TC/1311

Omagh Fund passses the £2 Million mark

THE OMAGH Fund hit the £2 million mark this week, as the six-month anniversary of the Market Street bomb of August 15, 1998, approaches.
The fund set up in the aftermath of the bomb has raised a total of £2,200,116 to date, and payments amounting to £615,300 have been made to 237 of the bereaved and injured.
Mr Brian Oliphant, fund manager, said he was grateful to all those who had donated so generously to the fund - which received some unfavourable press coverage when it failed to meet initial expectations.
"We are delighted, it's great news for Omagh. Obviously for a period around Christmas there was a lot of fundraising going on and money has been coming in since then, and there is definitely a lot more to come," Mr Oliphant said. "The people of Omagh haven't been forgotten by the outside world, and that is something to be grateful for. While the rest of the world has to carry on, we are still in their thoughts."
The trustees are currently working on the next edition of the Omagh Fund quarterly newsletter, which will be sent to all those who were injured by the bomb, and to every person who has subsequently registered an interest with the fund.
The newsletter, which will contain detailed information on the fund from its launch on September 29 to the present, will be available within the next fortnight. There are plans for a press conference to be held around the same time.
"We are trying to be upfront about what we have been doing to make sure nobody feels that the Omagh Fund is a 'secret service'," said Mr Oliphant.
During their weekly meeting in Lisnamallard House on Monday, the fund trustees agreed to help those suffering from post traumatic stress in the aftermath of the bomb.
Other funds, such as those set up in Enniskillen and Dunblane, have not dealt with the area of mental health. However, after meeting with experts from the Sperrin Lakeland Health and Social Care Trust, the fund trustees took the decision to help those who were mentally scared by the bomb.
Dervla Johnston, a banker who was seconded to the Omagh Fund, recently went to Spain to meet the grieving families who were affected by the Omagh bombing.
She travelled along with Sylvia Donaldson, a Sperrin Lakeland Trust social worker, who is fluent in Spanish.
"The Spanish people are very insistent on wanting to thank everybody in Omagh who has helped them. There is absolutely no feeling of bitterness. They are just so appreciative of all the help, and the children want to come back here," she said.
"They are going through the same things as any family here in Omagh, and they will be treated exactly the same as anybody else by the fund."