Omagh bomb victims' families will be able to follow the trial of the man accused of the atrocity on a special video-link facility, it was confirmed today.
The Northern Ireland Court Service confirmed a closed circuit system has been set up between the Crown Court in Belfast and a college 70 miles away in the Co Tyrone town devastated by the Real IRA strike.
It will operate for the duration of electrician Sean Hoey's trial.
Hoey (37) from Jonesborough, south Armagh denies 58 terrorist-related charges, including the murders of 29 people in the August 1998 no-warning bomb attack.
Omagh-based relatives of those killed in the blast expressed relief tonight that they won't have to make a daily four-hour round trip for a trial which could run until Christmas.
Stanley McCombe, whose wife Ann was among the dead, said: "It's a great idea. There's a lot of people don't like travelling that much every morning.
"It means a lot of family members that maybe can't get away every day can now nip in for an hour or two.
"There will be a lot that use this." Hoey's trial is due to resume in Belfast on Monday.
It was adjourned on the opening day earlier this month when his senior defence lawyer, Orlando Pownall QC, dramatically declared himself too ill to continue.