THE VERDICTS in the civil action taken by some relatives of the Omagh bombing victims will be delivered in Belfast this morning.
Mr Justice Morgan will deliver his findings in the High Court. He has been considering the actions taken by the relatives against five men whom they believe were responsible for the 1997 Real IRA bombing which killed 29 people including a mother pregnant with twins.
The action has been supported by a series of political figures including Bill Clinton, as well as Bob Geldof and Barry McGuigan.
Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aiden died in the blast, said the decision to sue the five men had empowered the families, especially in the wake of the failure on both sides of the Border to convict anyone of murder.
“Unlike the other [criminal] cases where the PSNI and Garda have taken the lead, this has all been led by the families,” he said.
“We have also set a first in that families have taken alleged perpetrators to court. We have done all we could and our legal team has done all it could. It’s now down to the court to decide.” The five men named in the civil action, Michael McKevitt, Séamus Daly, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy and Séamus McKenna – were in court for the proceedings when they began in Belfast in April last year.
Michael McKevitt is an alleged founding member of the Real IRA, and Liam Campbell is being held in connection with an extradition bid. He is wanted in Lithuania on arms charges.
Colm Murphy was found guilty by the Special Criminal Court in 2002 of conspiracy in the Omagh bombing but was later overturned.
Unusually the relatives are also suing the Real IRA as an organisation. It is thought to be the first time such an action has been taken concerning a paramilitary organisation.
The taking of a civil action is a de facto admission by the relatives that they do not believe anyone will be successfully convicted of the murders by a criminal court unless substantial new evidence is uncovered.
The action has also marked a first in that the case has heard evidence in both Belfast and Dublin.
More than 35 High Court hearings in Belfast, three Court of Appeal hearings and two applications to the House of Lords had already been heard before the hearings in the civil action began 14 months ago.