BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Four members of an Irish Republican Army splinter group were found responsible Monday for the worst terrorist attack in Northern Ireland after a landmark civil case brought by the families of the 29 people killed in the Omagh bombing.
The court’s determination that the men and the Real IRA organization to which they belonged were responsible for the 1998 car bombing brings a measure of closure to the families and was a vindication of their novel legal strategy.
Inspired in part by the successful U.S. civil action against former American football star O.J. Simpson in the killing of his ex-wife and his friend, they sought to attack the Real IRA in a civil suit — which in the United Kingdom has a lower threshold of proof than criminal cases.
