LET EVERYONE UNITE AGAINST THIS EVIL
Let everyone unite against this evil
OVER the past 30 years, Northern Ireland has endured countless weekends of tragedy, but nothing can compare with the sense of emptiness and numbness which grips the entire community today. The Omagh massacre was the worst single incident in three decades of bloodshed, its pain made all the more poignant by the fact that it comes at a time when a lasting peace finally appears to be within reach.
Today the first thoughts of everyone in Northern Ireland will be with the people of Omagh as they come to terms with the scale of Saturday's atrocity. The bomb cut a swathe through the fabric of society, claiming the lives of young and old, Protestant and Catholic, unionist and nationalist. To target a busy shopping street on a Saturday afternoon was an act designed to cause maximum carnage and this was truly a slaughter of the innocents.
The faces of the victims stare out from the pages of this newspaper and even the hardest of hearts could not fail to be moved. Smiling children with everything before them, young people on the threshold of adulthood and those who in the prime of life. Behind each
face lies a life cut short in the most heinous of circumstances.
Most moving of all are the interviews with the bereaved, and their simple testimonies to their loved ones. Their eloquent accounts of hearing about the explosion, the frantic quest for news and then the agony of a night spent waiting and wondering before hearing the worst are heart-rending in the extreme. They will need the support and succour of families and friends in the difficult days to come.
Even in the violent history of this island, the Omagh bombing beggars belief. Perhaps, only Nazi Germany inflicted more suffering on a single day when the bombs rained down just as indiscriminately on the people of Belfast in 1941.
While this community is still in a state of shock, it must not give way to despair. Rather, this is a time for us all to unite against terrorism and resolve once and for all to have done with the men of violence. Let Omagh be the last bomb attack in Northern Ireland, let it act as an epitaph for the terrorist campaigns - both republican and loyalist - which have inflicted such suffering on the province.
May it prove to be the case that the darkest hour is just before the dawn.
Northern Ireland has lived through a long nightmare of terrorism and intolerance. Tragically, Omagh now takes its place in the litany of barbarity - ranging from McGurk's Bar and the Abercorn to La Mon and Enniskillen. Such atrocities are an attack on the entire community, and now people must stand firm in response to yet another assault.
Throughout city and country, town and village, there is a wave of heartfelt sympathy for Omagh and for those who suffered. A province-wide day of mourning has been suggested, and this should be acted upon. People need some outlet for their grief, and the wider community will value an opportunity to identify with the victims. This is a tragedy which has touched everyone in Northern Ireland, and it must now provide an opportunity for us all, from whatever tradition, to stand together in our common grief.
The sad reality is that the loss of life which has occured in Omagh could have happened before in Banbridge, Markethill or Newtownhamilton. This time the warning was not just inadequate, but it was callously inaccurate. If, indeed, the bombers set out to kill as many as they did, then a serious threat hangs over this entire province. We must all be on the alert and thesecurity forces must respond accordingly.
At this time of renewed tension, it would be appalling if any loyalist organisation would dare consider any act of retaliation. This community has had enough of terror and the Omagh bomb has caused untold suffering to Protestant and Catholic alike.
The immediate response must be for everyone to give their support to the forces of law and order in Northern Ireland and the Republic. The RUC and the Gardai must pool every scrap of information and maximise their resources to ensure that there is no hiding place anywhere in this island for those prepared to carry out such a ruthless act. There is a special onus on the authorities in the Republic to ensure that their territory is never again used as the launching pad for any such attacks.
Let our entire community unite against this evil which has manifested itself in Omagh. Let us commit ourselves to peace, and peace alone. Let us back the forces of law and order. Let us resolve to build a new future together, unionist and nationalist alike. Let this be our sincere and lasting tribute to the victims of Omagh.
OVER the past 30 years, Northern Ireland has endured countless weekends of tragedy, but nothing can compare with the sense of emptiness and numbness which grips the entire community today. The Omagh massacre was the worst single incident in three decades of bloodshed, its pain made all the more poignant by the fact that it comes at a time when a lasting peace finally appears to be within reach.
Today the first thoughts of everyone in Northern Ireland will be with the people of Omagh as they come to terms with the scale of Saturday's atrocity. The bomb cut a swathe through the fabric of society, claiming the lives of young and old, Protestant and Catholic, unionist and nationalist. To target a busy shopping street on a Saturday afternoon was an act designed to cause maximum carnage and this was truly a slaughter of the innocents.
The faces of the victims stare out from the pages of this newspaper and even the hardest of hearts could not fail to be moved. Smiling children with everything before them, young people on the threshold of adulthood and those who in the prime of life. Behind each
face lies a life cut short in the most heinous of circumstances.
Most moving of all are the interviews with the bereaved, and their simple testimonies to their loved ones. Their eloquent accounts of hearing about the explosion, the frantic quest for news and then the agony of a night spent waiting and wondering before hearing the worst are heart-rending in the extreme. They will need the support and succour of families and friends in the difficult days to come.
Even in the violent history of this island, the Omagh bombing beggars belief. Perhaps, only Nazi Germany inflicted more suffering on a single day when the bombs rained down just as indiscriminately on the people of Belfast in 1941.
While this community is still in a state of shock, it must not give way to despair. Rather, this is a time for us all to unite against terrorism and resolve once and for all to have done with the men of violence. Let Omagh be the last bomb attack in Northern Ireland, let it act as an epitaph for the terrorist campaigns - both republican and loyalist - which have inflicted such suffering on the province.
May it prove to be the case that the darkest hour is just before the dawn.
Northern Ireland has lived through a long nightmare of terrorism and intolerance. Tragically, Omagh now takes its place in the litany of barbarity - ranging from McGurk's Bar and the Abercorn to La Mon and Enniskillen. Such atrocities are an attack on the entire community, and now people must stand firm in response to yet another assault.
Throughout city and country, town and village, there is a wave of heartfelt sympathy for Omagh and for those who suffered. A province-wide day of mourning has been suggested, and this should be acted upon. People need some outlet for their grief, and the wider community will value an opportunity to identify with the victims. This is a tragedy which has touched everyone in Northern Ireland, and it must now provide an opportunity for us all, from whatever tradition, to stand together in our common grief.
The sad reality is that the loss of life which has occured in Omagh could have happened before in Banbridge, Markethill or Newtownhamilton. This time the warning was not just inadequate, but it was callously inaccurate. If, indeed, the bombers set out to kill as many as they did, then a serious threat hangs over this entire province. We must all be on the alert and thesecurity forces must respond accordingly.
At this time of renewed tension, it would be appalling if any loyalist organisation would dare consider any act of retaliation. This community has had enough of terror and the Omagh bomb has caused untold suffering to Protestant and Catholic alike.
The immediate response must be for everyone to give their support to the forces of law and order in Northern Ireland and the Republic. The RUC and the Gardai must pool every scrap of information and maximise their resources to ensure that there is no hiding place anywhere in this island for those prepared to carry out such a ruthless act. There is a special onus on the authorities in the Republic to ensure that their territory is never again used as the launching pad for any such attacks.
Let our entire community unite against this evil which has manifested itself in Omagh. Let us commit ourselves to peace, and peace alone. Let us back the forces of law and order. Let us resolve to build a new future together, unionist and nationalist alike. Let this be our sincere and lasting tribute to the victims of Omagh.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0037
Published Date: 17-Aug-98
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