NO EARLY RELEASE FOR VICTIMS
No early release for victims
OMAGH'S dead are now buried but the victims' families and friends are only beginning life sentences of bereavement, the survivors are beginning life sentences of disability and flashbacks.
For them there is no early release. And which of us will be next? There is no guarantee that Omagh was the last bomb. Have our political leaders considered this?
It is true we must never forget the dead of Omagh but neither should we forget the others who have died in the last 30 years.
Omagh may have shocked us the most but the terrorists' bombs were no less devastating for Airey Neave, Lord Mountbatten, the construction workers at Teebane, the soldiers at Warrenpoint, etc, than for the shoppers of Omagh. All died horrifically - their friends and relatives still hurt.
After 30 years of murder in Northern Ireland Tony Blair came to power and set about opening the gates of terrorist jails.
Mr Blair tells us that "we must win the battle on the security front through democratic means..."
Blair in one year has left us more exposed to terrorism than we ever had been before and, in the wake of the worst atrocity ever, he insults us - the democracy abiding people - that we must win the battle through democracy.
People used to say John Major was weak, yet regarding Northern Ireland, it was Major, not Blair who made tough decisions. Sadly Mr Blair has nothing to offer us other than more coffins.
And what of Mr Clinton? When Americans die he launches bombs. When our people are killed he sends a sympathetic message and urges us to continue to back the Agreement which releases from prison similar people to the sort Clinton is bombing.
And what of our local leaders? Well, we have seen Mr Trimble become the Prime Minister's poodle and his new best friend Seamus still can't bring himself to admit that the name of the State of which he is Deputy First Minister is Northern Ireland.
We could almost be forgiven for thinking we are doomed. I can only urge the good people not to give up hope. We have participated in the triumph of democracy in two world wars. We can achieve victory over evil in our own country.
ALAN JAMES GREER,
Ballyclare, Co Antrim.
OMAGH'S dead are now buried but the victims' families and friends are only beginning life sentences of bereavement, the survivors are beginning life sentences of disability and flashbacks.
For them there is no early release. And which of us will be next? There is no guarantee that Omagh was the last bomb. Have our political leaders considered this?
It is true we must never forget the dead of Omagh but neither should we forget the others who have died in the last 30 years.
Omagh may have shocked us the most but the terrorists' bombs were no less devastating for Airey Neave, Lord Mountbatten, the construction workers at Teebane, the soldiers at Warrenpoint, etc, than for the shoppers of Omagh. All died horrifically - their friends and relatives still hurt.
After 30 years of murder in Northern Ireland Tony Blair came to power and set about opening the gates of terrorist jails.
Mr Blair tells us that "we must win the battle on the security front through democratic means..."
Blair in one year has left us more exposed to terrorism than we ever had been before and, in the wake of the worst atrocity ever, he insults us - the democracy abiding people - that we must win the battle through democracy.
People used to say John Major was weak, yet regarding Northern Ireland, it was Major, not Blair who made tough decisions. Sadly Mr Blair has nothing to offer us other than more coffins.
And what of Mr Clinton? When Americans die he launches bombs. When our people are killed he sends a sympathetic message and urges us to continue to back the Agreement which releases from prison similar people to the sort Clinton is bombing.
And what of our local leaders? Well, we have seen Mr Trimble become the Prime Minister's poodle and his new best friend Seamus still can't bring himself to admit that the name of the State of which he is Deputy First Minister is Northern Ireland.
We could almost be forgiven for thinking we are doomed. I can only urge the good people not to give up hope. We have participated in the triumph of democracy in two world wars. We can achieve victory over evil in our own country.
ALAN JAMES GREER,
Ballyclare, Co Antrim.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0385
Published Date: 05-Sep-98
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