�35M FOR DEAD CATTLE �7500 FOR OMAGH BOY
�35M FOR DEAD CATTLE �7,500 FOR OMAGH BOY
By MAURICE FITZMAURICE
Bomb victim's father furious at MoD pay-out
THE father of an Omagh bomb victim demanded yesterday: Are cattle worth more than human lives?
Michael Gallagher spoke out after it was learned that farmers had received �35million compensation from the Ministry of Defence for livestock lost due to "military activity".
Michael received just �7,500 compensation for the loss of his son Adrian in the August 1988 blast, in which 29 people were killed and more than 200 injured.
On Monday he is to meet Security Minister Adam Ingrain at the Victims Liaison Unit to seek an explanation.
The �35million compensation for livestock, which covers the period 1990-2000, will fuel anger among other support groups who say their loved ones have been deemed worthless by meagre compensation pay-outs.
Mr Gallagher, spokesman of Omagh Victims Self Help Group, said parents of young people killed in the Real IRA blast say they would rather have received no money than �7,500. He added: "Money can never replace the life of a loved one that has been lost, but after what happened here it is like a second hurt when people see that the life of their child is worth only �7,500 when livestock is worth millions.
"The Government says that because young people killed in the bomb were not working they cannot award any more since there is no monetary loss to their families, but that does not recognise the potential of the life that was taken away."
And he hit out at the main political parties, saying they were "too scared" to address the issue.
"This seems to be far too sensitive for the main parties such as the SDLP and the Official Unionists.
"They don't want to rock the boat," he added.
"It seems to me that a lot of this money was being handed out with little or no questions asked and now our politicians seem unable to ask why."
However, DUP Newry and Mourne Assembly member Paul Berry says he has requested a meeting with Mr Ingram to demand answers as to why so much money has been paid over the last decade.
"This seems like a vast amount of money to be handed out over 10 years, and I dread to think what the figures for the seventies and the eighties will be like when I see them," he said.
"I believe there has been a lot of racketeering going on and though many farmers suffered a great deal with livestock and buildings damaged by helicopters, it would seem to me that republicans have been using this as a way to milk the Government for money."
The Government yesterday admitted that between 1990 and 2000, there were 22,000 claims from farmers in Northern Ireland saying that their livestock and buildings had been affected by military activity.
By MAURICE FITZMAURICE
Bomb victim's father furious at MoD pay-out
THE father of an Omagh bomb victim demanded yesterday: Are cattle worth more than human lives?
Michael Gallagher spoke out after it was learned that farmers had received �35million compensation from the Ministry of Defence for livestock lost due to "military activity".
Michael received just �7,500 compensation for the loss of his son Adrian in the August 1988 blast, in which 29 people were killed and more than 200 injured.
On Monday he is to meet Security Minister Adam Ingrain at the Victims Liaison Unit to seek an explanation.
The �35million compensation for livestock, which covers the period 1990-2000, will fuel anger among other support groups who say their loved ones have been deemed worthless by meagre compensation pay-outs.
Mr Gallagher, spokesman of Omagh Victims Self Help Group, said parents of young people killed in the Real IRA blast say they would rather have received no money than �7,500. He added: "Money can never replace the life of a loved one that has been lost, but after what happened here it is like a second hurt when people see that the life of their child is worth only �7,500 when livestock is worth millions.
"The Government says that because young people killed in the bomb were not working they cannot award any more since there is no monetary loss to their families, but that does not recognise the potential of the life that was taken away."
And he hit out at the main political parties, saying they were "too scared" to address the issue.
"This seems to be far too sensitive for the main parties such as the SDLP and the Official Unionists.
"They don't want to rock the boat," he added.
"It seems to me that a lot of this money was being handed out with little or no questions asked and now our politicians seem unable to ask why."
However, DUP Newry and Mourne Assembly member Paul Berry says he has requested a meeting with Mr Ingram to demand answers as to why so much money has been paid over the last decade.
"This seems like a vast amount of money to be handed out over 10 years, and I dread to think what the figures for the seventies and the eighties will be like when I see them," he said.
"I believe there has been a lot of racketeering going on and though many farmers suffered a great deal with livestock and buildings damaged by helicopters, it would seem to me that republicans have been using this as a way to milk the Government for money."
The Government yesterday admitted that between 1990 and 2000, there were 22,000 claims from farmers in Northern Ireland saying that their livestock and buildings had been affected by military activity.
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/107
Published Date: 07-Jul-00
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