A date for the landmark civil trial of five men allegedly behind the Omagh bomb attack has been provisionally fixed for January next year.
A preliminary hearing at the High Court in Belfast this morning was held to set out a timetable for the unprecedented bid to sue for £10 million sterling the men who allegedly carried out the August 1998 massacre.
Seamus Daly, Seamus McKenna, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Colm Murphy are being sued by the Omagh Victims Civil Action Group.
Daly, McKevitt, Campbell and Murphy are currently serving sentences for "Real IRA" membership. Murphy, a Dundalk-based builder and publican, was sentenced to 14 years in January 2002 for plotting the Omagh attack. Campbell was jailed for five years in October 2001.
Lawyers for only three of the men, McKevitt, Campbell and McKenna appeared in court to defend the case.
With relatives of several of the victims in the public gallery they heard Lord Brennan stress how the huge damages being sought reflected the gravity of the alleged offences. He said: "This wrongdoing is represented by determined terrorism representing an utter disregard for human life."
Both McKevitt and Campbell have lodged denials to any involvement, he told the court. Referring to the latter's rebuttal he added: "Surprisingly there was an additional denial that the Omagh bombing involved the 'Real IRA'."
It was also confirmed that the key witness in the Dublin trial of McKevitt is also to be a key witness in the civil action.
Lawyers acting for the families asked the High Court for permission to hear evidence via videolink from the United States from Mr David Rupert, an FBI and MI5 spy, who testified against McKevitt last year. McKevitt was jailed for 20 years after being found guilty of directing terrorism.
Solicitors acting for the victims' group served writs on each of the five suspects in 2002.