The Department of Justice has said that it does not have the power to provide the Omagh families with court transcripts, which the group says are vital in its civil action against those they believe were involved in the Omagh bombing.
The Omagh group yesterday praised the British government for a grant of at least £800,000 which will allow it press ahead with its civil case against five men it claims were implicated in the bombing five years ago.
Ahead of tomorrow's fifth anniversary of the bombing, which claimed 29 lives and those of unborn twin girls, the Omagh victims group was highly critical of the Irish Government's approach to the case.
It is seeking transcripts of the successful Irish court cases against "Real IRA" members Michael McKevitt and Colm Murphy, the only man convicted in connection with the bombing; Garda records of its Omagh investigation; funding for its civil case; and a meeting with Minister of Justice, Mr McDowell.
The group says the transcripts would cost £40,000 and eat into its £1.5 civil million case fund.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, however, said the transcripts were solely a matter for the courts. "The Omagh group can make an application to the registrar of the court and the decision thereafter rests with the Chief Justice," she said.
Former Northern Secretary Mr Peter Mandelson has urged the Government to match the British government's financial support for the group.
The Justice spokeswoman, however, would make no comment on the funding issue.
Mr McDowell plans to meet the Omagh families and their legal representatives early next month.
The Garda has made no comment on the group's request for its records on Omagh. "Our hands are tied, we are not at liberty to comment on individual cases," said a Garda spokeswoman.
Mr Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the explosion, said if the Government was truly interested, it could overcome any obstacles towards providing practical support for the families.
"The Irish Government's reaction is in sharp contrast to the way the British government has turned around," Mr Gallagher added.
"It just looks to me as if the Irish Government is not interested in helping victims. It is certainly not in the spirit of what the Taoiseach said in the aftermath of the Omagh bombing."
The Northern Ireland security minister, Ms Jane Kennedy, who with the British constitutional affairs minister, Lord Filkin, met the Omagh families in the Co Tyrone town yesterday, said the investigation was still very much "live" and she hoped there would be criminal convictions.
Lord Filkin appeared confident that the decision to support a civil case would not open up a flood of applications from other victims of republican and loyalist paramilitaries who might be considering similar civil actions. Other cases could be similarly supported, he added, but he stressed that the criteria would be strictly defined.
Mr Gallagher said he expected the civil case to start in the Belfast High Court early next year.
Meanwhile, the Continuity IRA has denied that it co-operated with the "Real IRA" in carrying out the Omagh bombing. FBI agent Mr David Rupert in the Special Criminal Court trial of McKevitt claimed that both dissident groups acted together.
