12/05/2008
Omagh Trial Delayed
On the same day that a man was due to appear at Belfast Crown Court - charged with the murder of Robert McCartney (33), who was beaten and stabbed to death outside a bar near Belfast city centre on in January 2005 - a civil court action being taken by some of the families who lost loved ones in the 1998 Omagh bombing has made legal history by moving from Belfast to Dublin.
The Belfast accused is charged with murdering the Short Strand father of two and of making an affray. The trial has this afternoon been adjourned until Tuesday.
Mr McCartney's family continue to insist that IRA members were responsible for his killing and also for destroying evidence after the attack - although Sinn Fein has denied the claims.
Meanwhile, in Dublin, the families are suing five men, including the man said to be the leader of the Real IRA, Michael McKevitt.
He is already serving a 20-year sentence in the Republic for directing terrorism.
However, legal argument has today delayed the start of the landmark lawsuit.
Barristers for the men said to be responsible for the attack told a judge in Dublin that the names of their clients could be tarnished if they were not permitted to question evidence as it is given.
District Judge Conal Gibbons will rule later this afternoon if senior counsel will be allowed to object to evidence they deem inadmissible.
Lawyers can then take evidence from gardaí who investigated the bombing that killed 29 people, including a mother pregnant with twins.
The civil action will continue for three days before returning to Belfast and again moving to Dublin again later this year.
It will be the first time a Northern Ireland judge has heard evidence in the Republic.
Almost 10 years after the worst atrocity of the troubles, no-one has been convicted of the murders, but the families hope their civil action will reveal the truth about what happened to their loved ones.
Nobody can be jailed in a civil case but the judge can reach a verdict on the basis of probability about what happened.
(BMcC)
The Belfast accused is charged with murdering the Short Strand father of two and of making an affray. The trial has this afternoon been adjourned until Tuesday.
Mr McCartney's family continue to insist that IRA members were responsible for his killing and also for destroying evidence after the attack - although Sinn Fein has denied the claims.
Meanwhile, in Dublin, the families are suing five men, including the man said to be the leader of the Real IRA, Michael McKevitt.
He is already serving a 20-year sentence in the Republic for directing terrorism.
However, legal argument has today delayed the start of the landmark lawsuit.
Barristers for the men said to be responsible for the attack told a judge in Dublin that the names of their clients could be tarnished if they were not permitted to question evidence as it is given.
District Judge Conal Gibbons will rule later this afternoon if senior counsel will be allowed to object to evidence they deem inadmissible.
Lawyers can then take evidence from gardaí who investigated the bombing that killed 29 people, including a mother pregnant with twins.
The civil action will continue for three days before returning to Belfast and again moving to Dublin again later this year.
It will be the first time a Northern Ireland judge has heard evidence in the Republic.
Almost 10 years after the worst atrocity of the troubles, no-one has been convicted of the murders, but the families hope their civil action will reveal the truth about what happened to their loved ones.
Nobody can be jailed in a civil case but the judge can reach a verdict on the basis of probability about what happened.
(BMcC)
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A sunny but frosty start for many. However cloud increases by midday with a few showers reaching the north coast, these mostly light but spreading inland this afternoon. Chilly. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A rather cloudy evening with scattered showers. Becoming drier through the night with some good clear spells developing and a patchy frost away from coasts. Minimum temperature 0 °C.
