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Omagh bomb victims still not compensated

ALMOST seven years from the Omagh bomb many victims still have not received compensation, even though it was regarded as single worst incident of the Troubles.
The plight of the Omagh victims is in stark contrast to those who lost loved ones in the London attacks and for whom compensation has already been agreed.
Next week is the seventh anniversary of the bomb which killed 31 people and injured hundreds more, and Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden died in the blast, has not received any compensation and he is one of many.
He said "I hope they don't put the London victims through what we had to do. In the case of Omagh we were dealing with lawyers and civil servants who were nothing better than loss adjusters for the government who were trying to minimise the payments to victims.
After the London bombings, the government set up a Special Unit to deal with the victims and it is to deal with tube and bus bombings' claimants as quickly as possible. There were 52 innocent victims of the bomb and relatives can expect a £11,000 per victim though this figure is thought to rise.
Following the September 11 attacks in the America, the American government paid out £1.3m to each of the nearly 3,000 victims.
All this has left a bitter taste in the mouth of many of the Omagh victims. Mr Gallagher said "The people of the North have been treated like second class citizens. If the government had to pay proper compensation I honestly think the Troubles would not have lasted so long".
Kevin Skelton, whose wife Mena died in the bomb and whose daughter Shauna was badly injured agrees that the treatment of the families has been "abominable".
"The lawyers behaved in an insensitive and humiliating manner towards Shauna during her claim for compensation.
"Shauna's face was so badly scarred after the bomb and she had been to all the doctors to have the reports done, but the day we went to court a lawyer for the NIO said they had to get viewing her face.
He said they proceeded to stare at her injuries rather than bring her to a private room for the assessment.
Mr Skelton said when it came to dealing with the case for his beloved Mena, 'they made out she was worth nothing as she was just a housewife'.