UH/1332

Omagh Fund to receive less than £30,000 from soccer glamour ties
By ROSETTA DONNELLY

OMAGH Town Football Club confirmed this week that the Omagh Memorial Fund will get less than £30,000 from last year's glamour soccer friendlies -despite the fact that almost seven times that amount was raised from the games. According to the club, the matches with Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea, lifted in the region of £200,000 but the actual money left over after all the bills were paid, is far short of this.
However, Omagh Town secretary, Pat McGlinchey defended the decision to bring the three soccer giants to the town, saying the purpose of the matches was to boost moral in Omagh, not simply raise money for the fund.
Mr McGlinchey said that it became clear right from the start that the costs of hosting the premier league superstars would be colossal, but they decided to press ahead feeling that the games would be like a tonic for the people of Omagh.
Reservations about the amount raised have been expressed this week by the Omagh self-help and support group.
The chairman of the group, Michael Gallagher, said: "Relatives of victims were concerned when they read reports in the weekend papers about the amount raised by the three matches. We will be contacting Omagh Council and the Omagh Fund about this matter".
The most expensive aspect of the staging of the matches was bringing the seating capacity from 2,000 to 7,000. This cost in the region of £70,000, and according to Pat McGlinchey, the seats had to be hired from England and had to remain throughout the period of the three matches.
The cost of bringing the grounds and surrounding carparks at Omagh Town up to satisfactory safety standard cost £50,000.
Some £10,000 was spent on flights and £10,000 was spent on accommodation, meals and hospitality.
Special portaloos had to be hired as well as coaches to transport the teams.
When it was first mooted about the teams coming to Omagh, a committee comprising local accountant, Brian Mellon, chief finance officer at Omagh Council, Joan McCaffrey and Omagh Town's Pat McGlinchey was set up to oversee all transactions.
Mr Mellon told the Herald this week that he had hoped that the final figure would be reached by the end of February, but this had not happened as there was still money outstanding.
He said he had been pressing club officials for final invoices and bills to be sent in forthwith.
"There are quite a few things to be sorted and some are quite complex," he added.
The accountant said he has received a lot of calls from the general public, councillors and the Omagh self-help and support group, all wanting to know what is happening to the money.
"All I am doing is overseeing the income and the expenses which have occurred. I am doing so in a voluntary capacity and only because I was asked to by Omagh Council," said Mr Mellon.
He went on to say that when all the loose ends have been tied up, he will draw up a final set of accounts which will be published and available for anyone who want to see it.
He said he did not believe any money should be paid to the Omagh Fund until all the outstanding bills for the memorial matches are settled.
The accountant said he did think the whole matter had dragged on too long, but this however, has been refuted by Pat McGlinchey who said he felt a six months time delay for such a complex matter was not unreasonable.
He said he did not want a situation to arise where the account would be closed and a cheque presented to the Omagh Fund, and then more bills arrive in from outstanding contractors.
Mr McGlinchey said he did not accept that it would have been financially more astute to have taken Windsor Park which had been offered free of charge. "There were plenty of functions going on throughout Ireland raising money for Omagh, and we felt this was something we could do which would provide a major lift for local people. We wanted local fathers to bring their sons up the road to the local pitch and see the big stars play and at a fraction of the cost".
"This did wonders for local people and therefore achieved what we set out to do," said the club secretary.
The final figure when eventually presented to the Omagh Fund will be placed in its discretionary fund which is purely for victims of the bomb.
The Omagh Fund stands at £6.5 million at the moment although according to the chief finance officer at the Council, some of this is in Punt which will reduce it considerably.
Donations from the sporting world which have poured in to the Omagh Fund include Darren Clarke's golf pro-am tournament £289,000; the Rugby fraternity raised £250,000; £750,000 from the Gaelic Athletic Association while the Football Associations of Ireland raised £150,000, and Omagh Golf Club raised £110,000.