OMAGH SUSPECT: CHARGES DROPPED
Omagh suspect: charges dropped
By Barry McCaffrey
A DUNDALK man last night denied involvement in the Omagh bomb after a charge that he provided the car used in the attack was unexpectedly dropped.
Anthony Joseph Donegan (34) from Dundalk, Co Louth, was freed from prison on Monday after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) withdrew a charge connecting him to providing the Real IRA with the car used in the Omagh bombing.
Twenty nine people were killed and hundreds were injured bombing on August 15 1998. .
In February Mr Donegan was charged with providing the maroon Vauxhall cavalier car to an unknown person between August 11 and August 16 1998, knowing it might be used for a terrorist act.
But on Monday the charges against the unemployed labourer were unexpectedly dropped.
Mr Donegan's solicitor Leo Morrison said his client had consistently denied any involvement in the bombing.
"From the outset Mr Donegan has totally denied being involved in this offence and he welcomes the decision of the DPP to withdraw the charge against him," he said.
Pointing to the fact that Mr Donegan's legal team only found out that the charge against him was being withdrawn at Omagh Magistrates Court on Monday, Mr Morrison said:
"It is regrettable that the DPP did not deem it appropriate to inform us of its decision prior to simply withdrawing the charge."
It is unclear if Mr Donegan will now seek damages for. the five months he spent on remand.
A spokesman for the Public Prosecution Service said the case against Mr Donegan had been dropped because it was not felt that a prosecution could not be secured.
Michael Gallagher, whose son died in the single worst atrocity of the Troubles, said he was disappointed by the decision.
"It is totally unbelievable that we are coming up to the seventh anniversary of the worst atrocity and there is only one person facing charges and no one has been convicted," he said.
Mr Gallagher said that he had been concerned that the case against Mr Donegan was to be dropped.
"I said to myself that the next thing I would hear about him was that he had been released," he said.
"That's another one gone. It's totally unbelievable - that is what we are up against.
"I think a full cross-border public inquiry is the only way we are going to get to the truth of what happened."
Sean Gerard Hoey (35) of Molly Road, Jonesborough, south Armagh, is the only person still in custody charged with the bombing.
Last night his solicitor Peter Corrigan called for his immediate release, claiming that his client had only been charged to cover-up what he said was a "botched" police investigation of the Omagh bombing.
By Barry McCaffrey
A DUNDALK man last night denied involvement in the Omagh bomb after a charge that he provided the car used in the attack was unexpectedly dropped.
Anthony Joseph Donegan (34) from Dundalk, Co Louth, was freed from prison on Monday after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) withdrew a charge connecting him to providing the Real IRA with the car used in the Omagh bombing.
Twenty nine people were killed and hundreds were injured bombing on August 15 1998. .
In February Mr Donegan was charged with providing the maroon Vauxhall cavalier car to an unknown person between August 11 and August 16 1998, knowing it might be used for a terrorist act.
But on Monday the charges against the unemployed labourer were unexpectedly dropped.
Mr Donegan's solicitor Leo Morrison said his client had consistently denied any involvement in the bombing.
"From the outset Mr Donegan has totally denied being involved in this offence and he welcomes the decision of the DPP to withdraw the charge against him," he said.
Pointing to the fact that Mr Donegan's legal team only found out that the charge against him was being withdrawn at Omagh Magistrates Court on Monday, Mr Morrison said:
"It is regrettable that the DPP did not deem it appropriate to inform us of its decision prior to simply withdrawing the charge."
It is unclear if Mr Donegan will now seek damages for. the five months he spent on remand.
A spokesman for the Public Prosecution Service said the case against Mr Donegan had been dropped because it was not felt that a prosecution could not be secured.
Michael Gallagher, whose son died in the single worst atrocity of the Troubles, said he was disappointed by the decision.
"It is totally unbelievable that we are coming up to the seventh anniversary of the worst atrocity and there is only one person facing charges and no one has been convicted," he said.
Mr Gallagher said that he had been concerned that the case against Mr Donegan was to be dropped.
"I said to myself that the next thing I would hear about him was that he had been released," he said.
"That's another one gone. It's totally unbelievable - that is what we are up against.
"I think a full cross-border public inquiry is the only way we are going to get to the truth of what happened."
Sean Gerard Hoey (35) of Molly Road, Jonesborough, south Armagh, is the only person still in custody charged with the bombing.
Last night his solicitor Peter Corrigan called for his immediate release, claiming that his client had only been charged to cover-up what he said was a "botched" police investigation of the Omagh bombing.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0746
Published Date: 30-Jun-05
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