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Omagh compensation is branded 'bloody disgrace'
By ROSIE COWAN, PA NEWS

THE husband of a woman killed in the Omagh bomb, has slammed the £7,500 compensation he received as a "bloody disgrace".
Stanley McCombe lost his wife of 25 years, Ann, 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 per week sickness benefit and Disability Living Allowance. I'm a lawabiding citizen, worked all my life". Mr McCombe belongs to 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 Tory Northern Ireland spokesman, Andrew Mackay, who is due to visit Omagh tomorrow. They have also been invited to see NIO Minister John McFall, on Tuesday, when they will raise the issue.
DUP Assemblyman Oliver Gibson, whose cousin's daughter, Esther Gibson, was killed in the blast, branded the NIO as "Scrooge with a turbo charge".
"I think the level of compensation given to these people, who have suffered so much and will continue to suffer, is just crass, heinous," he said.
Mr Gibson has recently formed Voice to represent almost 200 families bereaved by terrorism , in west Tyrone in the past 30 years.
"This problem goes way back before the Omagh bomb. Many people in the 1970s were given pitifully small amounts of compensation and still
feel the loss of a partner's earning power as they try to put children through university now.
"Because government never rooted out the cancer of terrorism in this society, they have to deal with the legacy it has left."
Compensation Agency chief executive Denis Stanley said a standard £7,500 payment, set by law, was available to parents of children or spouses, but that in cases where an unmarried adult, 'lived with parents, this was not paid.
"Relatives can also claim over and above that £7,500 for financial loss in cases where the person was bringing a vital wage into the house or if they have lost out financially, say by having to hire a housekeeper to look after children", said Mr Stanley.
"There is no ceiling on this type of compensation in Northern Ireland. It is calculated as a lump sum, taking into account earnings until the dead person would have retired. "But the relative must put in a claim, unlike the £7,500 payment which is paid out automatically. We will pay accountants fees to calculate claims to make sure the victims gets a fair deal."