Former Northern Ireland police chief Sir Ronnie Flanagan has apologised to the families of the Omagh bomb victims for his force's handling of the case.
It was the first time the ex-RUC Chief Constable has publicly said sorry for the botched investigation into the bombing that claimed the lives of 29 people.
But he said he would not resign from his current role as top British Home Office adviser on policing, despite a judge's recent damning condemnation of how the RUC investigated the August 1998 attack.
Last month South Armagh man Sean Hoey was cleared of the Omagh murders and a series of other dissident republican attacks.
In setting the 39-year-old electrician free, trial judge Mr Justice Weir delivered a damning assessment of the RUC.
He highlighted malpractice at every stage of evidence gathering procedures during the case.
Tonight, Sir Ronnie admitted responsibility for the RUC's failures under his command.
He said: 'I absolutely publicly apologise to the families in Omagh'. He added that he was desperately sorry that at this point people have not beeen brought to justice for the dreadful attack.
The senior police officer was speaking after a meeting with Victor Barker, who lost his 12-year-old son James in the bombing.
Mr Barker, who has been demanding Sir Ronnie's resignation, said the apology did not go far enough.
He apologised that no one has been brought to justice, that is very different from apologising for his own involvement in the case, Mr Barker said.
He added that he did not think Sir Ronnie can morally justify remaining in his current position when he was the major responsible officer for an investigation that fell so short of what the relatives should have expected.
