TC/1586

Bomb inquest costs put at over £1.6m

THE cost of holding the inquest into the victims of the Omagh bombing has been put at just over £1.6million.
The figure was revealed following a Parliamentary Question put forward by East Belfast MP., Mr. Peter Robinson.
The DUP deputy leader asked the Secretary of State Mr. Peter Mandelson for a final breakdown of the total costs involved in administering the inquest into the deaths of 29 men, women and children and unborn twins in the August 1998 attack.
Mr. Robinson was told that the final tally to date, including VAT, was £1,402,000. The figure, he was told, represented the costs involved in transforming the Minor Hall at the Leisure Centre into a Coroner's Court and the bill for installing a state-of-the-art technology system.
In a follow-up query, Mr. Robinson asked what the agreed legal fees were for barristers and solicitors involved in the administration of the Inquest.
He was informed that it was anticipated that £216,787 would be paid in fees in respect of the 12 families represented at the Inquest.
The legal fees payable from the extra statutory scheme for representation at the Inquest for the families which sought public funding were based on existing legal aid rates, he was informed.
Prior to the start of the Inquest, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, announced that the Government would take care of legal expenses incurred by those families who qualified for legal aid. That decision, he said, was taken because of the 'exceptional circumstances surrounding the Omagh case.'
A total of 154 witnesses gave evidence throughout the month-long enquiry into the atrocity.
As well as alterations to the Minor Hall, two rooms within the Leisure Centre were also set aside for families who found it difficult to listen to evidence in the courtroom itself. A specially constructed media annex, sited towards the rear of the Leisure Complex, allowed members of the Press to view the proceedings on a specially constructed screen.