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Omagh Fund passes £1 million

THE Omagh Fund has hit the £1 million mark before Christmas, as predicted by fund manager, Mr Brian Oliphant.
A total of £1,005,474 has been received to date, and this figure does not include the substantial sums raised so far by the 'Across The Bridge Of Hope' CD and The Late, Late Show.
Gay Byrne's emotional Omagh special, which was broadcast on RTE 1 recently, has raised at least £620,000 for the Fund.
The programme featured performances by The Corrs, U2 and Brian Kennedy, and the audience consisted of people from Omagh and Buncrana who were affected by the Market Street bomb of August 15.
Phone lines were jammed with callers anxious to pledge money to the Fund for the duration of the show, and afterwards, donations continued to pour in at banks around the country.
And the 'Across The Bridge Of Hope' CD, which features tracks from Boyzone, Enya, Daniel O'Donnell and Sinead O'Connor, is continuing to sell well throughout Northern Ireland, with many people buying it to send to relatives and friends overseas.
According to the assistant manager of the Virgin Megastore in Belfast, 'Across The Bridge Of Hope' is proving extremely popular.
"It has been our number one best seller for the last 10 days," he said.
So far, payments amounting to £481,000 have been made to 221 individuals, although the trustees believe quite a few people have yet to come forward to register an interest with the Fund.
Meanwhile, the football match between Northern Ireland and the Republic at Lansdowne Road, scheduled for May of next year, could raise up to £700,000 for the Fund.