The Appeal Court ruling published yesterday, on the 26th anniversary of the Loughinisland killings, is one of a number of protracted cases linked to the atrocity.
The families of the six innocent men killed in the loyalist attack have spent many years attending various judicial proceedings.
However, none of those court cases have involved criminal charges against those accusing of planning and carrying out the murders of six innocent men.
The ruling yesterday will be received with mixed feelings on what is bound to have been an emotional day.
Ultimately the families have - once again - been vindicated.
Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan accepted it was appropriate for the Ombudsman to "acknowledge that the matters uncovered by his office were very largely what the families claimed and constituted collusive behaviour".
It was this finding which brought huge comfort to those who had campaigned for not just justice, but truth about why the people they love were gunned down in such a cruel and senseless manner.
And why, despite names being widely known, the killers were not brought to justice.
The report released by the now retired Ombudsman, Dr Michael Maguire in 2016 went into not just the attack but the circumstances leading up to the murder, including how the weapons used found themselves in the hands of loyalist gunmen.
However, the appeal court judges also identified three sections in the report where the ombudsman went beyond his powers.
Retired RUC officers Ronald Hawthorne and Raymond White had pursued the case.
In 2017 they successfully - by consent - had any references to former sub-divisional police commander Hawthorne, removed to ensure he was not connected to any alleged wrongdoing.
The appeal court went a step further stating: "We consider that the emphatic conclusions reached by the ombudsman in the three offending paragraphs go beyond mere modes of expression and exceed his powers"
This ruling is significant in terms of the duties of current ombudsman Marie Anderson, who has kept a fairly low profile since taking over the job.
The clarification of her role by the appeal court is unlikely to cause her many sleepless nights.
It also, once again, highlights the importance of a proper legacy mechanism to take such cases away from endless litigation and into an independent process that will allow for future healing.
But ultimately, regardless of the ruling, yesterday was a day of sombre remembrance for the families of Adrian Rogan, 34, Malcolm Jenkinson, 53, Barney Green, 87, Daniel McCreanor 59, Patrick O'Hare, 35, and Eamon Byrne, 39.
