IN/0485

US governor's gift to Omagh bomb victims

A United States politician yesterday offered hope to two grief-stricken communities when he visited Omagh and met victims of last August's Real IRA bomb.
Governor of Colorado Bill Owens presented the Omagh fund with £31,250 from the Worldwide Ireland Fund.
Governor Owens met victims of the August 15 bombing at Lismallard House, where he planted a tree as a sign of unity between Omagh and Colorado.
In April the governor experienced grief first-hand when 25 students were massacred in his home state in Littleton.
He said yesterday: "We're here to try and bring together some of the grief and pain we have felt in Colorado and you have felt in Omagh, and try to learn from it
"You and your fellow citizens have shown us the way you can heal and learn from the tragedy you have suffered.
"I regret the circumstances which have brought us together but I'm very hopeful good is going to come from this."
Michael Gallagher, who lost his 21-year-old son, Aidan, in the bombing said: "It's very important that the impact of this tragedy in Omagh is known all over the world and what violence can really do to a community."
Governor Owens spent Wednesday in Belfast with a trade delegation investigating economic opportunities between Colorado and Northern Ireland.