FOUR DISSIDENT REPUBLICANS who were successfully sued by the relatives of the victims of the 1998 Omagh bombing are due to begin their appeal in Belfast today.

Last June, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Seamus Daly and Colm Murphy were sued for £1.6 million (€1.9 million) in compensation for those injured in the blast and the families of the dead. The judge also found that the Real IRA had been liable for the bomb which killed 29 people, including a mother who was pregnant with twins.

Nobody has ever been held convicted of causing the deaths: The only man to face criminal charges over the killings, Sean Hoey from Jonesborough in south Armagh, was acquitted in 2007. The victims and their families said that they decided to launch the civil action in the hopes of bringing more details of the tragedy to light.

All four men have been granted free legal aid to pursue their appeals, the BBC reports.

The action will take place in the Court of Appeal in Belfast’s Royal Courts of Justice and could last up to two weeks, reports the Belfast Telegraph.