Omagh bombing suspect faces 29 murder charges
Seamus Daly is accused of carrying out the worst single atrocity of the Irish Troubles
A prominent Irish republican appeared in an Irish court yesterday, charged with the murders of all 29 people killed in the 1998 Omagh bombing, the worst single atrocity of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
A judge at Dungannon Magistrates' Court ordered Seamus Daly, 43, held in custody as police kept guard outside. No-one has ever been convicted in a criminal court of carrying out the Omagh bombing, which tore through the market town on a busy Saturday afternoon just a few months after the signing of peace accords which largely ended the 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.
However, relatives of some of the victims brought a civil action against five men they claimed were responsible, including Daly.
The Belfast High Court ruled in 2009 that Daly and three of the other four men were responsible and they were later ordered to pay more than €1.94 million (HK$20.85 million) in damages to the relatives.
Daly has always denied involvement in the bombing.
He has been charged with 29 counts of murder, two additional offences linked to the Omagh explosion and two linked to an attempted explosion in Lisburn in April 1998.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed at Omagh, was in court for Daly's appearance.