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Business leaders donate £1million to Omagh fund

KIND-HEARTED businessmen in both Ireland and Britain have proven their generosity by donating £1 million to the Omagh Fund - but none of them want kudos for generous gesture.
The cash boost for the Fund brings it to £7m which is going to help victims of the Omagh bomb in August last year.
The donations of the big companies were raised last July at lunches in London and Dublin at which Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern attended.
The function in London which was also attended by the Duke of Abercorn, a trustee of the Fund.
The host was Gerry Robinson, Chairman of Granada, the television and hotels group, who hails from Donegal. After the dinner he invited his friends to take out their chequebooks and cheques totalling £600,000 were written out. Some individuals who wish to remain anonymous, donated up to £25,000.
Meanwhile on the other side of the Irish Sea a senior banker, Willie Cotter hosted a lunch where the guests donated more than £400,000.
Praising the 'amazing generosity' of the businessmen, John McKinney, Chief Executive of Omagh Council, "The individual acts of generosity on the part of the guests has been a massive boost to the Fund.
Brian Oliphant, the former Omagh Fund manager, who has returned to his job in Environmental Health Dept, welcomed the money and said it was a real shot in the arm for the Fund. "The trustees are examining all opportunities so that they can make the money work for real benefits to the community" he added