Trust fund for house fire orphans set to close

A TRUST set up to help three children orphaned following a fire at their home at the start of the summer is about to close. Those who still intend to pledge money to the appeal are urged to do so as soon as possible.

Response to the O’Regan Family Trust Fund set up to help Cian, Brianna and Aaron O’Regan from Ballybeg in Waterford has been phenomenal, with money flooding in from all over the country. The three children lost their parents, Bryan and Johanna, and younger sister Niamh in a fire at their home in the early hours of June 6.

Those behind the trust, chief among them city mayor Cha O’Neill, say the account will wrap up shortly but money pledged will still go to the family, even after the official closing date.

“People will still be able to donate to the account, once the main appeal is over. The account will always be there. But the major fundraisers and appeals will be over,” the mayor added.Carmel Hutchinson of the Bank of Ireland in Lisduggan paid tribute to the anonymous woman from Tramore in Waterford whose call to local radio station, WLR FM spurred the move to set up the account.

“The fund has been going very well and will be wrapping up shortly. The new mayor, Cha O’Neill, has taken over where the former mayor, Hilary Quinlan, left off.

“He has organised a solicitor who will advise all involved in the trust on the best way to administer it.”

When he launched the trust, former mayor Hilary Quinlan said it is a tragedy which has not just touched the people of Waterford but families nationwide.

“I have never seen an outpouring of grief to compare with what was witnessed in Ballybeg in the days since the awful fire tragedy that claimed the young lives of Bryan and Johanna O’Regan and their beloved daughter, Niamh.

“This was a young family setting out on their life’s journey with all of the hopes, dreams and fears that go with it. That they should die so suddenly at such young ages and in such harrowing circumstances has struck all of us in Waterford as appalling,” the former mayor said.

The children are being cared for by their father’s parents, Pa and Joan O’Regan. Their house is less than a mile away from their former home. All three children will return to their old schools in just over a week.

&lThe O’Regan appeal account is held at Bank of Ireland Lisduggan and donations can be made through any Bank of Ireland branch. The sort code is 90-62-16 and the account number is 40559976.