TC/0859

Gibson Supports UDR/RIR widows claim

WEST Tyrone DUP Assembly member, Mr. Oliver Gibson, has said that while he welcomed the belated response from the Northern Ireland Office, when they awarded the Pre 1982 RUC widows £2,000 per year, he was most annoyed that the widows of the UDR/RIR had been neglected and ignored.
Mr. Gibson said: "Some of the early settlements to UDR widows were pitifully small, and in one case, as low as £700. I have written to the Secretary of State, Dr. John Reid, indicating that West Tyrone was the killing field for the IRA for 30 years and that the widows of the UDR/RIR have been neglected but worst of all, they have been ignored."
"I now call upon Dr. John Reid to be at least as good to the UDR widows as he has to the RUC, who have suffered long and in silence. These are all the forgotten heroines of Ulster," he said.
In his letter to Dr. Reid, Mr. Gibson said that he welcomed his announcement relating to the £2,000 per annum payment to the pre 1987 RUC widows and that this was indeed an acknowledgement of their silent but genuine efforts to manage difficult domestic situations.
Mr. Gibson said: "Firstly, I wish to draw serious attention to the neglect of the UDR widows of West Tyrone, where 97 people were murdered. Many of these were UDR personnel. I ask you on their behalf, because I also served in the UDR, that you respond with at least equal awards to that of the RUC widows."
"Secondly, Omagh town, which I have represented for 20 years, is bitterly resentful that the bombers of August 15, 1998, have not yet been brought to justice. I now ask your Victims Liaison Unit to support the private legal action by a bomb victim of that sad tragedy. This is now viewed as the acid test of the real sympathy of the Northern Ireland Office," he concluded.