TC/0806

Support group rallies behind fund trustees to combat criticism

MEMBERS of the Omagh Support and Self Help Group have rallied behind the trustees of the Omagh Fund, in an attempt to stop criticism about how the money is being distributed.
The representatives of the bereaved and injured have had a number of meetings with the trustees of the fund which now stands at over £1 million.
Mr Michael Gallagher, chairman of the support group, said most criticism of the fund was based on ill founded rumours.
"It is not fair when people are doing their best in difficult circumstances," he said.
Mr Gallagher said the meetings between the two groups had helped to allay fears that money from the fund's coffers was being used inappropriately.
"There were many things we were worried about, and we had some tough meetings at the beginning," he said. "We raised various issues with them, and they understood our concerns. Now we have built a good working relationship with the fund and they are consulting with us on a regular basis."
Mr Stanley McCombe, vice chairman of the Omagh Support and Self-Help Group, agreed that criticisms of the fund were unhelpful.
"No matter what they do they will always have criticism, but it should be remembered that the fund is there because of the generosity of the people," he said.
"We have a very good relationship with the Omagh Fund people. They value our advice, and we are only too glad to be able to give it to them," Mr McCombe added.
A total of £1,057,474 has been raised to date, and payments amounting to £565,444 have been made to the bereaved and injured. Every bereaved family has now received a payment from the fund, and it is hoped that all major payments will be awarded by next July.
A buffet at Lisnamallard House on Monday, which was held to thank all those who had helped the fund, was entirely paid for by Mr Sean O'Dwyer, chairman of the fund.
"We feel ourselves accountable to the people of Omagh, to the people who have donated money, and to the people who have suffered. We want to discharge our obligations to these people as best we can," he said.
Mr O'Dwyer said he thought there was another £2.5 million yet to be lodged with the fund, with substantial sums to come from the GAA, Derry City Football Club, RTE and Xtra-Vision, among others.
Mr O'Dwyer said he did not want to put pressure on people to donate money, as he understood the difficulties involved in collecting pledges. He also revealed that some groups were keen to hand over interim payments.
The trustees of the fund, and the fund manager, Mr Brian Oliphant, meet in the fund headquarters at Lisnamallard House every Monday.
Dunblane
Four of the trustees went to Dunblane recently to speak to the people who managed the fund there in the aftermath of the massacre at the primary school.
"This was useful to us because of the number of children involved in the Omagh bomb. We wanted to see how the money was dealt with in Dunblane, and we are examining the idea of setting up trusts for the children," said Mr Oliphant.
The fund trustees have not yet come to a decision on whether or not to make payments to people who were mentally scarred by the bomb.
A seminar will take place in January, during which experts from the Sperrin Lakeland Health and Social Care Trust will brief the trustees on the nature of trauma.
"The Dunblane and Enniskillen funds didn't deal with trauma, but we want to look seriously at this issue," said Mr Oliphant.
A meeting is proposed for March, to be attended by representatives of the bereaved and injured, and possibly traumatised people.
Mr O'Dwyer was keen to emphasise that, while the confidentiality of those helped by the fund must be respected, all other information about the fund should be freely available to the public. The fund's finances will be audited every six months.
"We are confidential in our dealings with individuals, but we want to get our information out into the public domain. If anybody feels people have got money which they shouldn't have got, they should let us know. We can't discuss it with them, but we can investigate it," he said.