MCALEESE INVITES 200 FROM OMAGH TO SEE CHOIR SHOW
McAleese invites 200 from Omagh to see choir show
By Kieran McGuigan, and Michael Devine
TWO hundred people from Omagh are in for a special musical treat next week laid on by President Mary McAleese.
They have been invited to a reception at her official residence in Dublin's Phoenix Park on Wednesday where they will be entertained by the internationally-acclaimed Vienna Boys Choir.
Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, will also attend the performance.
The Vienna Boys Choir will provide its services free of charge as a gesture of solidarity with the people of Omagh who are recovering from last August's horrific bomb, in which 29 people died and 250 were injured.
The 200 people invited to the Aras are a representative selection of the bereaved, the injured and members of the health and emergency services who tended to the victims.
Meanwhile, the Omagh fund is set to benefit by up to half a million pounds thanks to the Republic's top broadcaster, Gay Byrne.
The doyen of the airwaves devoted his RTE television programme, the Late, Late Show, last night to the people of Omagh.
Included in the line-up for the fund-raising special were U2, Paul Brady, Daniel O'Donnell, Brian kennedy and Ireland's latest supergroup The Corrs.
The packed audience, made up of the families from Omagh and Buncrana, was told by host Gay Byrne that "music is the language of emotion" and they were treated to a number of outstanding performances.
And between the performances, the Omagh injured and bereaved were given the chance to tell their harrowing stories of what happened on August 15.
After a touching performance of North and South of the River, U2's Bono told the audience: "The only grain of hope that we can glean from this terror is the thought that this has to be the end of it and" that was the night the Troubles ended - we have to believe that."
Viewers were asked to pledge money to the Omagh appeal and throughout had to be asked to be patient as the phone lines were jammed with callers.
And before the show even began, members of The Corrs had already raised �150,000 from Irish businesses.
Yesterday, one of Northern Ireland's top policemen, Eric Anderson, broke down as he appealed for information to help catch the bombers.
Detective Chief Superintendent Anderson spoke of the emotion felt by his 30 officers as they relentlessly pursued the killers.
By Kieran McGuigan, and Michael Devine
TWO hundred people from Omagh are in for a special musical treat next week laid on by President Mary McAleese.
They have been invited to a reception at her official residence in Dublin's Phoenix Park on Wednesday where they will be entertained by the internationally-acclaimed Vienna Boys Choir.
Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, will also attend the performance.
The Vienna Boys Choir will provide its services free of charge as a gesture of solidarity with the people of Omagh who are recovering from last August's horrific bomb, in which 29 people died and 250 were injured.
The 200 people invited to the Aras are a representative selection of the bereaved, the injured and members of the health and emergency services who tended to the victims.
Meanwhile, the Omagh fund is set to benefit by up to half a million pounds thanks to the Republic's top broadcaster, Gay Byrne.
The doyen of the airwaves devoted his RTE television programme, the Late, Late Show, last night to the people of Omagh.
Included in the line-up for the fund-raising special were U2, Paul Brady, Daniel O'Donnell, Brian kennedy and Ireland's latest supergroup The Corrs.
The packed audience, made up of the families from Omagh and Buncrana, was told by host Gay Byrne that "music is the language of emotion" and they were treated to a number of outstanding performances.
And between the performances, the Omagh injured and bereaved were given the chance to tell their harrowing stories of what happened on August 15.
After a touching performance of North and South of the River, U2's Bono told the audience: "The only grain of hope that we can glean from this terror is the thought that this has to be the end of it and" that was the night the Troubles ended - we have to believe that."
Viewers were asked to pledge money to the Omagh appeal and throughout had to be asked to be patient as the phone lines were jammed with callers.
And before the show even began, members of The Corrs had already raised �150,000 from Irish businesses.
Yesterday, one of Northern Ireland's top policemen, Eric Anderson, broke down as he appealed for information to help catch the bombers.
Detective Chief Superintendent Anderson spoke of the emotion felt by his 30 officers as they relentlessly pursued the killers.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0515
Published Date: 21-Nov-98
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