311 counselled at Omagh centre

The North's Health Minister, Mr John McFall, was told yesterday that more than 300 people had visited the Trauma and Recovery…

The North's Health Minister, Mr John McFall, was told yesterday that more than 300 people had visited the Trauma and Recovery Centre in Omagh, set up to counsel people affected by last August's bomb, which killed 29 people. Mr McFall spoke to staff in the centre after he announced a £2 million sterling government donation to help medical and social services staff in dealing with the aftermath of the bombing. So far staff in the centre have counselled 311 people, 100 of them in the last four weeks.

"This extra money will be for the trauma centre and all the related activities, to be of assistance to the victims, the families and to the community generally," said Mr McFall.

"The trauma centre staff, away from the glare of the media, are dealing with individual people's lives, and there are many people who are still suffering today, as I have been made very much aware. There is an awful lot of work to do yet following the bombing, and this will not be my last visit here," he said.