Editing Omagh bombing (section)

=== Prosecutions and court cases ===
On 22 September 1998, the RUC and [[Gardaí]] arrested twelve men in connection with the bombing. They subsequently released all of them without charge.<ref name="timeline" /> On 25 February 1999, they questioned and arrested at least seven suspects.<ref name="timeline" /> Builder and publican Colm Murphy, from [[County Louth|Ravensdale, County Louth]], was charged three days later for conspiracy and was convicted on 23 January 2002 by the Republic of Ireland's Special Criminal Court.<ref name="timeline" /> He was sentenced to fourteen years.<ref name="RTÉ" /> In January 2005, Murphy's conviction was quashed and a retrial was ordered by the [[Court of Criminal Appeal (Ireland)|Court of Criminal Appeal]], on the grounds that two Gardaí had falsified interview notes, and that Murphy's previous convictions were improperly taken into account by the trial judges.<ref name="RTÉ">{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0121/omagh.html|title=Relatives disappointed with Omagh ruling|date=21 January 2005|access-date=14 March 2007|work=RTÉ News}}</ref>

On 28 October 2000, the families of four children killed in the bombing – James Barker, 12, Samantha McFarland, 17, Lorraine Wilson, 15, and 20-month-old Breda Devine – launched a [[civil action]] against the suspects named by the ''Panorama'' programme.<ref name="timeline" /> On 15 March 2001, the families of all twenty-nine people killed in the bombing launched a [[British pound|£]]2-million civil action against Real IRA suspects [[Liam Campbell]], [[Colm Murphy]], [[Seamus Daly]], Seamus McKenna and [[Michael McKevitt]].<ref name="timeline" /> Former Northern Ireland secretaries Peter Mandelson, [[Tom King, Baron King of Bridgwater|Tom King]], [[Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville|Peter Brooke]], [[Lord Hurd]], [[James Prior, Baron Prior|Lord Prior]] and [[Lord Merlyn-Rees]] signed up in support of the plaintiffs' legal fund.<ref name="timeline" /> The civil action began in Northern Ireland on 7 April 2008.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7333107.stm|title=Omagh civil case 'unprecedented'|work=BBC News|date=7 April 2008|access-date=11 April 2014}}</ref>

On 6 September 2006, Murphy's nephew, Sean Hoey, an electrician from [[Jonesborough, County Armagh]], went on trial accused of twenty-nine counts of murder, and terrorism and explosives charges.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/sep/06/northernireland|title=Sickness halts Omagh trial|date=6 September 2006|access-date=14 March 2007|work=The Guardian}}</ref> Upon its completion, Hoey's trial found on 20 December 2007 that he was not guilty of all 56 charges against him.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7154221.stm|title=Man not guilty of Omagh murders|date=20 December 2007|access-date=20 December 2007|work=BBC News}}</ref>

On 24 January 2008, former Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan apologised to the victims' families for the lack of convictions in relation to the Omagh bombing.<ref name="ronnie">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7205855.stm|title=Flanagan apology to bomb families|work=BBC News|date=24 January 2008|access-date=11 April 2014}}</ref> This apology was rejected by some of the victims' families.<ref name="ronnie" /> After the Hoey verdict, BBC News reporter Kevin Connolly stated, "The Omagh families were dignified in defeat, as they have been dignified at every stage of their fight for justice. Their campaigning will go on, but the prospect is surely receding now that anyone will ever be convicted of murdering their husbands and brothers and sisters and wives and children."<ref name="Kevin">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7154952.stm|title=How the Omagh case unravelled|work=BBC News|date=20 December 2007|access-date=11 April 2014|first=Kevin|last=Connolly}}</ref> [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]] [[Chief Constable]] Sir [[Hugh Orde]] stated that he believed there would be no further prosecutions.<ref name=itimes />

On 8 June 2009, the civil case taken by victims' relatives concluded, with McKevitt, Campbell, Murphy and Daly being found to have been responsible for the bombing. McKenna (died 14 July 2013) was cleared of involvement.<ref name="rte090608" /> The others were held liable for {{GBP|1.6 million}} of damages. It was described as a "landmark" [[damages]] award internationally.<ref name="Landmark damages awarded for N. Ireland bombing">{{cite news|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-40164020090608|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816025522/https://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-40164020090608|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 August 2018|title=Landmark damages awarded for N. Ireland bombing|date=8 June 2009|access-date=8 June 2009|work=Reuters (India)}}</ref> Murphy and Daly appealed and were granted a retrial, but this second trial also found them responsible for the bombing, with the judge describing the evidence as overwhelming.<ref name="Two men found responsible for Omagh bombing after landmark civil action">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/two-men-found-responsible-for-omagh-bombing-after-landmark-civil-action-8542702.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220523/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/two-men-found-responsible-for-omagh-bombing-after-landmark-civil-action-8542702.html |archive-date=23 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Two men found responsible for Omagh bombing after landmark civil action|date=20 March 2013|access-date=21 March 2013|work=The Independent|location=London, UK|first=John|last=Hall}}</ref>

On 10 April 2014 Daly was charged with murdering the twenty-nine victims of the Omagh bombing and with other offences.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/10758911/Republican-charged-over-Omagh-bombing.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/10758911/Republican-charged-over-Omagh-bombing.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Republican charged over Omagh bombing|work=The Telegraph|date=10 April 2014|access-date=11 April 2014|location=London, UK|first=Tom|last=Whitehead}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He was arrested in Newry by police after he crossed the border into Northern Ireland.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/apr/10/man-charged-murder-29-people-omagh-bombing|title=Man charged with murder of 29 people in 1998 Omagh bombing|work=The Guardian|date=10 April 2014|access-date=11 April 2014}}</ref> The case against Daly was withdrawn in February 2016, with the Public Prosecution Service deciding there was "no reasonable prospect of conviction".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-35680970|title=Omagh bomb: Murder case against Seamus Daly collapses|date=1 March 2016|access-date=5 March 2016|work=BBC}}</ref>

In 2021, Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed during the attack, brought a case to the Belfast High Court which resulted in Mr Justice Mark Horner ruling that when considering certain grounds "there was a real prospect of preventing the Omagh bombing."<ref name="Horner-ruling">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-57937174|title=Omagh bomb: 'Real prospect attack could have been prevented'|work=BBC News|date=23 July 2021|accessdate=2 February 2023}}</ref> Horner also called for new investigations on both sides of the Irish border.<ref name="Horner-ruling"/>