The families of victims of the Omagh bombing have requested a meeting with the British government to urge them to clamp down on the fundraising activities of the political wings of dissident republicans, it emerged tonight.
The Omagh Victims Legal Action Group requested the meeting with British Home Secretary Mr David Blunkett and/or Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair in a letter to the Home Office today after a member of group believed to have links with the Real IRA addressed a public meeting last weekend in Holborn in London.
Mr Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aidan was among 29 people killed as well as two unborn children in the Real IRA car bomb in Omagh, wrote on behalf of relatives to protest against 32 County Sovereignty Movement member Mr Francie Mackey's visit, noting it was advertised on the Internet.
The Omagh families' spokesman claimed in the letter he believed "the (British) government is failing to adequately protect its people against the Real IRA".
He noted the Terrorism Act 2000 came into force in the UK on February 19th 2001 but asked why the 32 County Sovereignty Movement had not been designated as a terrorist organisation.
US President Bush's administration, he claimed, had designated twice the 32 County Sovereignty Movement as a foreign terrorist organisation.
Mr Gallagher also questioned why there had been no action in the wake of the bomb attack in Birmingham on November 3rd and no move following the introduction of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill in the House of Commons.