The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, condemned the Omagh bombers as "undiluted fascists" and said they were the enemies of the people of Ireland.
Mr Hume said the Irish people had spoken loudly as to how they wished to be governed. "The people who carried out this terrible deed, leaving so many brutally killed and injured, are not only appalling murderers, they are undiluted fascists. These murderers are the enemies of the people of Ireland," the SDLP leader said.
His deputy, Mr Seamus Mallon, the Deputy First Minister of the new Assembly, described the bombing as "an act of appalling depravity" and said those who carried it out were "evil cowards". He appealed to anybody "with the slightest scrap of information" to make it available.
Mr Mallon added: "These people have nothing to offer society but death, destruction and suffering. They represent no one but themselves. Their actions are totally against the wishes of the vast majority of the people of Northern Ireland, and of their political representatives who have tried so hard to find a peaceful way forward. We must not and we will not allow them to deny the people of Northern Ireland the future they voted for overwhelmingly."
Mr Eddie McGrady, of the SDLP, said it was clear the bombers were not going to respond to the overwhelming wish of the people of Ireland. He said they "would have to be dealt with in the severest possible fashion".