ROAD TO RECOVERY
ROAD TO RECOVERY
Traders open doors in a bid for normality
By William Allen and Claire McGahan
THE people of Omagh made a valiant effort today to regain some semblance of normality in their devastated town centre.
Traders responded to a call to open for business despite the horrific legacy of the bomb attack, that claimed 28 lives.
Shops who lost members of staff in the Omagh Atrocity were among those who reopened their doors today.
Staff that were not on the duty rota turned up to give support to colleagues who would fill the spaces left by the dead. Some wept as they passed the hundreds of bouquets left outside many of the stores.
There was still a heavy air of grief in the town and a small number of shoppers were on the streets.
But the town's Chamber of Commerce president. Michael Gaine, said the first stage of grieving had passed and the town must face up to practicalities.
He said: "Many of those able to return to business felt uneasy. There are shops that cannot physically open use they are wrecked. There are shops that are fine physically but can't open because they have lost staff, and there are shops that are fine but feel ashamed to open.
"It is going to be terrible for some people but we really have to start over again."
The decision of many shops to reopen was as much a tribute to valued members of staff killed in the bombing as it was a show of defiance to the terrorists.
The retail manager Oxfam, which lost two teen-volunteers - Lorraine Wilson and Samantha McFarland - summed the mood of the town.
He said: "All of volunteers have come in today to betogether. We lost Lorraine and Samantha and Betty Wright lost her brother and nephew but all our volunteers believe that eopening the shop is what Lorraine and Samantha would have wanted."
Omagh councillor Oliver Gibson, whose niece Esther Gibson died in the blast, said he would stand shoulder to shoulder with nationalist councillor Paddy McGowan in the town centre to urge people to resume a semblance of normal commercial life.
Mr Gibson said this morning: "I am asking for the people of Omagh to go into town today, not necessarily to make purchases, but to encourage the people who work in the shops, to be there, to shake hands with them and to encourage businesses to open.
"In the future there will plans for the redevelopment of Omagh, but now is the time to help the people work there and whowere among the crowds moved down the street last Saturday.
"I am one of the grieving people, I lost a family member, but I am going into Omagh today with a fellow councillor of another political persuasion and publicly encourage the people to try and get the town back to normal."
Traders open doors in a bid for normality
By William Allen and Claire McGahan
THE people of Omagh made a valiant effort today to regain some semblance of normality in their devastated town centre.
Traders responded to a call to open for business despite the horrific legacy of the bomb attack, that claimed 28 lives.
Shops who lost members of staff in the Omagh Atrocity were among those who reopened their doors today.
Staff that were not on the duty rota turned up to give support to colleagues who would fill the spaces left by the dead. Some wept as they passed the hundreds of bouquets left outside many of the stores.
There was still a heavy air of grief in the town and a small number of shoppers were on the streets.
But the town's Chamber of Commerce president. Michael Gaine, said the first stage of grieving had passed and the town must face up to practicalities.
He said: "Many of those able to return to business felt uneasy. There are shops that cannot physically open use they are wrecked. There are shops that are fine physically but can't open because they have lost staff, and there are shops that are fine but feel ashamed to open.
"It is going to be terrible for some people but we really have to start over again."
The decision of many shops to reopen was as much a tribute to valued members of staff killed in the bombing as it was a show of defiance to the terrorists.
The retail manager Oxfam, which lost two teen-volunteers - Lorraine Wilson and Samantha McFarland - summed the mood of the town.
He said: "All of volunteers have come in today to betogether. We lost Lorraine and Samantha and Betty Wright lost her brother and nephew but all our volunteers believe that eopening the shop is what Lorraine and Samantha would have wanted."
Omagh councillor Oliver Gibson, whose niece Esther Gibson died in the blast, said he would stand shoulder to shoulder with nationalist councillor Paddy McGowan in the town centre to urge people to resume a semblance of normal commercial life.
Mr Gibson said this morning: "I am asking for the people of Omagh to go into town today, not necessarily to make purchases, but to encourage the people who work in the shops, to be there, to shake hands with them and to encourage businesses to open.
"In the future there will plans for the redevelopment of Omagh, but now is the time to help the people work there and whowere among the crowds moved down the street last Saturday.
"I am one of the grieving people, I lost a family member, but I am going into Omagh today with a fellow councillor of another political persuasion and publicly encourage the people to try and get the town back to normal."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0228
Published Date: 24-Aug-98
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