Omagh families 'relieved' at writs

An unidentified man throws a writ out of a bedroom window after it was delivered to alleged Omagh bomber Seamus Daly's family home near Dundalk in County Louth

OMAGH, Northern Ireland -- Families of the victims of the Omagh bombing said they were "relieved" but gained "no pleasure" in the issuing of writs against those suspected of carrying out the attack.

Five writs were delivered in the Republic of Ireland on Friday by lawyers acting on behalf of the families who are seeking civil action for Northern Ireland's worst bombing atrocity.

A total of 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed and 300 others injured when dissident republican group, the Real IRA, detonated a 500lb (225kg) bomb in Omagh in August, 1998.

The families said they are forced to take civil action, the first of its kind against alleged terrorists, because of the lack of criminal prosecutions.

Nobody has been charged with murder yet by police on either side of the border, though one of those who received a writ in prison, Colm Murphy, is serving 14 years for conspiracy in connection with the bombing.

Michael Gallagher, whose teenage son Aiden died in the bombing, said the move gave him no joy.

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"There is no pleasure in this process whatsoever," he added.

"The families have done this for justice and some measure of learning more about what happened at Omagh.

"We have always wanted people to be held accountable. This is something we can do as families, but we will continue to press both the British and Irish governments to bring people before the courts and put them behind bars.

"No matter how long it takes, we will continue to make sure that those who perpetrated the bombing are put behind bars."

Stanley McCombe, who lost his wife in the bombing expressed relief that the legal moves, which had been planned for over a year, were finally under way.

He was quoted by UK press agency, the Press Association, as saying: "I think everyone is relieved that we have got to this stage -- at least the families are doing something."

Lawyer Jason McCue said he was "satisfied" that the writs had been delivered to the five men: Seamus Daly, Seamus McKenna, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Colm Murphy.

Neither Daly nor McKenna answered the door when the papers were served at their homes in Dundalk, County Louth, at 6.45 a.m. (0545 GMT).

One writ was handed to Daly's father and the other was put through the letter box of the McKenna house.

McKevitt, Campbell and Murphy faced having their writs served on them in Portlaoise Prison in County Laois where they are held on unconnected matters.

Twenty-nine people died in the 1998 bomb blast in Omagh

The serving of writs also names the Real IRA as well as the individuals.

The writs claim "damages (including aggravated damages and/or exemplary damages) as a result of the explosion of a bomb at Omagh town centre on 15 August, 1998, for which the defendants and each of them are responsible."

They also demand damages for "the intentional infliction of harm, trespass to the person and/or conspiracy to commit trespass to the person and/or conspiracy to injure."

The five do not have to answer the writs as they were issued in Belfast High Court.

Service of the writs came the day after the Omagh Trust announced that it had finally raised enough money (£1.5 million) through its public appeal to launch the legal action -- and only days before the deadline for that action to start.