SEVENTEEN YEARS OF STRUGGLE FOR VICTIMS’ FAMILIES
AUGUST 15, 1998 Thirteen weeks after the historic Good Friday peace agreement is signed, a car bomb planted by splinter group the Real IRA rips through the market town of Omagh, Co. Tyrone, killing 29 people and sending shockwaves around the world.
2000 A BBC Panorama programme names five men alleged to have been involved in the attack.
2000 The families approach the Mail in a final attempt to win justice. An appeal to readers ultimately raises the £2million needed to enable the families to take on the gang they hold responsible with an unprecedented civil action for damages.
2002 Builder Colm Murphy is convicted of conspiracy to cause an explosion and sentenced to 14 years in jail.
2005 Murphy’s conviction overturned on appeal. At a 2010 retrial, judges at Dublin’s Special Criminal Court clear Murphy of any involvement.
JUNE 8, 2009 Belfast High Court awards sums ranging from £70,000 to £340,000 to a group of 12 relatives who sued five men alleged to have been involved in the bombing. One, Séamus McKenna, is cleared of any liability. But the other four – Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, left, Séamus Daly and Colm Murphy – are found responsible for the attack. All four men appeal – a process that continues until March 2013 – but ultimately the 2009 verdict stands.
APRIL 2014 Michael McKevitt and his Real IRA number two Liam Campbell launch a bid to avoid paying damages at the European Court of Human Rights. Dismayed victims’ relatives tell the Mail that human rights laws appear to favour ‘killer gangs’. Their case remains ongoing to this day.
APRIL 2015 A dozen relatives of the Omagh victims secure an ‘enforcement order’ in Dublin that allows them to pursue McKevitt, Campbell, Daly and Murphy and any assets they may hold within the 26 counties to the value of €2.2million.