IN/0232

Wanted: 400 Dubliners to go to Omagh
By Michael O'Toole
Dublin Correspondent

A TAXI driver yesterday launched a scheme to bring hundreds of Dubliners to Omagh on a shopping trip to help the economy of the bomb-devastated town.
Dubliner Terry Saunders is hoping to attract up to 400 people on the massive shopping trip next week - and has asked them to bring gifts for the people of Omagh.
But he also needs taxi drivers to sign up for the venture.
The town has suffered a massive drop in trade because of the August 15 blast which ripped through its centre killing 29 people and injuring hundreds more.
Mr Saunders hopes the shoppers, who will be driven to Omagh by a fleet of 100 volunteer taxi drivers, will spend £25 each in the town - pouring some £10,000 into the local economy.
He wants the trip to take place next Tuesday, a quiet day for taxi drivers in the city and the traditional start of Christmas.
He said yesterday: "If I could organise a total of 100 cab drivers to bring a total of four passengers each to Omagh for a day's shopping and if each passenger was to pay £25 for the day, that would give £100 per car and a grand total of £10,000 if we were to get 100 cab drivers to agree to this project.
"I'm suggesting December 8 because traditionally that is the start of the Christmas season. It tends to be a quieter day.
"It will give people an opportunity of travelling to Omagh that they wouldn't otherwise get.
"The fact that they would be travelling in a taxi means they would be travelling in a degree of comfort that otherwise wouldn't be available to them.
"I think a lot of people would know that taxi drivers and cab drivers are well able to engage in conversation and, indeed, rant on about everything under the sun so I think it could be quite an entertaining day out.
"I would hope that individual passengers would bring with them a small gift from their own home.
"It could be local produce or a small handcraft or souvenir from their own house and that could be given as a gesture of solidarity to the traders in Omagh, so if they go into a pub or a shop or a restaurant they could give them this gift and mention where they've come from as a small gesture of solidarity."