Flanagan apology to bomb families

Sir Ronnie Flanagan apologised to the families

Northern Ireland's former police chief Sir Ronnie Flanagan has apologised to the families of the victims of the Omagh bomb.

Sir Ronnie was the head of the police at the time of the 1998 Real IRA attack, which left 29 people dead.

He met Victor Barker - whose son died in the blast - who has been critical of the lack of court convictions.

Mr Flanagan told Channel 4 News he was "desperately sorry" people had not yet been brought to justice.

"I publicly apologise to all those families and all those victims; to all those who were injured, without reservation," he said.

Last month the case against Sean Hoey collapsed and he was acquitted.

The families expressed criticism of Mr Flanagan, who is now Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary.

"Of course as chief constable, I have to take responsibility for the shortcomings that the judge highlighted and I take responsibility for those shortcomings," he added.