MICHAEL GALLAGHER, whose son Aiden was murdered in the bombing, greeted the findings with “enormous relief”. They were a vindication of their efforts to find justice and underlined the need for a cross-Border judicial inquiry.
The Omagh families would press for payment of the damages, he said. “If we can we will send a message around the world that terrorism is not a profitable business to be in,” he said.
“The people that fund and support and perpetrate terrorism from now on need to watch out.”
The civil case was “not about the money” for relatives he said, but he warned: “This was a real victory, and we will pursue the money because that is what punishes those people. That’s what drives these people, it is not about ‘setting Ireland free’, it is about making themselves rich. We will hit them at every corner.”
Victor Barker, who also lost a son in the atrocity, said the case had created a legal precedent of benefit to victims of terror all over the world. “This is about identifying people responsible, identifying them in their own community and saying to the people, ‘These people should be rejected, they are not part of a decent society’,” he said.
He added: “In 1998, Tony Blair said he would not leave any stone unturned – well, he clearly did because these families have had to pick up all the stones and bring them to court themselves.”
Mr Gallagher said the court ruling has sent a message to terrorists that from now on they had to worry about the relatives of their victims, as well as the authorities.
“The families of victims will come after you,” he said. “The message to victims around the world is, we have now created a precedent, and those other victims of terrorism can use this vehicle.”
Turning to the British and Irish governments, Mr Gallagher said: “If you do not do it, we will do it. We had to in this case.”
Mr Barker admitted there were doubts the case could succeed, especially following the failure to convict anyone of murder to date.
“What is important in my view is, it is not just the damages against individuals, it is damages against the Real IRA, and they should be regarded by everyone as pariahs. It is time to look at these people and to say, ‘We don’t want you in this country. We don’t want you fighting for Irish freedom on our behalf.’ Let the people of Northern Ireland decide what they want by voting,” said Mr Barker.
Mr Gallagher said the Omagh families would persist with their demand for a cross-Border inquiry. “The curtain can never be pulled in Omagh until both governments co-operate and tell the families the truth – that’s the message we send out here today.”
He looked to the possibility of new governments in Dublin and London, and he appealed to parties in both countries to work to “give some degree of closure” to the Omagh families through an inquiry. “It needn’t cost an arm and a leg,” he said.
“We did not get the level of co-operation that we should have both in Dublin and in London – those were the times when we were particularly low.”
Addressing the four men found to be liable for damages, Mr Gallagher added: “You think you were clever enough to cover up your tracks and get away with this. You didn’t figure on people like us.”