Omagh bomb suspect jailed

Reuters ^ | Tue 2 March, 2004 19:10

[yonif]

DUBLIN (Reuters) - One of five men being sued in connection with the 1998 Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland has been jailed for three-and-a-half years for being a member of the dissident paramilitary group, the Real IRA.

Seamus Daly, 34, from County Monaghan near the Irish border with the province, pleaded guilty to membership of an illegal organisation at Dublin's non-jury Special Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Daly is named in a landmark civil action taken by families of the Omagh victims against five men they blame for the blast, which killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.

The Real IRA claimed responsibility for the bombing, which was the single deadliest attack in 30 years of political and sectarian violence in the province.

Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt was sentenced to 20 years last August for directing terrorism, a charge introduced after Omagh.

However, after more than five years no one has yet been charged with murder for the bombing, prompting frustrated relatives of the victims to take a civil case.

Being civil rather than criminal, the case cannot result in jail terms but legal experts believe it could lead to orders for substantial compensation.

The Real IRA split from the mainstream Irish Republican Army after the latter declared a ceasefire in its campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland in 1997.

The Real IRA opposes the 1998 Good Friday peace deal aimed at ending three decades of conflict between majority Protestants committed to retaining ties with Britain and a Catholic minority in favour of a united Ireland.

[Prodigal Son]

Typical of Reuters to not call anyone here terrorists.

[bc2]

I am one who believes the Irish Republican "Army" at one time had a legitimate fight. But instead of legitimate military targets, they murdererd their own countrymen, innocent civilians, in cold blood.

These killers should be put to death.