A dissident Republican convicted of the Omagh explosion, which killed 29, has died. Colm Murphy, 70, is believed to have died peacefully today at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda, Co Meath.
Murphy was born in Belleeks, Armagh, and had been a member of the IRA since the 1970s. Continue reading to discover his cause of death.
Colm Murphy’s cause of death: How did Colm Murphy die?
Murphy is believed to have died out of a lung condition.
He settled in Dundalk and was locked up three times for arms offenses, including in the US when he tried to purchase a consignment of M60 machine guns to send to Ireland.
The dissident republican was the first person to be charged with the 1998 bombing carried out by the Real IRA which killed 29 and unborn twins -months after the Good Friday Agreement had been signed.
The agreement, which was passed 25 years ago, also meant the IRA would be decommissioned – a move Murphy had opposed. He was originally nabbed over the bombing in 1999 following a joint RUC and Garda investigation.
At the Special Criminal Court in Dublin in 2002, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for conspiring to cause the blast, but this was overturned in 2005, and the father-of-four was cleared at a fresh trial – after interview testimony from Gardai was declared inadmissible.
Murphy and three others were, however, successfully sued in a civil lawsuit following a campaign by victims’ relatives. Despite an appeal, all four were convicted responsible for the bombings on August 15, 1998.
They were ordered to pay the families £1.6 million in damages, but no money was ever delivered.
To date, no one has been charged criminally in connection with the Omagh incident.
