BT/1106

Omagh victims waiting for cash
BY ADRIAN RUTHERFORD
newseditor@belfasttelegtaph.co.uk

TEN years after the Omagh bombing killed 29 and injured hundreds, a number of those people more seriously hurt in the atrocity are still awaiting compensation payments, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal today.
The chairman of the Omagh Support and Self Help Group, Michael Gallagher, said the decade-long wait added to the victims' suffering.
"This seems an awful long time," he said. "We would like to think that people would want to move on, particularly those who were injured that day.
"The Compensation Agency should be working with these people and their lawyers to try and bring some sort of closure on that part of their lives.
"There are all the memories to overcome and people, who are still physically connected to that day by their injuries, are also connected by all this paperwork and the outstanding issues."
And he called on the Compensation Agency to resolve the issue sooner rather than later, adding: "No one is denying the complexity of some of these cases but it is now 10 years after the event. That is a decade and you wonder how complex these cases could be if they are taking
that long." According to figures from the Northern Ireland Office, £26.3m has already been paid out by the Compensation Agency, who received 852 claims after the 1998 bombing.
But a spokesman has confirmed that nine of those claims still had to be settled and said the complexity of the cases and a delay by solicitors acting on behalf of the claimants was to blame for the slow progress.
Ross Hussey, an Ulster Unionist MLA for West Tyrone, said he was angered at the delay and claimed it was adding to the misery of those who were injured by the bombing.
"This should have been resolved years ago," he said. "I am disgusted that there are people who are still waiting for payments 10 years on.
"These people are still being made victims and will remain victims until the NIO gets their act together and does something about this.
"There are terrorists here and on mainland Britain who are suing the government left, right and centre, and they are getting money given to them hand over fist.
"It is nothing short of a disgrace that people who genuinely suffered from the shock and ravages of such a despicable act are still waiting 10 years later."
Mr Hussey said the compensation process had dragged on for too long and called on for a speedy resolution. "These people were clearly innocent victims and if the NIO had any morals then this should have been resolved long, long ago.
"This has dragged on for far too long and the fact that this has only now come into the public domain is an indication that the people handling the claims process have been keeping this delay to themselves," he added.
A spokesman for the Compensation Agency said the process had been hampered by a delay in receiving evidence to support some of the claims.
"As a result of the Omagh Bomb at Market Street on 15 August, 1998, the Compensation Agency has received 852 claims for criminal injury compensation," he said. "There are currently nine of these 852 cases to be resolved. These represent some of the most seriously injured and thereby the most complex of claims.
"In general the Compensation Agency awaits concluding evidence to substantiate the claims. The responsibility for this evidence lies with the applicant's legal advisors."
Approximately £26.3million had been paid by means of criminal injury compensation to victims and seven of the nine awaiting compensation had received interim payments totalling £459,000.
- If you know someone still waiting for compensation payments from the Omagh bomb, contact: rhenry@belfasttelegraph.co.uk