But the Omagh bomb was by far the RIRA's most deadly attack. Nine children, including a baby, were among the dead. More than 200 other people were wounded, some of whom survived with life-changing injuries. Three days after the 1998 attack, the Real IRA released a statement claiming responsibility for the explosion.

An independent public inquiry into a 1998 bombing in Omagh in Northern Ireland in which 29 people were killed and 220 injured, the worst atrocity of "The Troubles," opened with testimony from victims' families.

Bereaved families and survivors are expected to gather at the Strule Arts Centre in the Co Tyrone town for the inquiry.

Good Friday agreement is commonly seen to have ended what were euphemistically termed the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, just four months after the peace accord was signed, an attack on the town of

Claire Hayes, whose brother Alan Radford was killed in the blast, said the Irish Government should be a full participant.

The initial stage of the Omagh Bombing Inquiry opens on Tuesday. The hearing will commemorate the lives of the 29 people murdered in the County Tyrone bombing, including a woman expecting twins. The attack, carried out in 1998 by the Real IRA, was the biggest single atrocity of the Troubles.