THE Irish republican terrorist group behind the Omagh bombing in which 29 people died was ruled to be a legal organisation yesterday.

Mr Justice Girvan said that the Real IRA (RIRA) could not be a proscribed group as the Government had failed to list it among 14 Irish terrorist groups in the Terrorism Act 2000. His decision rules out the possibility of any member of the dissident group being convicted solely of membership of the Real IRA.

Within hours of the judgment at Belfast Crown Court, Lord Goldsmith, QC, the Attorney-General, was considering an appeal. A Northern Ireland Office spokesman said: “The Government is very concerned at this ruling. The Government is clear that RIRA should be a proscribed organisation.”

The shock ruling came as the judge cleared four men from Co Tyrone of being members of the organisation.

Although authorities in the Irish Republic and the United States have come down hard on the RIRA, the judge insisted that the organisation was not included on a proscribed list in Britain.

Mr Justice Girvan said that, while the relevant schedule listed the IRA, “Schedule 2 of the Act does not include any organisation called or known as the Real Irish Republican Army”.

The Crown argued that because the RIRA was named as a separate organisation under the Northern Ireland Sentencing Act 1998, the dissidents were operating under the name of the IRA and therefore the absence of the word “Real” did not detract from that fact.

Mr Justice Girvan rejected this, adding: “The Real Irish Republican Army is identified by the State under the 1998 Act as a separate and distinct organisation whose adherents in the eyes of the law merit different treatment from members of the Irish Republican Army who signed up to a ceasefire.”

In the Terrorism Act 2000, 14 Irish organisations are listed as proscribed, including the Irish Republican Army but the Government did not include the Real IRA on the list.

Jack Straw, who was then the Home Secretary, told MPs during the passage of the measure that “the Real IRA is covered, as is the Provisional IRA, by the description ‘The Irish Republican Army’ ”.

In the Irish Republic, alleged republican terrorists tried for offences against the State are classified as members of Oglaigh na hEireann — Irish for the IRA. This all-encompassing term is usually followed by another reference to the appropriate faction.

Officials at the Northern Ireland Office believe that the judgment is essentially a legal technicality which is capable of being resolved.

But David Lidington, the Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, said: “It’s outrageous that an organisation that has been responsible for the worst single terrorist atrocity in 30 years of troubles in Northern Ireland cannot be brought to book because of inadequacies in drafting legislation. We raised concerns at the time and had assurances from ministers that the legislation was satisfactory.”

Although the judge cleared four men of Real IRA membership, they are still on trial accused of conspiracy to murder and possession of a rocket launcher in February 2002.

They are Donald Mullan, 33, from Dungannon, Sean Dillion, 27, and Kevin Murphy, 33, both from Coalisland, and Brendan O’Connor, 26, of Pomeroy, all in Co Tyrone.

The ruling caused dismay in Omagh, which is also in Co Tyrone. Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was among those killed in the bombing in August 1998, said: “This is an organisation that is hell-bent on creating death and devastation. It just leaves you without words that something like this can happen.”

He said that no other jurisdiction would allow itself to be caught out in the way that the British Government had been.

The Real IRA split from the Provisionals in 1997 over the involvement of the Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Police in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have dealt crippling blows to the Real IRA, imprisoning its leaders including three of the alleged perpetrators of the Omagh bombing. According to security officials, the Real IRA is now riddled with informers, dramatically reducing its capacity for violence and sparking splits in the group.

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