VICTIM'S COURAGE INSPIRES CONCERT
Victim's courage inspires concert
By Martin Anderson
THE COURAGE of a woman whose 21-month-old baby girl was killed in the Omagh bombing has inspired a Derry-born TV and radio presenter to organise a concert to raise�30,000 for the victims' support fund.
Bob Brolly, a well-known BBC presenter in the midlands area of England, said the determination of Tracey Devine, herself seriously injured in the blast, convinced him he had to do something to help.
He said: "Just after the bombing everyone was in shock and there were lots of people asking me to do something but I had a hundred things happening at the time and I just couldn't.
"Just before Christmas I read the story about Tracey Devine getting out of hospital and I think it brought it all back to a lot of people. I was shocked when I realised that four months after the bomb there were still people in hospital.
"When I looked at Tracey's smiling face I knew I just had to do something to help and with my contacts in the music business I thought the best thing would be a concert."
Tracey Devine was so seriously injured in the bombing that she missed her daughter Breda's funeral and wasn't even told she had been killed until six weeks later.
As reported in the Irish News, she was the last victim to be released from hospital on December 22 last year in time to spend Christmas with her surviving children and husband at their family home in Dunamanagh near Strabane.
She said at the time: "The hard bit is over now, it's just a matter of getting on with our lives for the children at home and for ourselves. We have to make Christmas as good as we can.
"Breda will always be there. She will always be in our thoughts. That's just the way life goes, you never know what's round the next corner."
The fund-raising concert will be held in the Birmingham Symphony Hall on March 2 and all 2,500 tickets sold out within four days of going on sale.
One of the performers due to appear at the concert on March 2 is more used to the boxing ring than a concert hall stage but seven times boxing world champion Barry McGuigan is hoping to charm the crowds with his singing instead of boxing talents.
Other stars will include Foster and Allen, Brendan Shine, Christie Hennessey, Ed Doolan, Ray Lynham, the Scanlon School of Irish Dancing, Dr Carl Chinn, Terry Bradford and Sussie Arvesen, the Marion Turley Dancers and Aunghus McAnally from RTE.
Bob Brolly has been a broadcaster for 12 years, the last four at BBC Radio West Midlands in Birmingham. He was born in Derry where he lived until the age of 14 before his family moved to Coventry.
Educated at Waterside Boys School and the city's technical college he transferred to Henley College in Coventry.
He said the support of the strong Irish community in Birmingham had been a great help in his efforts to organise the fund-raising event which he believes for will raise �30,000.
The Irish business community in the midlands has also helped cover the cost of the event with contributions from Aer Lingus, Allied Irish Bank, Celtic Court Hotel, Guinness, the Irish Post, and the Craic magazine.
By Martin Anderson
THE COURAGE of a woman whose 21-month-old baby girl was killed in the Omagh bombing has inspired a Derry-born TV and radio presenter to organise a concert to raise�30,000 for the victims' support fund.
Bob Brolly, a well-known BBC presenter in the midlands area of England, said the determination of Tracey Devine, herself seriously injured in the blast, convinced him he had to do something to help.
He said: "Just after the bombing everyone was in shock and there were lots of people asking me to do something but I had a hundred things happening at the time and I just couldn't.
"Just before Christmas I read the story about Tracey Devine getting out of hospital and I think it brought it all back to a lot of people. I was shocked when I realised that four months after the bomb there were still people in hospital.
"When I looked at Tracey's smiling face I knew I just had to do something to help and with my contacts in the music business I thought the best thing would be a concert."
Tracey Devine was so seriously injured in the bombing that she missed her daughter Breda's funeral and wasn't even told she had been killed until six weeks later.
As reported in the Irish News, she was the last victim to be released from hospital on December 22 last year in time to spend Christmas with her surviving children and husband at their family home in Dunamanagh near Strabane.
She said at the time: "The hard bit is over now, it's just a matter of getting on with our lives for the children at home and for ourselves. We have to make Christmas as good as we can.
"Breda will always be there. She will always be in our thoughts. That's just the way life goes, you never know what's round the next corner."
The fund-raising concert will be held in the Birmingham Symphony Hall on March 2 and all 2,500 tickets sold out within four days of going on sale.
One of the performers due to appear at the concert on March 2 is more used to the boxing ring than a concert hall stage but seven times boxing world champion Barry McGuigan is hoping to charm the crowds with his singing instead of boxing talents.
Other stars will include Foster and Allen, Brendan Shine, Christie Hennessey, Ed Doolan, Ray Lynham, the Scanlon School of Irish Dancing, Dr Carl Chinn, Terry Bradford and Sussie Arvesen, the Marion Turley Dancers and Aunghus McAnally from RTE.
Bob Brolly has been a broadcaster for 12 years, the last four at BBC Radio West Midlands in Birmingham. He was born in Derry where he lived until the age of 14 before his family moved to Coventry.
Educated at Waterside Boys School and the city's technical college he transferred to Henley College in Coventry.
He said the support of the strong Irish community in Birmingham had been a great help in his efforts to organise the fund-raising event which he believes for will raise �30,000.
The Irish business community in the midlands has also helped cover the cost of the event with contributions from Aer Lingus, Allied Irish Bank, Celtic Court Hotel, Guinness, the Irish Post, and the Craic magazine.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0494
Published Date: 10-Feb-99
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