UH/0981

Cheques roll in for Omagh victims civil action
BY ADRIAN MULLAN

AS several celebrities joined the campaign to raise money for a civil case against those believed to have been behind the bombing of Omagh, the fund has taken on a new momentum.
For the past week letters with donations ranging from £3 to £1000 have been flooding into the Bank of Ireland in Omagh.
On one day last week alone there were 125 letters to the branch all of which contained financial contributions toward the cost of bringing the case. In addition to monetary contributions, there have been cards from well wishers, others containing Padre Pio medals, poetry, prayers, and in one case a book in which a special poem was dedicated to the memory of those murdered in the bombing.
CONTRIBUTIONS
One contribution from a lady in Newcastle, Co. Down was for £1,000, though the majority of contributions were from people in Ireland there were some from further afield.
Last week alone there were 281 contributions through the local Bank of Ireland, one of which is believed to have come from the mother of Peter Falconio, the British tourist who, went missing after being attacked while on holiday with his girl friend in the Australian Outback.
The total fund so far is thought to be about three quarters of a million pounds with more than £250,000 having been raised since Christmas.
Between contributions in Northern Ireland and those in London and elsewhere the fund has received around 3,000 cheques in the past week and the largest single contribution to the London Branch of the Bank of Scotland last week was £10,000.
The fund received a huge boost to its fund raising capacities when rock-star, and Live Aid hero, Bob Geldof joined a host of celebrities who threw their weight behind the campaign.
Other stars such as James Nesbitt and Barry McGuigan have also joined the campaign.
Mr Geldof said he is confident that the money can be raised for the civil suit, earlier he had described the bombing of Omagh as "our September 11th."