SELF-HELP GROUP VOICES CONCERNS OF RELATIVES
Self-help group voices concerns of relatives
THE chairman of the Omagh Support and Self-Help Group has claimed that it will seek legal advice if it is revealed maladministration has occurred in fundraising undertaken in the wake of the Market Street bomb.
Mr. Michael Gallagher, whose son, Adrian (21) was one of the victims of the bombing, said that while he recognised Omagh District Council was not responsible for the money raised, it was responsible for setting up the Omagh Memorial Fund and the organisation that went into it.
He said it also could not be denied that the council appointed the five trustees to the Fund.
"We fully accept the fact the council has no decisions to make with regard to the distribution of the money in the fund. No one is questioning the integrity and the honesty of the Trustees, but they are not fully representative of the community affected," he said.
Mr. Gallagher said the people who died and were injured in the bombing were ordinary people, while those appointed to administer the Fund had curriculum vitaes which stretched to two pages or more.
"It is very difficult to understand how those people could put themselves in the position of people like ourselves. But we do recognise that there is merit in having some people of station on a board of Trustees, but that board should be balanced.
"Obviously, these people bring certain qualities to the Fund, but equally, people who, say, are trade union representatives, could have brought another type of skill and view point to the Board.
"When you have people who are in middle or top tier management it is difficult for people in that position to imagine how people like us really feel. We are not saying for one moment that that takes away from their good qualities, but there could have been a better balance of people," Mr. Gallagher said.
Referring to the Support Group's call for Omagh councillor, Francis Mackey, to be expelled from the chamber, Mr. Gallagher said they noted the council did not have the power to oust him.
However, he said they felt the council members could have shown solidarity in taking a vote of no confidence in Mr. Mackey, and were disappointed that 18 months had passed since the bombing and the other councillors still had not done so.
"It is an unacceptable state of affairs. We think that this is totally unreasonable. I cannot imagine any council, North or South, which would have a person like that associated with a group of people who tried to completely wreck this town and cause the worst atrocity of 30 years," he said.
"That for us says something about the type of mettle the councillors are made of. We cannot understand how they cannot put their difference to one side and have a vote of no confidence in Francis Mackey.
Mr. Gallagher said that members of the group felt they were getting to the stage where, when they raised what they felt were legitimate issues and concerns, they were being labelled as trouble makers and were only upsetting people.
"I feel it is important to the families who were affected. If I was never affected I could still never understand how someone could sit down and work with a person who represents a group linked with the one that caused the atrocity in Omagh," he added.
Addressing the issue of a permanent memorial to the dead, Mr. Gallagher said what he and others wanted was for the Market Street area to be pedestrianised.
He said he and another member of the group, Mr. Stanley McCombe, whose wife, Ann, perished in the August bomb blast, were members of the committee set up by the council to look at the issue of a permanent memorial.
*'We just feel that it should not just be two people from the bereaved families. We feel that all the families should be consulted who want to have a say, and we really hope that will be the case," he said.
Mr. Gallagher added that, if things did not work out, the members of the group reserved the right to seek legal advice and if necessary go to court as a last resort.
"What we are trying to do is work out our differences with everyone concerned. That is always a better path than going to legal representatives.
"There should be enough good will on everyone's part to move this forward," he said.
THE chairman of the Omagh Support and Self-Help Group has claimed that it will seek legal advice if it is revealed maladministration has occurred in fundraising undertaken in the wake of the Market Street bomb.
Mr. Michael Gallagher, whose son, Adrian (21) was one of the victims of the bombing, said that while he recognised Omagh District Council was not responsible for the money raised, it was responsible for setting up the Omagh Memorial Fund and the organisation that went into it.
He said it also could not be denied that the council appointed the five trustees to the Fund.
"We fully accept the fact the council has no decisions to make with regard to the distribution of the money in the fund. No one is questioning the integrity and the honesty of the Trustees, but they are not fully representative of the community affected," he said.
Mr. Gallagher said the people who died and were injured in the bombing were ordinary people, while those appointed to administer the Fund had curriculum vitaes which stretched to two pages or more.
"It is very difficult to understand how those people could put themselves in the position of people like ourselves. But we do recognise that there is merit in having some people of station on a board of Trustees, but that board should be balanced.
"Obviously, these people bring certain qualities to the Fund, but equally, people who, say, are trade union representatives, could have brought another type of skill and view point to the Board.
"When you have people who are in middle or top tier management it is difficult for people in that position to imagine how people like us really feel. We are not saying for one moment that that takes away from their good qualities, but there could have been a better balance of people," Mr. Gallagher said.
Referring to the Support Group's call for Omagh councillor, Francis Mackey, to be expelled from the chamber, Mr. Gallagher said they noted the council did not have the power to oust him.
However, he said they felt the council members could have shown solidarity in taking a vote of no confidence in Mr. Mackey, and were disappointed that 18 months had passed since the bombing and the other councillors still had not done so.
"It is an unacceptable state of affairs. We think that this is totally unreasonable. I cannot imagine any council, North or South, which would have a person like that associated with a group of people who tried to completely wreck this town and cause the worst atrocity of 30 years," he said.
"That for us says something about the type of mettle the councillors are made of. We cannot understand how they cannot put their difference to one side and have a vote of no confidence in Francis Mackey.
Mr. Gallagher said that members of the group felt they were getting to the stage where, when they raised what they felt were legitimate issues and concerns, they were being labelled as trouble makers and were only upsetting people.
"I feel it is important to the families who were affected. If I was never affected I could still never understand how someone could sit down and work with a person who represents a group linked with the one that caused the atrocity in Omagh," he added.
Addressing the issue of a permanent memorial to the dead, Mr. Gallagher said what he and others wanted was for the Market Street area to be pedestrianised.
He said he and another member of the group, Mr. Stanley McCombe, whose wife, Ann, perished in the August bomb blast, were members of the committee set up by the council to look at the issue of a permanent memorial.
*'We just feel that it should not just be two people from the bereaved families. We feel that all the families should be consulted who want to have a say, and we really hope that will be the case," he said.
Mr. Gallagher added that, if things did not work out, the members of the group reserved the right to seek legal advice and if necessary go to court as a last resort.
"What we are trying to do is work out our differences with everyone concerned. That is always a better path than going to legal representatives.
"There should be enough good will on everyone's part to move this forward," he said.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1436
Published Date: 09-Mar-00
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