The civil action victory has brought some relief for those bereaved by the Omagh bomb, campaigning relatives have claimed.

None of the 12 plaintiffs are ever likely to see much of the £1.6m compensation awarded yesterday; but for the six families who brought the case it was never about the money.

Hearing that four men and the Real IRA had been found liable for the 1998 atrocity was justice enough.

Stanley McCombe lost his wife Ann, who worked in Watterson’s clothes shop in the town.

She was walking with her friend Geraldine Breslin when the car bomb went off, tragically killing them both.

Mr McCombe was left to look after the couple’s sons Clive and Colin, who are now aged 32 and 28.

Said the widower: “I am really delighted but it’s been a long and hard eight years. It’s hard to comprehend what we achieved. We came here for justice but we got more than justice.

“We are now hoping for criminal convictions but after 11 years that is unlikely. We need truth and we need closure and today is only part of that.”

Aiden Gallagher’s younger sister Kathy is now married and living in Lurgan. She was accompanied by her husband at the High Court yesterday.

She said: “It has been emotional today. We have had this hanging over us for so long and now I am relieved it’s over.”

Some of the families now |believe they have overcome one of the last major hurdles on the road towards closure.

Carol Radford, whose brother Alan was killed by the 500lb car bomb, said they hoped to be able to move on.

“I am pleased with the outcome. Four out of five is not bad. At least it tells the world that these people are guilty and that these people did indeed massacre the |innocents at Omagh.

“I think we’d just like to as a family get on with our lives now.”

Godfrey Wilson, who lost his 15-year-old daughter Lorraine, was pleased with the judgment but vowed to continue the fight for a cross border inquiry.

He added: “It’s a good result but we wish we’d never had to be here.

“At the end of the day we’ve made them look like the guys that they are and the guys that they are, are terrorists and they kill innocent people and we are glad to be here and to prove that they are the guys that did Omagh.”

Meanwhile Victor Barker, who lost his 12-year-old son James, added: “We are delighted and proud on behalf of all those people that died on August 15, 1998.”

Mr Barker, a solicitor who was not a named plaintiff in the civil action but was one of the driving forces behind it, continued: “I think this judgment is actually unprecedented in that it gives a judgment on people that are |responsible but against the Real IRA through its main officer Liam Campbell, who is now in prison awaiting extradition proceedings. It is fantastic news for the legal team to have achieved this.

“This award is for over £1.6m. It’s the highest award for damages in the history of Northern Ireland and it’s a fantastic result for all those people.

“From now on we should be concentrating on making sure the Real IRA have no opportunity to ply their bloody trade, murdering innocent children as they did on August 15, 1998.”