LORRAINE'S LIFE WORTH JUST £7,500
Lorraine's life worth just £7,500
BY ELINOR GLYNN
e.glynn@newsletter.co.uk
SEVEN years after the Omagh bomb, many of the families of those killed remain locked in legal battles over compensation.
Despite the passing of time, families who lost loved ones are outraged at the low levels of compensation which have been offered.
Godfrey Wilson received £7,500 for his teenage daughter Lorraine who had been working in the town's Oxfam shop on the day of the bomb.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden, 21, was also killed in the explosion, was last month awarded a low five-figure sum, which has yet to be paid, after a lengthy legal battle.
"Money can't bring back the dead but it does relieve stress for bereaved families," he said at the weekend.
"People are coping with enough without having to worry about bills."
The Compensation Agency, which works on behalf of the Secretary of State, pledges to pay "fair and reasonable compensation" to victims.
It is understood the actual amount paid out is determined by the Criminal Injuries (Compensation) Order Northern Ireland 1998 and that so far just over £20 million has been awarded to those affected by the Omagh bomb.
The amounts paid are in stark contrast to what some of the 9/11 bereaved have received from the US administration.
More than £1 million was paid to each of the 3,000 families who suffered losses in the Twin Towers disaster, including the families of Britons who were working there.
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