OMAGH MAKES HELP US PLEA TO CLINTON
Omagh makes 'Help us' plea to Clinton
By Rosie Cowan,
Business Editor
OMAGH business people today urged President Clinton to help rebuild their shattered town by asking corporate America to consider it as an investment location.
Omagh Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, Michael Gaine, handed a letter from the local business community to Mr Clinton this afternoon.
In it, Mr Gaine asks the President to tell US firms of Omagh's determination to stand united to restore its economic base.
The letter welcomes Mr Clinton to the town, saying the Chamber is comforted by his compassion and efforts to nelp the peace process.
And it requests that the President use the opportunity of the 11 Cities IDB north American tour to encourage US business leaders to think about setting up factories in Omagh.
"As Omagh has a significant unemployment problem, we request that you tell your business leaders about us, so that they might give serious consideration to our town as a location in which to site a manufacturing plant." reads the letter.
"You can tell them of our determination to rebuild our economic base, about the good community relations which exist and the abundance of skilled people available. This would be of great practical and long-term benefit to us."
Mr Gaine acknowledges that while he and others have tried to return to their places of business, "our grief remains boundless" and the journey toward renewal will be a long one.
"We have lost relatives and friends as well as our fellow workers. Our minds are not on commerce and trade but on those we have lost, the injured and those who may not work again. But we cannot stand still.
"We are people of good faith and this a good country, but as you have come to share our grief, we are not ashamed to ask for your help. Ireland has always welcomed American investment and US companies with the faith to invest in Northern Ireland and its people have prospered.
"We understand the turmoil of world politics and global economics which demand your attention and time. In that knowledge, we are the more comforted that you have remembered a small town and its problems."
By Rosie Cowan,
Business Editor
OMAGH business people today urged President Clinton to help rebuild their shattered town by asking corporate America to consider it as an investment location.
Omagh Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, Michael Gaine, handed a letter from the local business community to Mr Clinton this afternoon.
In it, Mr Gaine asks the President to tell US firms of Omagh's determination to stand united to restore its economic base.
The letter welcomes Mr Clinton to the town, saying the Chamber is comforted by his compassion and efforts to nelp the peace process.
And it requests that the President use the opportunity of the 11 Cities IDB north American tour to encourage US business leaders to think about setting up factories in Omagh.
"As Omagh has a significant unemployment problem, we request that you tell your business leaders about us, so that they might give serious consideration to our town as a location in which to site a manufacturing plant." reads the letter.
"You can tell them of our determination to rebuild our economic base, about the good community relations which exist and the abundance of skilled people available. This would be of great practical and long-term benefit to us."
Mr Gaine acknowledges that while he and others have tried to return to their places of business, "our grief remains boundless" and the journey toward renewal will be a long one.
"We have lost relatives and friends as well as our fellow workers. Our minds are not on commerce and trade but on those we have lost, the injured and those who may not work again. But we cannot stand still.
"We are people of good faith and this a good country, but as you have come to share our grief, we are not ashamed to ask for your help. Ireland has always welcomed American investment and US companies with the faith to invest in Northern Ireland and its people have prospered.
"We understand the turmoil of world politics and global economics which demand your attention and time. In that knowledge, we are the more comforted that you have remembered a small town and its problems."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0361
Published Date: 03-Sep-98
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