Omagh relative hits out at British govt

An outraged father whose son was killed in the Omagh bomb atrocity today accused the British government of abandoning relatives of the dead.

Michael Gallagher hit out at new Northern Ireland Victims' Minister Angela Smith after she rejected a plea to help move his traumatised daughter closer to the family home.

He said: “It’s time those bereaved in the Troubles realised this government will do absolutely nothing for them.”

Mr Gallagher has been trying to secure the tenancy on a vacant Housing Executive property for his daughter Sharon, 30, near to where he lives in the Co Tyrone town.

She has suffered from severe depression since her brother Aiden, 21, was murdered along with 28 others in the Real IRA bomb attack five years ago.

After victims’ issues were transferred to her portfolio during the Cabinet reshuffle in June, Mr Gallagher wrote to Ms Smith seeking her help.

He says he was shocked by the manner in which Ms Smith turned down his plea.

All houses are allocated on the basis of a point system due to legal requirements, she told him in a response.

The minister said: “It would be out of the question for me to intervene to ask for preferential treatment for victims.”