UH/1803

Omagh bomb suspects granted legal aid to fight lawsuit
McKevitt challenge to aid for families gets first legal 'go-ahead'

THREE suspects being sued over the Omagh bombing have been granted legal aid by the British government to help prepare their defence. Seamus Daly, Seamus McKenna and Colm Murphy have been awarded financial aid for all legal preparation work, research and preliminary hearing costs leading up to the civil action being pursued by some of the families of victims of the 1998 bombing atrocity which claimed 31 lives, including unborn twins.
No decision has yet been made on costs for the hearing.
The three men were informed last week that they had been granted the legal aid by judges in the Belfast High Court. They are among five people facing a £14-million lawsuit from the relatives of victims of the 1998 bombing,
Murphy, 52, a former building contractor, has also won a battle with the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in Dublin over his right to claim unemployment assistance of 148.80 per week. CAB had claimed he was "a man of substantial means," but since concedes he "has now no means".
The CAB report on Murphy's welfare claim, reproduced by the Sunday Business Post, states, "Mr Murphy has supplied evidence to support his claims that all his assets are now disposed of. He has transferred his interest in the family home and his shares in the two companies (Mountkean Construction Ltd and Emerald Enterprises Ltd) to his wife and has also set up a trust fund for the benefit of his three children who are aged under 18 years."
Murphy, from Ravensdale, Dundalk, had a conviction related to the bombing overturned in January. A re-trial has been ordered. The Court of Criminal Appeal heard that two of the four gardai who interviewed Murphy had "repeatedly lied" under oath.
Murphy dismissed claims by Garda sources that he had secured only a technical victory in the appeal court.
He said, "I have never been in Omagh in my life and I had nothing to do with the bombing. I am 100% innocent."
Asked by the Sunday Business Post about the civil action, Murphy said, "Seamus Daly and I have been granted legal aid and we are fully confident of winning the case."
Daly, 34, from Culloville, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan, is serving three years for membership of the Real IRA. McKenna, 50, of Marian Park, Dundalk, is serving six years for possession of explosives.
The victims' relatives are also suing Michael McKevitt, 52, and Liam Campbell, 40, both of whom are serving sentences in Portlaoise.
In a ruling by the High Court in Belfast last Thursday, the decision by the Lord Chancellor to pay the legal fees of the Omagh families suing the five they believe were responsible for the 1998 bomb atrocity, could be seriously challenged.
In the High Court, Mr Justice Weatherup said he was "not minded" to refuse leave for an application for judicial review but required more detailed information dealing with the delay in bringing the case.
He adjourned McKevitt's application so that lawyers can visit him in Portlaoise Prison to draft an affidavit. McKevitt is serving a 20-year sentence there for directing Real IRA terrorism.
The Lord Chancellor authorised the payment of £800,000 to the legal fund for the families' lawsuit in February last year but McKevitt's lawyers claim the Access to Justice Order passed in 2003 is unlawful.
Frank O'Donoghue, QC said the funding decision had an impact on McKevitt because the compensation case against him was being funded by the British state in circumstances where the state had refused him legal aid. The case is being taken by about 12 of the local families affected by the atrocity. McKevitt's appeal is will be heard in June.
Senior legal sources have been quoted as saying that the British government's decision to finance the lawsuit could be open to challenge under a 13th century ban on "maintenance," which occurs when a third party with no legitimate interest finances a lawsuit. It could also be open to a challenge in the courts under article 6 of the European Convention, which guarantees a right to both a fair civil and criminal trial.
The civil action is scheduled to be heard later this year after the McKevitt challenge is heard.
In October 2002, McKevitt was among 35 RIRA members in Portlaoise who formally called on the leadership outside the jail to disband the organisation. Liam Campbell, from Upper Faughart, Dundalk, is believed to be one of the leading figures in the group who are opposed to disbandment.
In the same Sunday Business Post story that disclosed the CAB report and the legal aid decision, it was stated that "a feud is brewing between the two factions which are held in separate wings of the jail".