Omagh hum source traced but not made public

The source of a mystery humming sound which has plagued people living in Omagh may now have been identified – but is not being made public.

People in the County Tyrone town first started to report a persistent humming that was keeping them them awake in the second half of last year.

A Fermanagh and Omagh District Council investigation has now ended.

John Boyle, the council’s director of community and wellbeing, said it had been “complex” but had been able to “hone in on a specific spot”.

Mr Boyle said the noise “wasn’t audible every night", and was linked to atmospheric conditions, making the investigation very difficult.

“We were able to hone in on a specific spot, and undertook a targeted screening exercise with a number of industrial businesses using equipment on a 24-hour basis," he said.

“However, a particular premises became the focus, and environmental health officers engaged with the management.

“While nothing was absolutely concluded, the noise did cease in a sense, but we will keep the complaint open and under review over the next number of months."

He told the council’s regeneration and community committee the council had received a total of 11 hum complaints.

Back in April, Mr Boyle told the same committee that unless there “are formal, public legal proceedings, we would not be naming the source of that noise”.

Alan Rodgers, a journalist with the Ulster Herald, said that people in Omagh were “waking up in the middle of the night and were hearing this humming sound”.

He said that it “wasn’t just specific to one particular area of the town” and was “very frustrating” to people who didn’t know where it was coming from.

Mr Rodgers said that the council began an investigation into the source of the noise, “but initially they couldn’t find a definitive source for it”.

“This was a very real fear for people… would they ever get a good night’s sleep again?”

He said that the hum “seems to have died down” in recent months but added that the council had warned that the sound may return in the autumn.

“Thankfully for now people seem to be getting a good night’s sleep,” Mr Rodgers said.

Speaking to BBC News NI on Thursday, one Omagh resident said the hum “caused a bit of disturbance but it didn’t really hurt anybody”.

“It was a bit of gossip, that’s what it was,” he said.

Another resident said the council should “of course” tell people where the noise was coming from.

“Why would they keep it secret?” she asked.