UH/0748

Families launch £1m civil action1 campaign

EIGHT former secretaries of state from across the political spectrum have endorsed a fund-raising campaign to sue a number of people suspected of involvement in the 1998 bombing of Omagh.
Six of the eight joined families of those who died in the blast at the official launch of the Omagh Victims' Legal Trust campaign in the House of Commons yesterday afternoon.
The civil action campaign hopes to raise £1 million by August, when the three-year time limit for legal action expires.
Past secretaries of state who joined relatives at yesterday's launch included Peter Mandelson, Tom King, Merlyn Rees, Peter Brooke, Patrick Mayhew and Roy Mason, Mo Mowlam and James Prior, who are currently abroad, also signed up to support the civil action case. Included at the launch were a cross-section of MPs and peers.
Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Adrian was among the victims, said the group's efforts would send a strong message to those responsible.
Speaking from the House of Commons, he said: "The reason we are taking this path is to raise awareness and also to encourage people to support us. Like on 15th August 1998, we won't be left alone to face this.
"We believe this is the best way to make sure there will be no more victims of atrocities such as Omagh."
Donations to the campaign can be sent to Omagh Victims' Legal Trust, c/o H20, Henry Hepworth Organisation, 5 John Street, Holborn, London, WC1N 2HH.