GRIEVING ULSTER FINDS IT HELPS TO TALK
Grieving Ulster finds that it helps to talk
By Claire McGahan
ULSTER people in despair and shock over the mass murder in Omagh are turning to the media to express their feelings.
Newspapers and broadcasting organisations have been inundated with letters and messages of condolence.
Although most of them have not been personally affected by the bombing, they feel shocked and helpless in the face of such loss and suffering in Omagh.
One broadcaster who has been at the sharp edge of province-wide grief this week was himself caught up in one of the worst acts of terrorism the province has seen, the bombing of the Abercorn in Belfast. This week his programme, like others on Radio Ulster has opened up the lines for people to talk.
Many have rung in to pass on their sympathy and feelings of helplessness; many more have committed their thoughts to paper - some 300 calls and letters are being received daily.
One man phoned the George Jones show to say how a young reserve RUC man who helped victims in the carnage now can't eat or sleep.
A doctor from Carrickmore wrote a four-page letter telling of the heroism displayed in the blackest hours - by nurses and doctors, police and emergency services.
And he wrote of the courage of the injured - one young girl who, on seeing that Tyrone County Hospital was overflowing with injured people, got a lift to South Tyrone hospital where she underwent life-saving surgery for a lacerated liver
After three days this week talking and listening to people's thoughts, George Jones went to Omagh with his family to lay flowers.
"In Omagh the air is so intense. All these waves of emotion, grief, love, sadness, pain, joy, all pouring into Omagh," he said.
"I found it hard to breath, and the silence - you could hear the silence.
"I have never felt anything like it. I was involved in the Abercorn bombing, working and playing music there when the bomb went off. I thought I had seen it all that day. But to be in Omagh and see the aftermath of a complete town wiped out of its feelings. . ."
George Jones' afternoon radio show is normally a light-hearted affair, with competitions and surprise calls to people celebrating a special event, a birthday or anniversary.
But this week it was brought sharply home to him just what a small community Ulster is.
"I was crossing the bridge in Omagh and a woman stopped to talk," he said.
"She mentioned a lady, her good friend Geraldine, who died in the bomb and was being buried the next day.
"She said to me 'you knew her, you did a surprise call for her the day before her 'marriage'.
"I could not take it in. When I spoke to that lady, Geraldine Breslin, three years ago I was trying to make her happy by surprising her before her wedding. I touched that girl's life at a really happy time. And the next time I hear about her she has been murdered."
By Claire McGahan
ULSTER people in despair and shock over the mass murder in Omagh are turning to the media to express their feelings.
Newspapers and broadcasting organisations have been inundated with letters and messages of condolence.
Although most of them have not been personally affected by the bombing, they feel shocked and helpless in the face of such loss and suffering in Omagh.
One broadcaster who has been at the sharp edge of province-wide grief this week was himself caught up in one of the worst acts of terrorism the province has seen, the bombing of the Abercorn in Belfast. This week his programme, like others on Radio Ulster has opened up the lines for people to talk.
Many have rung in to pass on their sympathy and feelings of helplessness; many more have committed their thoughts to paper - some 300 calls and letters are being received daily.
One man phoned the George Jones show to say how a young reserve RUC man who helped victims in the carnage now can't eat or sleep.
A doctor from Carrickmore wrote a four-page letter telling of the heroism displayed in the blackest hours - by nurses and doctors, police and emergency services.
And he wrote of the courage of the injured - one young girl who, on seeing that Tyrone County Hospital was overflowing with injured people, got a lift to South Tyrone hospital where she underwent life-saving surgery for a lacerated liver
After three days this week talking and listening to people's thoughts, George Jones went to Omagh with his family to lay flowers.
"In Omagh the air is so intense. All these waves of emotion, grief, love, sadness, pain, joy, all pouring into Omagh," he said.
"I found it hard to breath, and the silence - you could hear the silence.
"I have never felt anything like it. I was involved in the Abercorn bombing, working and playing music there when the bomb went off. I thought I had seen it all that day. But to be in Omagh and see the aftermath of a complete town wiped out of its feelings. . ."
George Jones' afternoon radio show is normally a light-hearted affair, with competitions and surprise calls to people celebrating a special event, a birthday or anniversary.
But this week it was brought sharply home to him just what a small community Ulster is.
"I was crossing the bridge in Omagh and a woman stopped to talk," he said.
"She mentioned a lady, her good friend Geraldine, who died in the bomb and was being buried the next day.
"She said to me 'you knew her, you did a surprise call for her the day before her 'marriage'.
"I could not take it in. When I spoke to that lady, Geraldine Breslin, three years ago I was trying to make her happy by surprising her before her wedding. I touched that girl's life at a really happy time. And the next time I hear about her she has been murdered."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0160
Published Date: 21-Aug-98
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.