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£20 million for Omagh victims
BY RICHARD SHERRIFF
r. sherriff@newsletter. co.uk

ALL but 26 of the victims of the Omagh bomb atrocity have had criminal injury claims settled at a cost of more than £20 million, the Government has revealed.
The figure emerged in a written reply to a question from East Belfast MP Peter Robinson on the progress of claims made by those bereaved and wounded in the horror attack.
Secretary of State Peter Hain said the Compensation Agency had fully resolved 826 of 852 criminal injury claims.
Of the 220 criminal damage claims, 214 have been resolved with approximately £7.5m paid in compensation, he added.
Twenty-nine people, including a woman pregnant with twins, died in the 1998 Real IRA car bomb attack.
But last night one victim, Kevin Skelton, said the Government had not treated the survivors well.
Mr Skelton lost his wife Philomena, and his daughters Shauna, Tracey and Paula suffered physical and emotional injuries.
As innocent victims he said the least the people of Omagh could have expected was to be treated with dignity.
"Money will not replace the people who were lost and it will not repair the scars and suffering of those who survived," he said.
"We have been very, very badly treated. The families were quite entitled to be treated with dignity and compassion and they have not been.
"I know the legislation has been changed since Omagh but I fear for the people injured in the London bomb and I wonder how they will be treated."
During the fight for compensation he said survivors such a Shauna had been treated like "pieces of meat" while their injuries were examined and discussed.
In other cases he said those offered compensation had been warned to accept or risk being awarded a lesser amount in the courts.
"It was pure intimidation and people were afraid They were prepared to settle because they had been through too much hassle."
Co Armagh man Sean Hoey was charged earlier this year with murder in relation to the bombing.