Omagh families serve writs on five suspects

Five men suspected of involvement in the Omagh bombing – including the alleged leader of the Real IRA – were served with writs by the victims' families yesterday in a landmark legal action.

It is the first step by the families to bring civil proceedings against the men, all suspected members of the Real IRA, who, they believe, are responsible for worst atrocity of the Northern Ireland troubles.

Only one of those named in the writs has faced criminal charges in relation to the bomb on 15 August 1998 that left 29 dead and 300 others injured. The families hope to get compensation from the suspects if they win their test case, to be held at Belfast High Court towards the end of the year.

The case, the first in British legal history, has attracted attention from lawyers and victims of violence in Spain, the United States, Israel and Palestine. Representatives from a number of organisations are expected to attend the hearings.

Three writs were served at Dublin's Portlaoise prison. Two were handed personally to Michael McKevitt, 51, the alleged Real IRA leader charged with directing terrorism, and Liam Campbell, 38, serving a five-year sentence for membership of an illegal organisation.

A third man, Colm Murphy, 49, who is serving a 14-year term for conspiracy after being the first person to be charged and convicted in connection with the bombing, refused to meet the families' lawyer, David-Aire Horsford. The document was later passed on to Murphy by prison authorities.

Earlier in the day, lawyers acting for the Omagh Victims' Legal Trust had served writs at the homes of two other men at Dundalk, Co Louth.

First was Seamus Daley, 30, a builder who had been arrested and released twice by the police over the Omagh blast. Mr Daley, who had exercised his right to silence during police questioning, was named in a BBC Panorama programme on the bombing as a suspect.

A writ was also served on Seamus McKenna, a 46-year-old labourer. Lawyers for the families claim Mr McKenna used a mobile phone supplied by Murphy in a series of calls during the preparation for the bombing.

Michael Gallagher, whose son, Aidan, died in the bombing, was outside Portlaoise prison while the writs were being delivered there. Mr Gallagher said: "I am obviously very relieved that at least a process has now started. It is now up to these people who have been given the writs to respond. They will be listened to and treated with dignity and respect. Sadly, that was not the treatment our loved ones received on 15 August 1998.

"But there is no joy in this process whatsoever. We will continue to press both the British and Irish governments to bring these people before the courts and put them behind bars."

Victor Barker, a lawyer, whose son, James, 12, was killed in the blast, stressed: "This is a civil case, not even a private prosecution brought by the families. It has been brought against individuals and also the organisation known as the Real IRA. It is entirely up to them to defend it or not. If they don't defend, we still have to prove our case, and that is the point of this action."

The Omagh Victims' Legal Trust Fund has raised more than £1m to carry out the legal action.

* A 16-year-old boy has been arrested after the seizure of a huge haul of ammunition. The youth was detained after the discovery of more than 2,200 rounds of assorted ammunition during a search of a house in the Garnerville area of east Belfast. The loyalist estate is close to a police training college.