Colm Murphy funeral: Unionists 'not surprised' at large crowd for funeral for man found liable for 1998 Omagh Bomb by Real IRA

During his 70 years, Mr Murphy served jail time in the Republic and US for terror-related offences and was one of several found liable for the 1998 Omagh bomb, which claimed 29 lives.

TUV leader Jim Allister said: “The large attendance at the funeral of mass murderer Murphy should take no one by surprise, given the open support for terrorism we have seen with 'up Ra' chanting a common feature in Republican areas - and in light of the fact that one who aspires to be First Minister claims that their was 'no alternative' to the IRA campaign of murder which claimed almost 1,800 lives.”

DUP human rights spokesman Jim Shannon MP added: “I've always believed that those who committed terrible crimes should be accountable to the law of the land, and it'd be my hope that all of those who escaped it in this world will not escape it in the next world.

"I'm a Christian. I believe in and serve and worship a God who's a God of love,” Mr Shannon said.

"But He's also a God of justice, and those who have done wrong in this world will pay greatly in the next.”

After his death in hospital in Louth this week, aged 70, large numbers of republicans paid unequivocal tribute to Mr Murphy on social media. And as a large employer in the border region - a successful building contractor - hundreds of people turned out to pay their respects.

Father Gerard Comiskey, who carried out the funeral mass, extended his sympathies to family members.

“It’s important for us to deal well with grief,” he said. “We all know that whenever death walks through our homes, our communities, it always leaves behind a trail of tears, and a sense of loss.”

The Historical Enquiries Team (HET) report into the Kingsmills Massacre identified Murphy as the chief suspect for the atrocity.

The IRA gunned down ten Protestant workmen as they travelled home from work in south Armagh in 1976 in what the HET described as a “purely sectarian” attack.

While not giving Mr Murphy’s name, it profiled 'Suspect A' as having a track record which was unique to him, serving;-

:: Two years in the Republic in 1972 for possession of a gun and ammunition;

:: Three years in the Republic in 1976 for firearms offences;

:: Five years in the USA in the 1980s for buying weapons for the IRA

:: Was one of those found liable in a civil action by the Omagh bomb relatives.

In 2017 a PSNI intelligence officer told the Kingsmills inquest that suspect S91 (Murphy) was also linked to;-

:: The murder of five men in Tullyvallen Orange Hall in 1975;

:: Forty-six murders in only two years (1974-76) made up of 22 civilians, including a boy aged seven; 21 soldiers; two RUC officers and one IRA member;

:: The murders of senior RUC officers Harry Breen and Bob Buchanan in south Armagh in 1989.

:: The PSNI officer also noted that when Mr Murphy was behind bars, there was a dramatic lull in IRA violence in south Armagh.

Meanwhile, a handful of republican groups issued strong praise for “oglagh” Murphy on social media.

RNU Béal Feirste said it gathered at the new monument at Miltown Cemetery at 1pm to pay their respects to him.

The Deise Republican Group in Waterford said he was "a life long republican who never shone [sic] from his beliefs and will be sorely missed by his comrades up and down the country. Rest in peace”.

And Anti Imperialist Action Ireland said he was, "A lifelong Irish Republican, imprisoned in Ireland and the US, who was harrassed [sic] by British imperialism and the Free State throughout his life.”

Earlier, the social meda page of “Duleek 1916-1981 Hunger-strike Monument”, based in Co Meath, described him as "a life time unrepentant republican who dedicated his whole life to the republican cause and was held in high esteem in the republican family throughout Ireland and further afield...Rest in Peace Colm. Your sacrifice for the cause of Irish freedom will never be forgotten.”

In a 2016 interview with the Irish News, Murphy was quoted as saying: "There was an expectation at the time that there would be retaliation (following Kingsmill), and if there was then the area was to be cleared of all unionists."The plan was to rid the area of unionists by targeting high-profile people and burning them out, that would have been well known at the time."Asked if this meant essentially 'ethnically cleansing' the area, he said "yes" - though he added that the plan was later "called off".

However former UUP MLA Danny Kennedy said that due to the pattern by which Protestants were murdered along the border, they had long believed the IRA was working to such a plan anyway.

In 2002 Murphy was found guilty by the Dublin Special Criminal Court of conspiracy to cause the Omagh bombing, and jailed for 14 years. However, his conviction was overturned in 2005 and he was cleared in a retrial in 2010.

In a landmark civil action brought by the Omagh bomb families, a Belfast judge ruled in 2009 that Murphy and four others were all liable for the bomb, ordering them to pay £1.6m to 12 relatives.

In 2011 he won an appeal against the verdict, but was again found liable in 2013. However Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aidan was killed in the atrocity, said this week that after ten years they had still not seen a penny in damages.