A man being sued by the relatives of the victims of the Omagh bombing has been sentenced to eight years in prison for membership of an illegal organisation.
41-year-old Liam Campbell, a former director of operations for the Real IRA, and father of two from Upper Faughart in Dundalk, was convicted on two counts of membership and given two four-year consecutive sentences.
Mr Justice Richard Johnson said these were extremely serious offences but because Campbell had not contested the evidence the court considered his approach equivalent to a plea of guilty.
It also suspended the last 18 months of the second four-year sentence. Campbell was first arrested and charged with membership of the Real IRA in October in 2000.
The following July he was again arrested, this time at the Neptune Beach Hotel, Co Meath, with three other men in one of the rooms. A sports bag with a stun gun was also found in the room.
Campbell is also facing a Criminal Assets Bureau tax bill of over €870,000.
He is one of five men being sued by Omagh victims' relatives for £10m.
