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£lm raised in Omagh bomb legal case campaign

THE campaign to raise funds for the Omagh bomb legal case is on course to meet its target.
The campaigners need to have a fighting fund of £1.5 million in place by the fourth anniversary of the bombing, August 15, so that they can take civil legal action against those they believe planned and carried out the attack.
Early this year the fundraising campaign appeared to have run out of steam, but has been given a new impetus after celebrities, including Bob Geld and Barry McGuigan, gave it their backing.
This week Mr Michael Gallagher, the campaign chairman, said £1 million had been raised, and he believed that the target would be reached before the deadline.
If all goes according to plan, the campaign hopes to be able to serve legal papers before the end of this year, Mr Gallagher told the Tyrone Constitution. He said he hoped the case could go to court before the end of the year.
He also paid tribute to the celebrities who had thrown their weight behind the campaign.
And he said the next major fundraising effort was a celebrity dinner to be held on May 17. It was hoped that income from this would greatly reduce the balance needed to be found, Mr Gallagher said.
Marathon
The fundraising was also boosted at the weekend when Mr Victor Barker raised £8,000 by running the London Marathon.
Mr Barker's 12-year-old son James was one of the 29 to die in the bomb blast.
He completed the course on Sunday in a time of four hours and 42 minutes.
He said it had been well worth it. It had been tough, Mr Barker said, but he was kept going by thoughts of his son.
"He would have wanted me to do the marathon when he was older," Mr Barker said.
On the course, Mr Barker wore a tee shirt bearing a photograph of James and the words 'in memory of James Barker murdered by the Real IRA'.
Meanwhile, Mr Gallagher said the campaigners were delighted that people throughout Britain and Ireland had given their support.
"We are going in the right direction with the fundraising," Mr Gallagher said.
And he said that preparatory work had already started on the project to make a film about the Omagh events. James Nesbitt, the Cold Feet and Bloody Sunday star has expressed interest in appearing.
Mr Gallagher said the film was 'a great idea' and he hoped it would portray the feeling of the families and all those who had suffered with sensitivity.