TC/1317

Compensation to Omagh bomb families branded 'disgrace'

THE local man who, at the weekend, described the response of the Compensation Agency to the death of his wife in the Omagh bombing as "a disgrace", said yesterday (Wednesday), he has heard nothing since to make him change his mind.
Relatives of those who were killed in the August 15 bomb responded with anger to offers of initial compensation from the agency. Many say the offer of £7,500 as a 'bereavement payment' was an insult, while others will not even receive that.
The Compensation Agency claimed that Sunday newspaper reports on payments for families of victims of the bombing were "misleading," but that reaction failed to give any comfort to relatives.
One of those who was outspoken in his condemnation was Mr. Stanley McCombe, whose wife, Ann, died in the blast.
Mr McCombe said his wife had been valued at less than a secondhand car.
"It is an insult to her memory, and an insult to me," Mr. McCombe said.
Mr McCombe had to give up his job because of depression, and said he and sons, Colin and Clive, were still in shock. He said he was living on disability allowance of £57 a week.
And he told the Tyrone Constitution on Wednesday: "Any penny they would give me I would give back to them if 1 thought it would bring my Ann back, but that is impossible."
He added: "When you have been through what I have been involved in, you do not bow down to anyone. I speak my mind on this, and I make no apology to anyone about it."
Branding the whole issue "a disgrace", Mr. McCombe said a stand had to be made not only on behalf of the Omagh relatives, but those in Buncrana and Spain as well.
He said it seemed a lot of promises had been made by leading politicians in the aftermath of the bomb, but when officials came to look at the situation, they were having to go by the rule book.
Said Mr McCombe "This whole system has got to be changed. No amount of money will bring Ann back I am not looking to become a rich man - but what they are talking about is an insult to me, to Ann, and to her memory."
Mr. McCombe is entitled to the £7,500 bereavement payment, but another Omagh family, the Gallaghers, whose son, Aidan, died, will not even get that.
Explained Mr. Michael Gallagher: "They say we do not qualify because Aidan was over 18 and unmarried. They are saying, in other words, that he was not worth anything."
"No amount of money is going to bring our son back, but to say his life had no value is a disgrace," he said.
Mr. Gallagher told the Constitution that several other families were in a similar position. One family was deemed ineligible because their son was 18 years and four months old - four months older than the age allowed.
He said the statement by the head of the Compensation Agency merely reflected the departmental line, and, in fact, reinforced what the Omagh relatives had been saying.
"In the aftermath of the bomb, when the Prime Minister, the US President and the Taoiseach visited, they said they would do anything they could. When they left the promises left with them," Mr Gallagher said.
He added: "Everyone said Omagh was exceptional and required exceptional measures, now the officials are saying they are just following regulations."
Mr. Gallagher, who is chairman of the Omagh Self-Help Group, and Mr. McCombe, its vice chairman, were among people from the town invited to a reception at Hillsborough on Tuesday night. There, they had a private meeting with the Health Minister, Mr. John McFall.
They are also in the process of arranging meetings with the First Minster, Mr. David Trimble, and Deputy First Minister, Mr. Seamus Mallon, as well as the Victims' Minister, Mr. Adam Ingram.
Mr. Gallagher was also among the relatives who met the Shadow Northern Ireland spokesman, Mr. Andrew Mackay, on Monday.
That had been a helpful meeting, and was a follow up to one he and Mr McCombe had with the Conservative MP at the House of Commons before Christmas, Mr. Gallager said.
A number of issues had been raised with Mr. Mackay, including that of compensation, said Mr. Gallagher.
In a statement, the Compensation Agency said: "The payment of £7,500 that has been paid out to each family to date is not necessarily a final payment, but rather the first of three possible stages.
"The £7,500 is a standard bereavement grant. This is payable to parents of children under 18, or to the spouse of a person over 18.
"The second stage payment is the reimbursement of reasonable funeral costs.
"The third and final stage is compensation for pecuniary loss, which must be claimed by the bereaved. It normally takes several months for families to finalise their claims, and, to date, very little has been received by the Compensation Agency."
Pecuniary loss is assessed on the potential earnings of those killed, and is designed to compensate for the loss of that income to the next-of-kin.
The agency's chief executive, Mr. Dennis Stanley, said his staff were determined to process claims for the Omagh families as quickly as possible.
"The Government recognises that no amount of money can compensate for the loss of a human life.
"The legislation does not seek to place a value on a life. The agency can only make payments as a gesture to the bereaved family. Misleading reports like those this morning help no one," Mr. Stanley said on Sunday.
Mr. Mackay, meanwhile, said the legislation which set up the compensation system needed to be looked at.
On Monday, Mr. Mackay had a private meeting with relatives of some of those who died.
Mr. Mackay said he met relatives six months ago and promised to return now to see what was happening and what progress had been made towards reconstruction and reconciliation.
"Clearly one of the worries in that they feel upset, they feel let down, they feel that it is cruel that their loved ones are valued in. a way they think is derisory," Mr. Mackay said.
And he added: "There was a feeling when the Prime Minister came here after the bombing, and when President Clinton visited, that Omagh might be made a special case and receive more generous treatment."
West Tyrone Assembly SDLP member, Mr. Joe Byrne, called on the Compensation Agency to adopt a more sensitive approach to the families of political violence, especially those who had lost loved ones in the Omagh bombing.
Said Mr. Byrne: "Some particular cases relating to the victims of the Omagh bomb, I believe, merit consideration by the Compensation Agency's executives, given that so much was promised by senior politicians in the immediate aftermath of the bomb.
"The Compensation Agency should show due sensitivity and regard towards their circumstances, and the victims families should not have to go to the media to explain their sense of grievance and annoyance with these compensation payments.
"Surely this is one instance when the authorities should be able to demonstrate a sensitive and practical approach towards dealing with he victims families, many of whom feel that released prisoners are shown more sensitivity.
"In the past the families of victims were only supported by words, but not with the due financial support which is now needed to ease their burden of pain, and allow them to rebuild their shattered lives."
And local DUP Assemblyman, Mr. Oliver Gibson, branded the Compensation Agency as "a Scrooge."
He said the problem was not unique to the Omagh bombing, but went back to the early 1970s, when relatives were given "pitifully small" amounts of compensation.