OMAGH ACCUSED SAYS BOMBING SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED
Omagh accused says bombing should never have happened
By Allison Morris
THE only person ever convicted in connection with the Omagh atrocity has said for the first time that the bombing should never have happened.
Colm Murphy was convicted in 2002 and sentenced to 14-years in prison for conspiring to cause the Omagh bombing which claimed the lives of 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, and injured almost 300 others
Murphy was alleged to have lent two mobile phones to the dissident republican gang responsible for the bomb which devastated the market town in 1998.
He was also charged with membership of the Real IRA.
Having successfully appealed the conviction in 2005 he was cleared of any involvement at a retrial in February this year.
However, Murphy is also among four men who were found to be responsible for the bombing following a civil case taken by a number of the families of Omagh victims.
The civil action is being appealed.
Speaking publicly about the 1998 bombing for the first time, the 56-year-old - who has been linked to several republican paramilitary organisations over the past three decades - said: "[Omagh] should never have happened."
"It was awful, tragic. There is no question, it should never have happened.
"No-one in their right mind would say any different."
Murphy, a veteran republican, has served prison sentences both north and south of the border and has also been jailed for gunrunning in the US.
He was imprisoned in the Curragh in March 1972 for possession of a weapon but escaped several months later.
In 1976 he was given a three-year sentence for weapons offences and convicted of membership of the Provisional IRA.
In July 1983 he was arrested while attempting to buy M60 machine guns in a shipment believed to be for the INLA. He was sentenced to five years but served just two.
Murphy, who is a building contractor and publican, is originally from Beleeks, Co Armagh, but now lives in Dundalk, Co Louth.
He was landlord of The Emerald Bar in Dundalk, the staunchly republican bar which was said to have been a meeting place for dissidents involved in the Omagh bombing.
Last week his 23-year-old son Conan was charged in connection with an alleged bomb-making factory in a shed in the Mount Pleasant area of Dundalk.
Murphy claims that his son is innocent of the charges and his arrest was part of an orchestrated campaign directed at his family.
By Allison Morris
THE only person ever convicted in connection with the Omagh atrocity has said for the first time that the bombing should never have happened.
Colm Murphy was convicted in 2002 and sentenced to 14-years in prison for conspiring to cause the Omagh bombing which claimed the lives of 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, and injured almost 300 others
Murphy was alleged to have lent two mobile phones to the dissident republican gang responsible for the bomb which devastated the market town in 1998.
He was also charged with membership of the Real IRA.
Having successfully appealed the conviction in 2005 he was cleared of any involvement at a retrial in February this year.
However, Murphy is also among four men who were found to be responsible for the bombing following a civil case taken by a number of the families of Omagh victims.
The civil action is being appealed.
Speaking publicly about the 1998 bombing for the first time, the 56-year-old - who has been linked to several republican paramilitary organisations over the past three decades - said: "[Omagh] should never have happened."
"It was awful, tragic. There is no question, it should never have happened.
"No-one in their right mind would say any different."
Murphy, a veteran republican, has served prison sentences both north and south of the border and has also been jailed for gunrunning in the US.
He was imprisoned in the Curragh in March 1972 for possession of a weapon but escaped several months later.
In 1976 he was given a three-year sentence for weapons offences and convicted of membership of the Provisional IRA.
In July 1983 he was arrested while attempting to buy M60 machine guns in a shipment believed to be for the INLA. He was sentenced to five years but served just two.
Murphy, who is a building contractor and publican, is originally from Beleeks, Co Armagh, but now lives in Dundalk, Co Louth.
He was landlord of The Emerald Bar in Dundalk, the staunchly republican bar which was said to have been a meeting place for dissidents involved in the Omagh bombing.
Last week his 23-year-old son Conan was charged in connection with an alleged bomb-making factory in a shed in the Mount Pleasant area of Dundalk.
Murphy claims that his son is innocent of the charges and his arrest was part of an orchestrated campaign directed at his family.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/1031
Published Date: 01-Jun-10
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