A number of companies based in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) have launched a fund-raising drive to help victims of the Omagh bombing.

They have sent letters to some 400 firms in the IFSC, asking them to make as generous a donation as possible to the fund which will help the families of the 28 people who died in the blast as well as those who were injured.

The fund's organising committee includes representatives of AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, Merrill Lynch and Arthur Andersen, all of which have pledged substantial sums.