TYH/108

The legal battle will continue
BY ALAN RODGERS

THE Omagh Families have vowed to continue their legal battle to find the truth behind the 1998 Bomb on Market Street after the appeal judgement in the landmark civil case taken by them.
A retrial directed in the case of Colm Murphy could take place in the autumn while the Appeal Court in Belfast upheld the 2009 ruling against Liam Campbell and Michael McKevitt. A fourth man, Seamus Daly, won his appeal.
Now Stanley McCombe, whose wife was among the 31 people killed in the atrocity almost 13 years ago, has stressed that the battle for justice will go on.
"Initially we were gutted by the judgement in the appeal court. However, after a briefing from our legal team and time to reflect, this judgement can be seen as an-other step in a long legal battle," he said.
"Obviously a lot of this is tied up in legal complexities and we are currently exploring further possibilities to ensure that the truth of what happened is brought to light.
"The matter is going to continue to be pursued by ourselves in conjunction with our legal team."
Mr McCombe continued, "My personal view is that we have a duty to our loved ones who were murdered to keep chipping away at this in the hope that some fresh information will come forward.
"This is something that we have been working at now for almost 13 years and I know that I will continue to do so as long as I am able," he continued.
In court on Thursday, the 12 relatives who took the landmark 2009 civil case, were also told that the £1.6 million awarded to them would not be increased.
The families are also due to meet the Police Ombudsman during the coming weeks. There have also been renewed calls for a Public Inquiry and Mr Mc-Combe says that the experience of the Bloody Sunday families shows that justice can ultimately be achieved.
"The Bloody Sunday families had to wait for 40 years before getting to the truth of what happened and we are prepared to wait any length of time if it means also getting justice," he continued.
"No-one else is going to do it on our behalf, not the Governments.
"We are not going to let this go just to please the Irish or British Governments," he added.
Mr McCombe said that they had been involved in the legal battle for over a decade, but that they would continue to try and make it move forward.