Omagh: Some Form Of Justice

On August 15, 1998 Republican splinter group 'The Real I.R.A.' (who did not represent, in any way shape or form, popular sentiment in the Republican Catholic community who were moving toward peaceful measures) set off a bomb in Omagh that became the worst atrocity in the 30 odd years of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Now, a kind of justice has been achieved.

At Belfast High Court yesterday, Justice Declan Morgan awarded record damages totalling £1.6m to the relatives of six people who died in the Real IRA atrocity.

The judge found four men, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Seamus Daly and Colm Murphy, responsible for the planning, production, planting and detonation of the 500lb car bomb that ripped through the Co Tyrone town, killing 29 people — including unborn twins — on August 15, 1998.

And in a legal first anywhere in the world, he also ruled that the Real IRA dissident republican terror group was liable.

It's a bit of a concern that no criminal convictions have been handed down. I'm aware that there are more than a few voices in Ulster claiming that the powers that be had an interest in seeing to that.