FAMILIES SLAM CONDITION OF MEMORIAL SITE
Families slam condition of memorial site
FAMILIES of victims of the Omagh bombing have slammed Omagh District Council's care for the memorial garden at Drumragh Avenue in the town.
The garden, dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Real IRA attack on the town in August 1998, is overrun with weeds, they say, and dead flowers are not removed.
And the local authority has been accused of doing more to spruce up roundabouts in the area than it has to maintain the memorial garden which opened in July 2000, even at times of the anniversary of the bombing.
Godfrey Wilson, whose 15-year-old daughter, Lorraine, died in the attack, said it was just "another way in which families were being let down. They are used to being let down by government and other elected bodies, and the way in which the memorial garden has been maintained is of little surprise. Even when it came around to the anniversary the garden was in a poor state of repair."
However, Michael Gallagher, who lost his son, Aidan, in the bombing, claimed: "The council takes steps to clean the garden when it is coming round to the anniversary each year because they know people's attention is fixed on it. But the rest of the time it seems the plants are just left to wither and die.
"Visitors to the garden have been very disappointed at its condition. It is not a fitting tribute to the people who died or who were injured. In fact, there are traffic roundabouts in the town that are better maintained, and that is very sad."
Responding to the criticism a council spokesman insisted that the garden was maintained on a regular basis. He said council workmen carried out "seasonal planting while permitting the central area to remain free for use by families and visitors, many of whom continued to lay flowers".
FAMILIES of victims of the Omagh bombing have slammed Omagh District Council's care for the memorial garden at Drumragh Avenue in the town.
The garden, dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Real IRA attack on the town in August 1998, is overrun with weeds, they say, and dead flowers are not removed.
And the local authority has been accused of doing more to spruce up roundabouts in the area than it has to maintain the memorial garden which opened in July 2000, even at times of the anniversary of the bombing.
Godfrey Wilson, whose 15-year-old daughter, Lorraine, died in the attack, said it was just "another way in which families were being let down. They are used to being let down by government and other elected bodies, and the way in which the memorial garden has been maintained is of little surprise. Even when it came around to the anniversary the garden was in a poor state of repair."
However, Michael Gallagher, who lost his son, Aidan, in the bombing, claimed: "The council takes steps to clean the garden when it is coming round to the anniversary each year because they know people's attention is fixed on it. But the rest of the time it seems the plants are just left to wither and die.
"Visitors to the garden have been very disappointed at its condition. It is not a fitting tribute to the people who died or who were injured. In fact, there are traffic roundabouts in the town that are better maintained, and that is very sad."
Responding to the criticism a council spokesman insisted that the garden was maintained on a regular basis. He said council workmen carried out "seasonal planting while permitting the central area to remain free for use by families and visitors, many of whom continued to lay flowers".
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1121
Published Date: 21-Nov-02
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