Colm Murphy: 'He had a long life - our relatives died in the street with their shoes on' says Michael Gallagher, whose son died in the Real IRA Omagh Bomb

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was killed in the Real IRA attack, was speaking after it emerged that Mr Murphy had died in Co Louth.

He had been found liable for the 1998 Omagh Bomb, which killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins - and injured hundreds more.

A death notice said that Mr Murphy, from Dulargy in Ravensdale, Co Louth, died "peacefully at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital Drogheda, surrounded by his loving family". He was aged 70.

PSNI intelligence linked him to 46 murders in two years from 1974-76 - and in 2012 classed him as "still a prime individual" who was involved with dissidents.

"It is very unfortunate that he has died because I would like to have seen him face a criminal trial," Mr Gallagher told the News Letter.

He noted that in February the government confirmed a public inquiry will be held into the Omagh Bombing - and he hoped opportunities for criminal prosecutions would emerge from it.

"He was very fortunate," he added. "Our relatives did not have the opportunity for a long life, to die in their bed surrounded by loved ones. They died in the street in Omagh with their shoes on."

Mr Murphy was also the chief suspect for the Kingsmills Massacre in 1976. The IRA gunned down 10 Protestant workmen as they travelled home in south Armagh in 1976.

In 2002 he was found guilty by the Dublin Special Criminal Court of conspiracy to cause the Omagh bombing, and jailed for 14 years. However, his conviction was overturned in 2005 and he was cleared in a retrial in 2010.

In a landmark civil action brought by the Omagh bomb families, a Belfast judge ruled in 2009 that Murphy and four others were all liable for the bomb, ordering them to pay £1.6m to 12 relatives. In 2011 he won an appeal against the verdict, but was again found liable in 2013.

In 2011 an Historical Enquiries Team report into the Kingsmills Massacre all but named Murphy as the chief suspect for the atrocity. Identifying him as Suspect A, it listed a string of convictions which exactly match Murphy’s record:

• Two years in the Republic in 1972 for possession of a gun and ammunition;

• Three years in the Republic in 1976 for firearms offences;

• Five years in the USA in the 1980s for buying automatic weapons for the IRA;

• And was one of those found liable in civil action by the Omagh bomb relatives.

Police intelligence from the Kingsmills inquest linked suspect S91 (Murphy) to:

• The murder of five men in Tullyvallen Orange Hall in 1975.

• 46 murders from 1974-76 - 22 civilians, a boy (aged 7), 21 soldiers, two RUC officers and one IRA member.

• The murders of senior RUC officers Harry Breen and Bob Buchanan in south Armagh in 1989.

The HET alleged Suspect A [Murphy] had been one of the Kingsmills gunmen and had hijacked the minibus in Co Louth used by the gang.

In 2017 the inquest into the atrocity heard that two witnesses named suspect S91 [Murphy] as the hijacker - but neither was willing to sign a statement.

The inquest heard that after meeting the Kingsmills families in January 2012, ACC Drew Harris – now Garda Commissioner - commissioned a report which concluded that S91 [Murphy] was "still a prime individual" who was involved with dissidents.

It also found him to have been a one time head of PIRA operations in South Armagh, and a leading member of the "particularly ruthless" 1st Battalion in the area.

Following his imprisonment for three years in June 1976, the PSNI found there was not another significant IRA incident for over six months, indicating that when he was not available, IRA activity in the area significantly diminished.

A PSNI intelligence officer told the inquest that 10 weapons used in Kingsmills were "not active when he was in jail", indicating the key role he played in south Armagh IRA attacks.

In 2018 the Kingsmills inquest was halted after a palm print found on the IRA getaway van was matched to a suspect by the PSNI.

Murphy spoke out, claiming that the palm print was his. In an interview with the Irish News he claimed he was being set up over Kingsmills to protect Sinn Fein embarrassment at what happened. However it later emerged that the palm print did not belong to him - after the PSNI confirmed the owner of the print to be a different age.

In 2016 Murphy spoke openly about IRA border plans for ethnic cleansing in south Armagh in the 1970s.

The republican told the Irish News there had been a plan to “rid the area of unionists by targeting high profile people and burning them out”. Murphy claimed the IRA planned to “ethnically cleanse” unionists from south Armagh if there was retaliation after the Kingsmills Massacre.“The plan was to rid the area of unionists by targeting high profile people and burning them out, that would have been well known at the time,” Murphy said. Asked if this meant “ethnically cleansing” the area, he said “yes”.The plan was called off amid fears of further retaliation by loyalists against Catholics, he claimed. However UUP MLA Danny Kennedy said it was long suspected that border Protestants were murdered according to a definite IRA plan.

In January a confidential court settlement was reached as part of a bankruptcy case involving Mr Murphy in the south.

He was accused of transferring his family home, 30 acres of land and shares to his former wife, and sister in law, between 1999 and 2001. It was also claimed that he transferred IR£340,000 to a trust for the benefit of his children. The claims were denied.

Mr Gallagher told the News Letter today that the Omagh families have still not received any damages from Murphy as as a result of their successful civil action against him.