A hearse carries the bodies of Avril Monaghan, 30, and her 18-month-old daughter
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Funerals held for mother, daughter

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- The Real IRA, a dissident faction of the Irish Republican Army, on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the car bomb in the Northern Irish town of Omagh which killed 28 people and injured 220 on Saturday.

The claim coincided with the funeral of a mother and her young daughter killed in the Omagh blast, and thousands of people paid their respects in Belfast for the 28 victims of Northern Ireland's worst terrorist attack in three decades.

The Real IRA, using a recognized codeword, made the claim in a phone call to an Irish newspaper.

A male caller apologized for the death toll, saying the group had given three warnings before the explosion and had not been aiming to kill civilians.

Mourners gather at Monaghan's funeral

"Despite media reports, it was not our intention at any time to kill any civilians. It was a commercial target, part of the ongoing war against the Brits. We offer apologies to the civilians," the caller told the Dublin office of the Irish News.

Police have said the Real IRA -- which opposes the Northern Ireland peace process and fights British rule in the province -- gave a deliberately wrong warning, driving civilians into the heart of the blast.

The announcement came as the grieving village of Augher, near Omagh, laid to rest a mother and her young daughter in a church graveyard on a hill -- the first in a long line of funerals for the victims.

As the funeral ended, Prince Charles arrived in Northern Ireland to bring royal condolences to Omagh.

"I'm shattered and horrified, and the least I can do is to come here and offer my sympathy and support," said Charles.

David Trimble, the head of Northern Ireland's new assembly, says the bombing presents a challenge to society on both sides of the border AIFF or WAV (128 K / 10 sec. audio)

"I do have some understanding of the awful horror that people have to put up with when their relatives are killed," he added, recalling the IRA assassination in 1979 of his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten.

During the Requiem Mass in St. Macartan's Catholic church in Augher, the congregation, which included the victim's husband and three other young children, sang, "My soul is longing for your peace."

Their 65-year-old grandmother was also killed and was to be buried Wednesday.

Traffic halted in central Belfast on Tuesday as thousands of people showed their sympathy for the victims of the blast.

The crowd gathered at Belfast City Hall to hold a 15-minute silent vigil and to listen to prayers for those maimed or killed.

They heard the city's mayor read out the names of all 28 men, women and children killed by the bombing, which has threatened to wreck the latest attempt to bring peace to the troubled province.

The Irish government said on Tuesday it would fly all flags on state buildings at half-mast until Saturday in honor of the victims.

At dawn Monday, police arrested five people in the attack. Under British anti-terrorist law, the five can be interrogated for up to a week before being released or charged.

"The Committee: The Secret Protestant Reign of Terror in Northern Ireland:: Political Assassination in Northern Ireland" by Sean McPhilemy "The IRA: A History" by Tim Pat Coogan "Fifty Dead Men Walking: The True Story of a British Agent inside the IRA" by Martin McGartland "Ireland and the Irish: Portrait of a Changing Society" by John Ardagh "God and the Gun: The Church and Irish Terrorism" by Martin Dillon Click here for additional reading on Northern Ireland