Seamus Daly charged in connection with Omagh bombings

A man is due in court in Northern Ireland on Friday charged in connection with a bomb attack in Omagh in 1998 in which 29 people died.

The attack, weeks after the Good Friday Agreement brought a formal end to hostilities in Northern Ireland, was the worst single atrocity in the history of the Troubles. Nobody has been convicted for the attack, which has been blamed on the Real IRA, a splinter group of the republican terrorist organisation.

Seamus Daly, a 43-year-old man from County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland, has been charged with 29 counts of murder in the bomb attack on Omagh in August 1998, and with four other offences. He is due to appear in Dungannon Magistrates Court on Friday.

Mr Daly denies involvement in the Omagh bombing. He is one of four men found liable for the atrocity in a civil case brought by relatives of the victims, who included a woman pregnant with twins. He appealed that finding and a second civil trial was held, which arrived at the same verdict.

The bomb that exploded in Omagh was delivered from Monaghan, just across the border. The Real IRA claimed that its target was the courthouse in Omagh and claimed to have warned the police that a bomb was planted in the town. However, the warning was misunderstood, and the explosion occurred as the public were being evacuated.

Political analysts say the outrage caused by the Omagh bombing served to strengthen the Good Friday Agreement, which has imposed an uncertain but enduring peace on Northern Ireland over the past 16 years and helped to build a stronger relationship between Ireland and Britain.

Michael D Higgins, Ireland's president, is due on Friday to complete the first state visit to Britain by an Irish head of state.

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