh Victims Civil Action Group served writs on each of the five suspects in 2002.

Mr Ahern was criticised last month for offering to spend just ten minutes with the families during a visit to Omagh.

He was snubbed by most relatives, who instead met Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny in Dublin.

The Nally report into the atrocity, published in December, exonerated gardaí of any wrongdoing in the run-up to the atrocity.