OMAGH VICTIM'S OUTRAGE
Omagh victim's outrage
NIO moves to defuse cash row
THE Northern Ireland Office yesterday tried to play down the row over compensation payments to the families of Omagh bomb victims.
Describing newspaper reports as "misleading", it said that the final package had yet to be settled and that the cash handed out so far was merely a standard initial award.
It hit back after the husband of a woman killed in the bombing had described the �7,500 Government compensation he received as a "bloody disgrace".
Stanley McCombe lost his wife, Ann, of 25 years, in the town-centre blast which killed 29 people and left more than 200 injured on August 15 last year.
"Nobody could compensate me for losing Ann," said Mr McCombe. "But to get just �7,500, which wouldn't even cover Ann's annual salary, is a downright insult.
"I haven't been able to work since the bomb. I'm living on �55.70 sickness benefit a week and Disability Living Allowance. I'm a law-abiding citizen, worked all my life. Mo Mowlam can talk all she likes about sympathy but she hasn't done anything for me."
Mr McCombe belongs to the recently-formed Omagh Self Help and Support Group, which intends to fight the Northern Ireland Compensation Agency decision.
He said some of the bereaved families, such as the parents of 21-year-old Adrian Gallagher, received no compensation because the victim was an adult but not contributing to the household income.
The group will meet Conservative Northern Ireland spokesman Andrew Mackay, who is due to visit Omagh today.
They have also been invited to see Northern Ireland Office Minister John McFall tomorrow, when they will raise the compensation issue.
Local Democratic Unionist Assemblyman Oliver Gibson, whose cousin's daughter, Esther Gibson, was killed in the blast, branded the Northern Ireland Office as "Scrooge with a turbo charge".
Esther, a 36-year-old Sunday school teacher, had been due to be married this year.
Mr Gibson has recently formed an organisation called Voice to represent almost 200 families bereaved by terrorism in west Tyrone over the past 30 years.
In a statement, the Government said the payments already received were merely the first of three stages.
"The �7,500 is a Standard Bereavement Grant. This is payable to parents of children under 18 or to the spouse of a person over 18," it said.
"The second-stage payment is the reimbursement of reasonable funeral costs. The third and final stage is compensation for pecuniary loss. This is asessed on potential earnings of those killed, and is designed to compensate for the loss of that income to next-of-kin.
"Pecuniary loss obviously takes time to calculate and in �the case of the Omagh bombing, this stage has not yet been reached."
Dennis Stanley, chief executive of the Compensation Agency, said while no amount of money could compensate for the loss of a human life, he and his staff were determined to process the claims of the Omagh families as quickly as possible.
NIO moves to defuse cash row
THE Northern Ireland Office yesterday tried to play down the row over compensation payments to the families of Omagh bomb victims.
Describing newspaper reports as "misleading", it said that the final package had yet to be settled and that the cash handed out so far was merely a standard initial award.
It hit back after the husband of a woman killed in the bombing had described the �7,500 Government compensation he received as a "bloody disgrace".
Stanley McCombe lost his wife, Ann, of 25 years, in the town-centre blast which killed 29 people and left more than 200 injured on August 15 last year.
"Nobody could compensate me for losing Ann," said Mr McCombe. "But to get just �7,500, which wouldn't even cover Ann's annual salary, is a downright insult.
"I haven't been able to work since the bomb. I'm living on �55.70 sickness benefit a week and Disability Living Allowance. I'm a law-abiding citizen, worked all my life. Mo Mowlam can talk all she likes about sympathy but she hasn't done anything for me."
Mr McCombe belongs to the recently-formed Omagh Self Help and Support Group, which intends to fight the Northern Ireland Compensation Agency decision.
He said some of the bereaved families, such as the parents of 21-year-old Adrian Gallagher, received no compensation because the victim was an adult but not contributing to the household income.
The group will meet Conservative Northern Ireland spokesman Andrew Mackay, who is due to visit Omagh today.
They have also been invited to see Northern Ireland Office Minister John McFall tomorrow, when they will raise the compensation issue.
Local Democratic Unionist Assemblyman Oliver Gibson, whose cousin's daughter, Esther Gibson, was killed in the blast, branded the Northern Ireland Office as "Scrooge with a turbo charge".
Esther, a 36-year-old Sunday school teacher, had been due to be married this year.
Mr Gibson has recently formed an organisation called Voice to represent almost 200 families bereaved by terrorism in west Tyrone over the past 30 years.
In a statement, the Government said the payments already received were merely the first of three stages.
"The �7,500 is a Standard Bereavement Grant. This is payable to parents of children under 18 or to the spouse of a person over 18," it said.
"The second-stage payment is the reimbursement of reasonable funeral costs. The third and final stage is compensation for pecuniary loss. This is asessed on potential earnings of those killed, and is designed to compensate for the loss of that income to next-of-kin.
"Pecuniary loss obviously takes time to calculate and in �the case of the Omagh bombing, this stage has not yet been reached."
Dennis Stanley, chief executive of the Compensation Agency, said while no amount of money could compensate for the loss of a human life, he and his staff were determined to process the claims of the Omagh families as quickly as possible.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/203
Published Date: 22-Feb-99
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