OMAGH BOMB: MAN IN COURT
Omagh bomb: man in court
Labourer charged with supplying a car
By Michael McHugh in Enniskillen
A 34-YEAR-OLD labourer appeared in court today charged with providing a car for the Omagh bombers.
Anthony Joseph Donegan, from Afton Drive, Dundalk, Co Louth, spoke only to confirm that he understood the charges against him during today's brief hearing before a packed Enniskillen Magistrates' Court.
The defendant is accused of supplying a maroon Vauxhall Cavalier to the Real IRA bombers between August 11-16, 1998.
He was questioned by the PSNI's Omagh bomb investigation team based in Enniskillen, and they charged him yesterday with supplying property of use to terrorists.
Twenty-nine people, including a woman pregnant with twins, died in the August 15 blast. Nobody has been charged with committing murder at Omagh.
A detective sergeant told the court he believed he could connect Donegan with the offence. He said that when he had charged the accused at Omagh police station he had replied "not guilty".
The defendant was initially arrested on Sunday night by traffic police, and re-arrested by the Omagh bomb investigation team on Monday.
Laurence Rush, whose wife Libby was killed in the bomb, was in the crowded and tense courtroom.
The defendant, a diminutive man, was dressed in beige-coloured clothing. He remained expressionless throughout the 10-minute hearing.
He arrived with his head bowed in a police car at the courthouse half an hour before his hearing.
Police had lined the approaches to the court and bystanders gathered to watch the spectacle.
Enniskillen RM Liam McNally remanded the defendant in custody to appear via video-link at Omagh Magistrates' Court on March 8. Any bail application will be heard in Belfast's High Court.
Omagh victims' spokesman, Michael Gallagher, said: "We welcome the continued efforts of the PSNI and we are also conscious that 20 people were involved in this act and we hope that they continue to pursue this investigation."
The detective leading the Omagh inquiry, Detective Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter, was in court to see Donegan charged.
Relatives of the victims have taken a civil case against five men they believe are connected to the bombing, and the action, partly funded by the government, is due to begin later this year.
Colm Murphy, Michael McKevitt, Seamus Daly, Seamus McKenna and Liam Campbell are being sued for £14m.
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