Omagh given £900,000 in lottery funds

Omagh has been awarded £900,000 of Heritage Lottery Fund money to help with an extensive rebuilding programme following the "…

Omagh has been awarded £900,000 of Heritage Lottery Fund money to help with an extensive rebuilding programme following the "Real IRA" bombing.

The grant will be used to help reconstruct Lower Market Street where the bomb exploded two months ago, killing 29 people and injuring hundreds of others.

The chief executive of Omagh District Council, Mr John McKinney, said: "This is very timely, coming just as demolition work is complete and we are about to try and move forward."

"Most people would like to see some sort of reflective area, but they also want to see something different there. They don't want to have to look at that street and see how it was on August 15th," he said.

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The largest grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund went to the charity, Bryson House, which will use the £1.5 million to restore the former Belfast Gas office.

The red-brick Victorian building has been unoccupied for 11 years. Its circular clock tower dates back to between 1880 and 1890.

Bryson House plans to make the building available for office and conference use by voluntary and community groups.