British and Irish parliamentarians have backed a call for intelligence information to be made available to the Omagh families in their civil action against a number of men thought to have been involved in the 1998 atrocity.
Speaking at the British-Irish Parliamentary Body in Newcastle, Fine Gael's Brian Hayes said both governments needed to do more to help the families affected.
This motion was moved by a British Labour backbench MP, Andrew McKinley, and calls for surveillance and wiretap information to be released to the families' lawyers.
It was supported by Mr Hayes who said the legal urgency evident immediately after the bombing had now been lost and more needed to be done to help the families.
He was supported by a number of TDs and MPs but Lord Maginnis of the Ulster Unionists said such a move would create an unwelcome precedent for those fighting international terrorism; governments, he insisted, had to give intelligence sources a degree of security.
Unionists are taking part in the BIPB for the first time with MLAs from both the DUP and the Ulster Unionists present.
Later, they are to hear Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan speak on the need for a more integrated energy policy between Ireland and the UK.
There will also be a closed session on proposals to deal with Northern Ireland's legacy of the troubles from Denis Bradley and former Church of Ireland Archbishop Robin Eames.
The body was set up in 1990 to facilitate dialogue between the Dáil and Westminster and was subsequently expanded to take in other parliaments but has always been boycotted by unionists.
