Man 'to face Omagh death charges'

Twenty nine people died in the Real IRA attack

A 35-year-old man is to face murder charges over the 1998 Omagh bomb attack in Northern Ireland.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has instructed police to bring charges against one man over the car bombing, which killed 29 people.

It is understood the man is Sean Gerard Hoey, from Jonesborough, Co Armagh, currently in custody on terror charges.

A police spokesperson said "significant time and resources" had been dedicated to the ongoing investigation.

"The current position is that the senior investigating officer has received directions from the DPP which are being processed," the spokesperson said.

Ombudsman

Michael Gallagher of the Omagh Victims Group, whose son Aiden died in the blast, welcomed the news.

"Well, it's enormously important that after having faced a long, difficult investigation, that the families are now beginning to realise that we are going to see people appear in court for what happened at Omagh," he said.

"All we can do now is do as we have done; keep our faith with the investigation team and leave it up to the courts."

The dissident republican grouping, the Real IRA, carried out the attack on the County Tyrone market town.

One of the 29 fatalities was a woman pregnant with twins.

More than 300 people were injured in the no warning car bomb, the worst single terrorist outrage in Northern Ireland.

A new police inquiry began in May 2002 and followed criticism by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, of the original investigation by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the then Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan.

Containing thousands of documents, the police files in the case have been with the DPP since last summer - following an 18-month review of all the forensic and scientific evidence in the case.

Relatives of some of the victims feared no-one would ever be charged with the murders and mounted their own civil case against five men they believed were responsible.