Omagh bomb: Seamus Daly charged with 29 murders

A 43-year-old man from the Republic of Ireland has been charged with the murders of 29 people who were killed in the 1998 Omagh bomb.

The Real IRA attack was the worst single atrocity of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The victims included a woman who was pregnant with twins.

Seamus Daly, from Culloville, County Monaghan, was arrested by serious crime branch detectives in Newry on Monday.

He is expected to appear in court in Dungannon, County Tyrone, on Friday.

Denied involvement

He faces a total of 33 charges, including an attempted bomb attack in Lisburn, County Antrim, that took place in the same year as the Omagh bomb.

No-one has ever been convicted of carrying out the Omagh bombing in a criminal court.

However, relatives of some of the victims brought a landmark civil action against five men they claimed were responsible, including Seamus Daly.

Four of the five men - including Mr Daly - were ordered to pay more than £1.5m in damages to the victims' families in a civil case.

The court ruled that he and three of the others were responsible, and they were later ordered to pay more than £1.5m in damages.

Seamus Daly has always denied any involvement in the bombing.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was killed in the bombing, described the decision to bring charges as an "important and positive development".

He added: "We have put the police under pressure to pursue the investigation."