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| Omagh bombing: case against only remaining suspect collapses | Omagh bombing: case against only remaining suspect collapses |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The case against the only remaining suspect charged with the Omagh bombing, in which 29 people were killed, has collapsed, prompting families of the victims to claim that their loved ones will never get justice. | The case against the only remaining suspect charged with the Omagh bombing, in which 29 people were killed, has collapsed, prompting families of the victims to claim that their loved ones will never get justice. |
| Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service has dropped 29 murder charges against Seamus Daly in relation to the single biggest act of mass murder of the Ulster Troubles. | |
| A PPS lawyer officially withdrew the prosecution during a routine magistrates court hearing at Ballymena courthouse, County Antrim, on Tuesday morning. | |
| He had appeared in court in Omagh last week to face all the charges related to the atrocity. | He had appeared in court in Omagh last week to face all the charges related to the atrocity. |
| One of the 29 victims of the bombing was a pregnant woman whose twins were almost full term when she died after a 500lb bomb exploded in the centre of the town on a busy Saturday. | One of the 29 victims of the bombing was a pregnant woman whose twins were almost full term when she died after a 500lb bomb exploded in the centre of the town on a busy Saturday. |
| As well as facing 29 murder charges, Daly had been accused of causing the explosion in the County Tyrone market town in August 1998 and possessing the bomb. He also faced charges relating to a Real IRA bomb plot in Lisburn in April of that year. | As well as facing 29 murder charges, Daly had been accused of causing the explosion in the County Tyrone market town in August 1998 and possessing the bomb. He also faced charges relating to a Real IRA bomb plot in Lisburn in April of that year. |
| Daly, originally from the Irish Republic, was arrested in South Armagh in 2014 in connection with the Real IRA bombing at Omagh. Since his arrest, Daly has consistently denied any involvement in the atrocity. | Daly, originally from the Irish Republic, was arrested in South Armagh in 2014 in connection with the Real IRA bombing at Omagh. Since his arrest, Daly has consistently denied any involvement in the atrocity. |
| Omagh victims’ campaigner Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was killed in the bombing, told the Guardian he believed the evidence of a new key witness from the Irish Republic was so poor and contradictory that it led to the case’s collapse on Tuesday. It is understood the informer-witness from southern Ireland was at one time an associate of Daly’s in the building trade. | Omagh victims’ campaigner Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was killed in the bombing, told the Guardian he believed the evidence of a new key witness from the Irish Republic was so poor and contradictory that it led to the case’s collapse on Tuesday. It is understood the informer-witness from southern Ireland was at one time an associate of Daly’s in the building trade. |
| An emotional Gallagher said early on Tuesday that he believed that “barring a road-to-Damascus conversion and a confession by the bombers themselves, those behind the Omagh bomb plot have got away with it”. | An emotional Gallagher said early on Tuesday that he believed that “barring a road-to-Damascus conversion and a confession by the bombers themselves, those behind the Omagh bomb plot have got away with it”. |
| Speaking on his way to court in Ballymena, where prosecutors officially announced that they were dropping all the charges against Daly, Gallagher said: “The chances of a successful criminal prosecution against the Omagh bombers is very, very low after this. The only way to get at least the truth about what happened in Omagh is for a full all-Ireland independent inquiry into the events leading up to the bomb, which is what we have been demanding for years. | |
| “We won’t stop fighting for this inquiry but it has to be said that in terms of the innocent victims of the Troubles, the way the Omagh investigation has gone indicates that they won’t get justice either. It is very depressing.” | “We won’t stop fighting for this inquiry but it has to be said that in terms of the innocent victims of the Troubles, the way the Omagh investigation has gone indicates that they won’t get justice either. It is very depressing.” |
| Omagh victims’ families have complained that police on both sides of the Irish border failed to act to thwart the attack on the town because they were running agents inside the Real IRA, and that previous bombings in 1998 were allowed to take place to bolster their agents’ reputations within the new republican terror group. | Omagh victims’ families have complained that police on both sides of the Irish border failed to act to thwart the attack on the town because they were running agents inside the Real IRA, and that previous bombings in 1998 were allowed to take place to bolster their agents’ reputations within the new republican terror group. |
| In the lead-up to the Good Friday agreement in the same year, the Real IRA launched a series of attacks using car bombs and mortar bombs mainly targeted at unionist-dominated towns across Northern Ireland. | In the lead-up to the Good Friday agreement in the same year, the Real IRA launched a series of attacks using car bombs and mortar bombs mainly targeted at unionist-dominated towns across Northern Ireland. |
| The Real IRA strategy was to cause enough outrage to undermine unionist support for the peace process and a political settlement that would eventually underpin Northern Ireland’s place within the UK. | The Real IRA strategy was to cause enough outrage to undermine unionist support for the peace process and a political settlement that would eventually underpin Northern Ireland’s place within the UK. |
| So far no one has been convicted of carrying out the attack, which prompted one faction of the Real IRA to declare a ceasefire. | So far no one has been convicted of carrying out the attack, which prompted one faction of the Real IRA to declare a ceasefire. |
| The families have pursued a groundbreaking civil action against those behind the atrocity. Four men have been ordered to pay more than £1.5m in damages to the victims’ families in the civil case. A judge ruled that the men – Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly – were all responsible for carrying out the massacre. | The families have pursued a groundbreaking civil action against those behind the atrocity. Four men have been ordered to pay more than £1.5m in damages to the victims’ families in the civil case. A judge ruled that the men – Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly – were all responsible for carrying out the massacre. |