TC/1331

£835,900 boost for Omagh Fund

Bomb injured couple, Garry McGillion and his fiancee Donna-Marie Keyes, presenting a cheque for £835,900 from the Late, Late Show to Joan McCaffrey, Omagh District Council's chief finance officer. The couple received the cheque from Gay Byrne on his RTE 1 show last Friday night, and the donation brings the Omagh Fund total to over £3 million. The Late, Late Show Omagh special was broadcast on December 20, and an appeal continued to run at banks throughout Ireland for weeks afterwards. Among the artistes who performed on the show were The Corrs, who organised the event, U2, Daniel O'Donnell, Brian Kennedy, Paul Brady, Bob Geldof, Sharon Shannon and the Omagh Youth Community Choir. The show engendered a phenomenal response from viewers, with phone lines jammed with callers anxious to pledge money to the Omagh Fund for the duration of the programme. Donna-Marie and Garry, who had planned to marry one week after the bomb, will now tie the knot in the Sacred Heart Church, Omagh, later this month.