A judge was to decide yesterday whether the men alleged to be responsible for Northern Ireland’s worst terrorist atrocity should pay millions of dollars to the families of its victims.
Family members of the some of the people who died in the 1998 Omagh bombing are seeking up to £14 million (US$22.3 million) from five men they hold responsible for the attack that killed 29 people. They are also suing the Real Irish Republican Army, the dissident Irish Republican faction that masterminded the bombing.
The trial at Belfast High Court marked the first time victims of Northern Ireland terrorism have sought justice through a civil action. It stems in part from the families’ frustration with the criminal justice system — which, more than a decade after the blast, has yet to deliver any convictions able to withstand judicial scrutiny.
Civil suits in the UK have a lower threshold of proof than criminal cases, and the suit was partly inspired by the successful US civil action against OJ Simpson, which found him responsible for the 1994 killings of his former, wife Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
It alleges that Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy, Seamus Daly and Seamus McKenna all played a role in the attack. They men deny the charge.
The court has heard from spouses, parents, brothers and sisters of the victims — as well as police officers who described the scenes of carnage they encountered at the scene of the bombing.
The legal bid has cost an estimated £2 million and the families have been helped by fundraising efforts by the likes of former US president Bill Clinton and Irish musician Bob Geldof.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden, 21, was among those slain, said the verdict would mark the end of an extended legal fight.
“Regardless of the result this has been worthwhile, it has empowered the families like never before,” he said. “Unlike the other cases where the PSNI and Garda [UK and Irish police] have taken the lead, this has all been led by the families … It’s now down to the court to decide.”
The lead lawyer for the lawsuit, Daniel Brennan, has said the lawsuit, if successful, could open the floodgates for similar actions against reputed paramilitary warlords responsible for the bulk of the 3,700 slayings in Northern Ireland’s four-decade conflict.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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