Rumours and allegations abound in Omagh town as simmering tensions over funds raised in the aftermath of the August 1998 "Real IRA" bomb attack have boiled over to animosity between the district council, some bereaved families and the local soccer club. The families, who admit feeling left out of the decision-making process in the aftermath of the bomb, have criticised the council for its handling of the memorial fund, which is administered by a board of council-appointed trustees. This week, as news emerged that the proceeds from three celebrity soccer matches amounted to u£15,000, the families have openly denounced the council.
"All in all, I think we find it difficult to believe that a measly sum like that would emerge from three matches that were supposed to raise u£200,000," said Mr Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Adrian (21) in the blast. "We have had some difficulty with the administration of the fund and this has just brought it to a head. We have to speak out because sometimes it can be dangerous to be too quiet."
Mr Gallagher is chairman of the Omagh Self-Help Group, which represents 14 families bereaved by the car bombing, which claimed the lives of 29 people and two unborn babies. The ultimate responsibility for the current situation lay with the council, as it authorised the fundraising event and promised that a system of financial checks and balances would be put in place, he said.
The chief executive of the council, Mr John McKinney, staunchly defended his own and the council's records, and described the comments as unjust. "Omagh District Council set up a mechanism aimed at ensuring absolute transparency and accountability in relation to income and expenditure associated with the three matches organised by Omagh Town Football Club," he said. "I understand these people are hurting and perhaps they need to lash out. If we are an easy target then that's fine but we also want fair treatment," he added. An independent auditor, Mr Brian Mellon, is expected to deliver a report before the end of the month on funds raised by the matches, which featured Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. All parties involved are anxious for an early release of the report, including the soccer club, which says it has nothing to hide.
A spokesman for Omagh Town said: "When the facts and figures are released the truth will speak for itself. The breakdown is very simple, the rental for extra seating to raise the ground's capacity to 7,000 cost us u £70,000 alone, then there was the PA system, fences, signs, new shower-heads for the visiting players. People don't see that the little things add up, that's the annoying thing." A local businessman who sponsors the club also tended to the needs of the visiting players. He said some of the requests made by the premiership clubs were a "bit overboard", such as demands for special health foods. He confirmed all his expenses had been paid by Omagh F.C. and said he never saw any abuse of the monies. "I've always been happy in my dealings with the club," he added.
Early fears were expressed that the events would finish in a loss, according to the club spokesman. "Everyone knew we weren't going to make a fortune out of this. The idea that people give their services free or at a reduced rate is a fallacy. Indeed, we were advised to set the price of tickets at around u £25 but we chose to keep it as low a possible with u £10 and u £15 tickets. The aim was to give a morale boost to the town," he added.
Some locals say the current controversy is a manifestation of the sense of unease that exists in the town since the attack. Building on the site of the bomb is only beginning and hoardings still line the pavement of Market street. "It's like an open coffin," said Mr Laurence Rush, whose wife, Libby, died in the attack. Mr Michael Duffy, a counsellor in the town's trauma centre, believes the litany of hoax bomb alerts since the attack, with around six incidents in the last three weeks, has also unsettled the community. He said one witness to the bombing told him that she had coaxed herself back into the town centre for the first time only to be terrified by a hoax alert. "This woman used to bring her child in shopping every Saturday and she was trying to take back her quality of life but now that's been set back," he said.
Commenting on the current disagreements, Mr Duffy said after such a traumatic event the adjustment for an individual was complex and on a community level even more so. "It partially explains why conflict is inevitable. Delicate negotiation is required and the pace of recovery is essential," he said.
According to another local, "insensitivity" was shown to the relatives by the council. However, there was also a question of the bereaved families wishing to remind people that "they are still here".
"There has been a lack of dialogue between the groups and at times the council would have made blunders only they were pulled into line by people working in the community. The Garden of Remembrance nearly wasn't ready for the first anniversary only they were told to put a push in," added the local.
Stories are also beginning to circulate in the small town that an inquest into the deaths may soon be announced. This would not have been necessary if criminal prosecutions were to occur. The announcement would confirm to many that the police investigation had come to nothing. "There is a definite feeling of injustice that underpins all of this unease," said another man. But for the moment the vexation centres on the memorial fund. Mr Rush explains how the families feel "deliberately omitted" by the members of the trust, who are resented by some as "blow-ins" to the town. Legally the trust says it cannot meet with the relatives as a group because they are beneficiaries of the fund. The fund raised u £6.5 million and the bulk of this has been allocated, with fundraising now officially over.
"They have tied everything up in knots. It's all legal but it's not fair," said Mr Rush. "But this is not about the five pound note; it's about the principle. I've heard the comment, `Oh, so it's about the money', as if I would trade my wife in for money."
Mr Gallagher said the families always felt they were playing "catch-up" with the decisions taken at local government level. He found out through a newspaper that Omagh was to host the launch of the millennium celebrations and that the Corrs intended to play a concert in the town. "All we want is recognition, we have rights," he said. One local councillor, Mr Pat McDonnell of the SDLP, has forged a link with the self-help group and has emerged as mediator in current efforts to defuse the difficulties. To date he has organised a meeting with the chairman of the memorial fund and the relatives, which he described as a "rough and honest" encounter. A meeting between the group and Mr McKinney is scheduled for Monday night.
"I'm not sure that this situation has reached its pinnacle because we still have a few nettles to grasp but we want to rebuild these relationships and we want clarity in the situation. It cannot be cloaked over," he said. But similarly, the reality that this rift runs deep and to the heart of a once-united town cannot be cloaked over. The Ulster Unionist Party chairman of the district council, Mr Allan Rainey, also defends the council and its response to the bombing. His wife, Alberta, died from cancer three months after the bomb when fundraising efforts were at their height and he is deeply hurt by the dispute.
"I was racked with guilt when she died but I have been told to keep my head high. I wouldn't have told anyone about this only I have been put in this position. I would like to be respected for what I have done and for the sacrifices that my wife made."