Colm Murphy dead – Man found liable for Omagh bombing that killed 29 dies in hospital aged 70

A DISSIDENT republican found liable for the Omagh bombing has died.

Terror veteran Colm Murphy, 70, passed away "peacefully" today at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda, Co Meath.

Hailing from Belleeks, Co Armagh, building contractor Murphy had been active in the IRA since the early '70s. 

He was jailed three times for arms offences, including once in the USA after he was rumbled trying to buy machine guns to ship to Ireland in 1985.

Murphy, who settled near Dundalk, Co Louth, was the first person to be charged in connection with the newly-formed Real IRA’s August 1998 Omagh bombing, which killed 29 and unborn twins.

It came just four months after the Good Friday Agreement had been signed, which led to IRA decommissioning.

Father-of-four Murphy had always opposed the move.

In 2002 he was convicted of conspiring to cause the Omagh explosion and jailed for 14 years.

The conviction was overturned in 2005 and Murphy was acquitted at the new trial.

But, following a campaign by relatives of those killed in the horrific attack, Murphy and three others were sued in a civil court in 2009.

All four were found liable for the bombings and, following an appeal, were found liable again.

The court ordered the men to pay £1.6m in damages to the victims’ families but no money was ever handed over.

No one has been held criminally liable for the Omagh attack.

In February this year an official inquiry into the atrocity was ordered to establish whether it could have been prevented.

That came amid long-standing claims of intelligence failures involving security personnel.

Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, also found responsible for the bombing, died in 2021.

Murphy had been suffering from a lung condition for some time before he died.

A death notice for Murphy said he died "peacefully at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda".