CHAMBER PRESIDENT PREDICTS DIFFICULT TIME
Chamber president predicts difficult future
AN OMAGH businessman said this week that the traders of the town, although they faced economic ruin, had no heart to return to their livelihoods.
Mr. Michael Gaine, President of Omagh Chamber of Commerce and a well-known face on the High Street, said hardly a family, club or organisation had remained untouched by the bomb, and the townsfolk were in shock.
"The tragic events of Saturday have stunned our small community.
We cannot understand why our town was chosen for devastation nor understand why its people were targeted," he said.
Mr. Gaine said he believed there were families which would never get over the tragedy and businesses which would never recover.
"The heart has been taken out of the town. There are people who won't want to come into Omagh again. The town has been literally devastated.
"Omagh has been split in two halfs. One half is completely devastated and the people who ran the other half have been injured or killed," he said.
"One half cannot open again - Omagh is facing economic ruin, we are trying to put a few things in place to restart building. At the moment, we are thinking of practical things but there are people who don't really want to open," he said.
Mr. Gaine said he feared that there would be businesses in Omagh which would go bankrupt because the economic side of life was gone.
"In the coming days this community will weep and mourn the passing of families and friends. However Omagh Chamber of Commerce is in total support of the Government's policy for building peace and reconciliation throughout Northern Ireland. That is the only viable future for us all," he said.
Many businesses and organisations across the Province have also expressed their condolences.
AN OMAGH businessman said this week that the traders of the town, although they faced economic ruin, had no heart to return to their livelihoods.
Mr. Michael Gaine, President of Omagh Chamber of Commerce and a well-known face on the High Street, said hardly a family, club or organisation had remained untouched by the bomb, and the townsfolk were in shock.
"The tragic events of Saturday have stunned our small community.
We cannot understand why our town was chosen for devastation nor understand why its people were targeted," he said.
Mr. Gaine said he believed there were families which would never get over the tragedy and businesses which would never recover.
"The heart has been taken out of the town. There are people who won't want to come into Omagh again. The town has been literally devastated.
"Omagh has been split in two halfs. One half is completely devastated and the people who ran the other half have been injured or killed," he said.
"One half cannot open again - Omagh is facing economic ruin, we are trying to put a few things in place to restart building. At the moment, we are thinking of practical things but there are people who don't really want to open," he said.
Mr. Gaine said he feared that there would be businesses in Omagh which would go bankrupt because the economic side of life was gone.
"In the coming days this community will weep and mourn the passing of families and friends. However Omagh Chamber of Commerce is in total support of the Government's policy for building peace and reconciliation throughout Northern Ireland. That is the only viable future for us all," he said.
Many businesses and organisations across the Province have also expressed their condolences.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0111
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
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