Omagh case 'a disaster' for Omagh families

Michael Gallagher, whose son, Aidan, was killed in the Omagh bombing, said the case had been a disaster for the Omagh families.

“I think there has to be real questions why this was allowed to go through the system. The police recommended the prosecution and the DPP allowed it to move forward, then they brought us all here for Christmas to get this news.”

He said both the British and Irish governments must now set up a full cross-border inquiry into the Omagh bombing.

“They can no longer refuse to give families such an inquiry. This case has been a disgrace by any standards.”

Lawrence Rush, whose wife died in the bombing, also hit out at what he said was the devastating way the investigation had been mounted.

He revealed he had taken legal action against the police over their handling of evidence and the way some of it had been lost.

He said: “I am tired, I am exhausted after 10 years of pain and hope.”

But he added: “I am not over-disappointed, I would not have wanted the wrong man to be convicted.”

Stanley McCombe, whose wife, Ann, 48, was another of the victims, said he was shocked by the decision.

He added: “I’m flabbergasted, dumbfounded. I do not know what to think. All the resources over the last nine and a half years have not got us anywhere. Hoey has done four and a half years and I’m sure his compensation will be far greater than we had to fight and embarrass ourselves into getting.”