OMAGH WILL BE SHRINE TO IRISH PEACE
Omagh will be 'shrine to Irish peace'
OMAGH will become a "shrine of goodness'' symbolising transcendence over the differences splitting Northern Ireland, said Irish President Mary McAleese today.
Mrs McAleese made the prediction while speaking at a Canberra lunch in her honour hosted by Prime Minister John Howard.
She said it had been extraordinary to be in Omagh after the August 15 terrorist bombing that killed 29 people and injured 330.
"There was a real feeling after Omagh that ... we still are Nationalist, Unionist, Protestant, Catholic, but somehow something else had transcended that," she said.
"While those differences remain, they have been transcended now by the fact that we were now people who had said yes to peace.
"I believe that Omagh will in time come to be recognized as a real shrine to goodness, as a place where we made a stand for 'yes'," said Mrs McAleese.
She said that the commitment to peace inspired by the Omagh bombing was greater than that on the day the Irish people approved the Good Friday peace agreement.
"After Omagh, we were tested.
"I think what our 'yes' meant was that each of us shifted enough to create space in our lives for the very otherness of others,
Mrs McAleese said."We are now creating a culture of consensus, where there are winners and winners."
OMAGH will become a "shrine of goodness'' symbolising transcendence over the differences splitting Northern Ireland, said Irish President Mary McAleese today.
Mrs McAleese made the prediction while speaking at a Canberra lunch in her honour hosted by Prime Minister John Howard.
She said it had been extraordinary to be in Omagh after the August 15 terrorist bombing that killed 29 people and injured 330.
"There was a real feeling after Omagh that ... we still are Nationalist, Unionist, Protestant, Catholic, but somehow something else had transcended that," she said.
"While those differences remain, they have been transcended now by the fact that we were now people who had said yes to peace.
"I believe that Omagh will in time come to be recognized as a real shrine to goodness, as a place where we made a stand for 'yes'," said Mrs McAleese.
She said that the commitment to peace inspired by the Omagh bombing was greater than that on the day the Irish people approved the Good Friday peace agreement.
"After Omagh, we were tested.
"I think what our 'yes' meant was that each of us shifted enough to create space in our lives for the very otherness of others,
Mrs McAleese said."We are now creating a culture of consensus, where there are winners and winners."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0391
Published Date: 07-Sep-98
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