4 August 1998 A police officer receives a telephone call saying there will be an attack on Omagh in eleven days’ time on 15 August12 August 1998 Kevin Fulton, a double agent for the British Government, tells his handlers of the location and name of a bomb-maker preparing for a new target15 August 1998 A 500lb car bomb explodes in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It will claim the lives of nine children, a pregnant woman with twins and people from both sides of the divide. And 220 are injured22 August 1998 The Irish National Liberation Army calls a ceasefire to its operations against the British government1 September 1998 Sinn Fein announces the republican terrorist campaign is over22 September 1998 The RUC and Gardai arrest twelve men in connection with the bombing. All are released without charge because of a lack of evidence25 February 1999 Colm Murphy is the first to be charged in connection with the Omagh bombing19 September 2000 Senior police reveal there have been 68 hoax bomb alerts since the Omagh bomb10 October 2000 BBC Panorama names the Omagh suspects and alleges the bombing could have been prevented28 October 2000 Families of four children killed at Omagh launch a landmark civil action against the suspects29 July 2001 Kevin Fulton, an undercover operative who infiltrated the IRA, publicly claims he give information to his intelligence handlers on the bomb maker and its location but no action was taken31 July 2001 Associated Newspapers, owners of the Daily Mail, settle Colm Murphy’s action against them and state he’s entitled to be presumed innocent until found guiltyAugust 2001 Nuala O’Loan, the police ombudsman, is brought in to investigate the Omagh investigation12 October 2001 Colm Murphy trial starts in Dublin. He’s accused of supplying two mobile phones used in the bombing7 December 2001 Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, releases her damning report. It concludes that people ‘were let down by defective leadership, poor judgement and a lack of urgency’ in the RUC. Key suspects weren’t questioned and the investigation was riddled with errors. The police try to block its release and describe its contents as ‘grossly unfair’22 January 2002 Colm Murphy is convicted of conspiring to cause the Omagh bombingFebruary 2002 Bob Geldof compares Omagh to 9/11 and launches drive to raise £1million towards a civil action against the Real IRA by families of the victims19 February 2002 Ronnie Flannagan announces his retirement. Many believe it’s inevitable after his handling over Omagh21 January 2005 Colm Murphy conviction is overturned on appeal. He’s released after it’s revealed that Gardai forged interview notes used in the case. He remains the only person ever convicted with the explosion6 August 2003 Michael McKevitt, leader of the real IRA, is convicted of membership of an illegal organisation and of ‘directing terrorism’. He is the first person to be convicted of this new offence, created after the Omagh bombing. He is given a 20 year jail term2004 Seamus Daly pleads guilty to being a member of the RIRA and is sentenced to three and half years in prisonJanuary 2005 Murphy’s conviction quashed on retrial after its discovered that two Gardai had falsified interview notesJuly 2006 After 38 years, the longest operation in British military history ends with the departure of the last British troopsSeptember 2006 Trial of Sean Gerard Hoey of South Armagh begins. He is the only man charged with murder in connection with the bombings17 May 2007 Martin McGuinness says Irish republicans will co-operate with an independent, international investigation if one is created. Initially, Sinn Fein had refused to co-operate as the investigation was carried out by the RUC, a police force they believed was fundamentally opposed to their organisationDecember 2007 Judge acquits Sean Hoey, accused of being connected to the construction of the bomb timers of the remaining 56 charges against himMay 2009 Liam Campbell is arrested in Northern Ireland. Convicted for membership of the Real IRA, and sentenced to eight years, he is currently awaiting extradition to Lithuania8 June 2009 Colm Murphy, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Seamus Daly are found liable for the bombing in landmark civil case16 March 2010 A Northern Ireland Affairs Committee determines that as GCHQ doesn’t monitor in real time, they couldn’t have prevented the bombing. But it asks for another inquiry into how much intelligence was withheld and whether it could have prevented the bombingApril 2011 Dissidents use a car bomb to kill Constable Ronan Kerr in Omagh7 July 2011 Real IRA founder, Michael McKevitt, loses his appeal against civil case ruling he’s responsible for the Omagh bombing and upholds against another Real IRA member Liam Campbell2 December 2011 Michael McKevitt and Liam Campbell are denied authorisation to appeal to the Supreme Court in London. Judges also reject an application by Seamus Daly. Daly is facing a civil retrial over the bombing
20 February 2012 Detectives appeal for more information to help catch the killers of Constable Ronan Kerr20 March 2013 Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly are found liable for the Omagh bombing at the end of their civil retrial
