DEMOLITION TO START ON BOMB SITE
DEMOLITION TO START ON BOMB SITE
DEMOLITION of the bombed area of Market Street is expected to get underway early next week, the western group chief building control officer at Omagh District Council, Mr. Liam O'Neill, has revealed.
And it is hoped that the street, where 29 people, including a young mother expecting twins, lost their lives, will be open to pedestrians within the following two weeks.
Local councillors and West Tyrone MP, Mr. William Thompson, have been calling for the area to be reopened, in a bid to boost morale among both the traders and the community.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr. O'Neill said it was hoped to have contractors on site at the beginning of next week, but he said the delay in the demolition was for reasons "beyond the council's control".
"We are not responsible for organising the demolition of the buildings that lies with the private sector and the Compensation Agency. But we have been acting as 'honest brokers' in a bid to move things along," he explained.
Mr. O'Neill said it was anticipated that several buildings on the left-hand side of the street looking onto the Dublin Road junction would be demolished first.
"We would hope to have pedestrian access within two weeks, and then traffic access," he said.
Mr. O'Neill added that the council was aware that traders in Campsie, and shoppers, felt 'cut off ' from the rest of the town, but it was doing its best to speed matters up.
Mr. Roy Allen, chairman of the Omagh Traders' Association, gave a warm welcome to the news that the demolition was set to get underway.
"The town has been cut in two for too long. It is like two villages. This is a positive step forward, and we as traders, along with the Chamber of Commerce, will be working hard to put the town back onto its feet, and make it even better than before," he said.
"At the minute, the town is literally on its knees, and 1 commend the council for pushing this forward, and for their assistance to the traders in the Market Street area," he said.
He said that all the traders in the town did not want to let the families of the victims down, and were determined to rebuild Omagh.
And he went on to praise the owners of the properties affected in Market Street for their positive action.
Meanwhile, speaking this week, the MP, Mr. Thompson, said the town was unnaturally quiet with Market Street closed off.
And he said the sooner it was reopened, the sooner the town could start getting back to some form of normality.
"Reopening Market Street will help to boost morale. It is ridiculous that it has been closed off for so long," he said.
"It is a very unsatisfactory situation for both shoppers and traders, particularly those in Campsie, and the street must be reopened as soon as possible. If the buildings are unsafe, then they need to be made safe, but pedestrian access, at least, must be restored."
DEMOLITION of the bombed area of Market Street is expected to get underway early next week, the western group chief building control officer at Omagh District Council, Mr. Liam O'Neill, has revealed.
And it is hoped that the street, where 29 people, including a young mother expecting twins, lost their lives, will be open to pedestrians within the following two weeks.
Local councillors and West Tyrone MP, Mr. William Thompson, have been calling for the area to be reopened, in a bid to boost morale among both the traders and the community.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr. O'Neill said it was hoped to have contractors on site at the beginning of next week, but he said the delay in the demolition was for reasons "beyond the council's control".
"We are not responsible for organising the demolition of the buildings that lies with the private sector and the Compensation Agency. But we have been acting as 'honest brokers' in a bid to move things along," he explained.
Mr. O'Neill said it was anticipated that several buildings on the left-hand side of the street looking onto the Dublin Road junction would be demolished first.
"We would hope to have pedestrian access within two weeks, and then traffic access," he said.
Mr. O'Neill added that the council was aware that traders in Campsie, and shoppers, felt 'cut off ' from the rest of the town, but it was doing its best to speed matters up.
Mr. Roy Allen, chairman of the Omagh Traders' Association, gave a warm welcome to the news that the demolition was set to get underway.
"The town has been cut in two for too long. It is like two villages. This is a positive step forward, and we as traders, along with the Chamber of Commerce, will be working hard to put the town back onto its feet, and make it even better than before," he said.
"At the minute, the town is literally on its knees, and 1 commend the council for pushing this forward, and for their assistance to the traders in the Market Street area," he said.
He said that all the traders in the town did not want to let the families of the victims down, and were determined to rebuild Omagh.
And he went on to praise the owners of the properties affected in Market Street for their positive action.
Meanwhile, speaking this week, the MP, Mr. Thompson, said the town was unnaturally quiet with Market Street closed off.
And he said the sooner it was reopened, the sooner the town could start getting back to some form of normality.
"Reopening Market Street will help to boost morale. It is ridiculous that it has been closed off for so long," he said.
"It is a very unsatisfactory situation for both shoppers and traders, particularly those in Campsie, and the street must be reopened as soon as possible. If the buildings are unsafe, then they need to be made safe, but pedestrian access, at least, must be restored."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1274
Published Date: 15-Oct-98
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