QUEEN IN SPECIAL SERVICE PLAN
Queen in special service plan
THE Queen is to lead mourners at a formal service in memory of the victims of the Omagh bomb.
The Duke of Edinburgh and Prime Minister Tony Blair will also attend the service, the date and venue for which have yet to be finalised.
Downing Street said the Republic's President Mary McAleese and the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, as well as Spanish Prime Minister Jose-Maria Aznar, would also be invited and are expected to attend.
A No 10 spokesman said Mr Blair believed that the wishes of the relatives of the victims should be "paramount", and therefore the timing, location and form of the service would be decided in consultation with them.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the Queen realised the people of Omagh needed time to grieve in peace.
"She will be attending the service when it is organised in due course," he said.
A few hours after the bombing last Saturday the Queen sent a message of her "heartfelt sympathy" to the bereaved and injured and said she was "shocked to hear of the appalling crime".
Downing Street said planning for the memorial service was at an early stage.
A spokesman insisted it was too soon to say anything about the timing or location of the service, or whether it was likely to be in Omagh itself.
"All these issues are to be decided," the spokesman emphasised.
THE Queen is to lead mourners at a formal service in memory of the victims of the Omagh bomb.
The Duke of Edinburgh and Prime Minister Tony Blair will also attend the service, the date and venue for which have yet to be finalised.
Downing Street said the Republic's President Mary McAleese and the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, as well as Spanish Prime Minister Jose-Maria Aznar, would also be invited and are expected to attend.
A No 10 spokesman said Mr Blair believed that the wishes of the relatives of the victims should be "paramount", and therefore the timing, location and form of the service would be decided in consultation with them.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the Queen realised the people of Omagh needed time to grieve in peace.
"She will be attending the service when it is organised in due course," he said.
A few hours after the bombing last Saturday the Queen sent a message of her "heartfelt sympathy" to the bereaved and injured and said she was "shocked to hear of the appalling crime".
Downing Street said planning for the memorial service was at an early stage.
A spokesman insisted it was too soon to say anything about the timing or location of the service, or whether it was likely to be in Omagh itself.
"All these issues are to be decided," the spokesman emphasised.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0182
Published Date: 22-Aug-98
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