PRIEST COULDN'T TELL DEAD FROM SERIOUSLY ILL
Priest couldn't tell dead from seriously ill, there was so much blood
By Maureen Coleman
A DONEGAL priest, home on holiday from South Africa, spoke of the utter carnage and devestation at the scene of the bomb.
Father Eddie Deeney was travelling home to Rathmullan through Omagh when the explosion went off.
"I presumed the area had been evacuated and continued driving until I saw the devastation and people running around and calling out names," he said.
"Just 30 yards down the street, it was a scene of total carnage. There were bodies lying everywhere and policemen were trying to cover them up in sheets.
"The watermains had burst and there was water flowing over the bodies. I felt completely numb and the only way to cope with
what I saw was to switch off my emotions."
Together with another priest, Fr Donal Gillespie, Fr Deeney prayed over the bodies and administered the Last Rites.
"It was impossible to tell who was dead and who was seriously injured, there was so much blood," he said.
"We then made our way to the hospital where it was utterly chaotic. There were bodies piled in the corridors. It was like a war zone. All we could do was hold people's hands and pray for them."
Fr Deeney and Fr Gillespie returned to the hospital yesterday afternoon to offer words of comfort to the injured and to the relatives.
"There was a terrible stunned silence with people just sitting around waiting for news - waiting and hoping that theirs would not be bad: news," he said.
On the first day of his holiday, last week, Fr Deeney was at the centre of rescue drama in Dublin when he saved a man from the river Liffey.
By Maureen Coleman
A DONEGAL priest, home on holiday from South Africa, spoke of the utter carnage and devestation at the scene of the bomb.
Father Eddie Deeney was travelling home to Rathmullan through Omagh when the explosion went off.
"I presumed the area had been evacuated and continued driving until I saw the devastation and people running around and calling out names," he said.
"Just 30 yards down the street, it was a scene of total carnage. There were bodies lying everywhere and policemen were trying to cover them up in sheets.
"The watermains had burst and there was water flowing over the bodies. I felt completely numb and the only way to cope with
what I saw was to switch off my emotions."
Together with another priest, Fr Donal Gillespie, Fr Deeney prayed over the bodies and administered the Last Rites.
"It was impossible to tell who was dead and who was seriously injured, there was so much blood," he said.
"We then made our way to the hospital where it was utterly chaotic. There were bodies piled in the corridors. It was like a war zone. All we could do was hold people's hands and pray for them."
Fr Deeney and Fr Gillespie returned to the hospital yesterday afternoon to offer words of comfort to the injured and to the relatives.
"There was a terrible stunned silence with people just sitting around waiting for news - waiting and hoping that theirs would not be bad: news," he said.
On the first day of his holiday, last week, Fr Deeney was at the centre of rescue drama in Dublin when he saved a man from the river Liffey.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0016
Published Date: 17-Aug-98
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