HEARTACHE TOWN AIMS FOR BRAVE NEW WORLD
Heartache town aims for brave new world
Many people in Omagh are hoping the New Year will mean a new start for the town. Una Bradley heard some of them share their hopes and fears.
A CATHOLIC priest spoke for many in Omagh when he shared his thoughts on the significance of a new year.
"We all want to go forward and get back to the normal rhythms of life, but we will carry what happened with us in our hearts always." he said.
Four-and-a-half months on from the bomb which ripped out the heart of the town. Omagh needs a new start more than anywhere.
Yet there is a palpable fear the human side of the tragedy will be forgotten, in the bustle or getting back to 'ordinary life'.
People talk tentatively of their ambitions for 1999. Many want to erase the physical reminders of the bomb - the site of the blast and the ravaged town centre.
Others crave a dignified acknowledgement, perhaps in the form of a monument, that nothing will ever - ever - be the same again.
Alongside these aspirations is a heart-warming dedication to work together, for all sides to join in reclaiming Omagh from the terrorists and give it back to its own.
Chief executive of the local council, John McKinney, said the town hoped to build on the "confidence gained over Christmas".
He said: "Trade was good over Christmas and that gave everyone a morale boost. There was a whole programme of events which was organised by the community here.
"There was this great sense of unity and cooperation. It was a shining example of how a town - even one as hurt as this - can focus and go forward."
Over at the town's trauma centre, named The Bridge after victim Sean McLaughlin's poem for peace, faltering steps were being taken into the future.
Trauma counsellor Sean Collins said: "For some of the bereaved and injured, all the new year signifies is another endless stretch of drudgery and misery.
"Then there are others who want to say goodbye to 1998.
"There is still a lot of anger and guilt and these are early days. Nothing will be healed overnight - Enniskillen showed us that."
Catholic priest Fr Kevin Mullan said the greatest hope was that August 15 would act as a watershed.
"I think everybody hopes the depth and intensity of pain will guarantee that nobody will ever want to do something like this ever again," he said.
"People desperately want this to be the last tragedy in Northern Ireland. Personally, I hope that we can move forward while retaining a capacity to reach out to others in pain.
"We want to move forward but we will always carry what happened in our hearts. It will be part of everything we do as we go into the next year."
Hotelier Peter Watterson struck an upbeat note when he said trade was becoming brisker.
"The Give A Day to Omagh was hugely successful and we are tremendously grateful to everyone who turned out,' he said.
"In the long term, I think we're all looking forward to redeveloping the town.
"Our hotel, the Royal Arms, is going to be made into a Victorian shopping mall with 14 shops in March. And the hotel is going to move next door.
"That is a good sign. What happened in Omagh is never going to go away, but the new year is a good time to move forward."
Presbyterian minister the Rev John Murdoch said the new year had already seen the first stirrings of hope.
"We're all trying to face into the new year and we are determined to stand together.
"There is a determination to reclaim as much normality as possible.
"Although people are still feeling incapacitated and hurt, there is a positive spirit abroad."
Jewellery retailer Roy Allen, of the Omagh Association of Traders, hoped Omagh could become a "model town for Northern Ireland".
He said: "The inclusion of so many Omagh people in the New Year honours list proves what we can do when we pull together.
"We have to become a model town for the future of Northern Ireland - if only to make sense of it all."
Many people in Omagh are hoping the New Year will mean a new start for the town. Una Bradley heard some of them share their hopes and fears.
A CATHOLIC priest spoke for many in Omagh when he shared his thoughts on the significance of a new year.
"We all want to go forward and get back to the normal rhythms of life, but we will carry what happened with us in our hearts always." he said.
Four-and-a-half months on from the bomb which ripped out the heart of the town. Omagh needs a new start more than anywhere.
Yet there is a palpable fear the human side of the tragedy will be forgotten, in the bustle or getting back to 'ordinary life'.
People talk tentatively of their ambitions for 1999. Many want to erase the physical reminders of the bomb - the site of the blast and the ravaged town centre.
Others crave a dignified acknowledgement, perhaps in the form of a monument, that nothing will ever - ever - be the same again.
Alongside these aspirations is a heart-warming dedication to work together, for all sides to join in reclaiming Omagh from the terrorists and give it back to its own.
Chief executive of the local council, John McKinney, said the town hoped to build on the "confidence gained over Christmas".
He said: "Trade was good over Christmas and that gave everyone a morale boost. There was a whole programme of events which was organised by the community here.
"There was this great sense of unity and cooperation. It was a shining example of how a town - even one as hurt as this - can focus and go forward."
Over at the town's trauma centre, named The Bridge after victim Sean McLaughlin's poem for peace, faltering steps were being taken into the future.
Trauma counsellor Sean Collins said: "For some of the bereaved and injured, all the new year signifies is another endless stretch of drudgery and misery.
"Then there are others who want to say goodbye to 1998.
"There is still a lot of anger and guilt and these are early days. Nothing will be healed overnight - Enniskillen showed us that."
Catholic priest Fr Kevin Mullan said the greatest hope was that August 15 would act as a watershed.
"I think everybody hopes the depth and intensity of pain will guarantee that nobody will ever want to do something like this ever again," he said.
"People desperately want this to be the last tragedy in Northern Ireland. Personally, I hope that we can move forward while retaining a capacity to reach out to others in pain.
"We want to move forward but we will always carry what happened in our hearts. It will be part of everything we do as we go into the next year."
Hotelier Peter Watterson struck an upbeat note when he said trade was becoming brisker.
"The Give A Day to Omagh was hugely successful and we are tremendously grateful to everyone who turned out,' he said.
"In the long term, I think we're all looking forward to redeveloping the town.
"Our hotel, the Royal Arms, is going to be made into a Victorian shopping mall with 14 shops in March. And the hotel is going to move next door.
"That is a good sign. What happened in Omagh is never going to go away, but the new year is a good time to move forward."
Presbyterian minister the Rev John Murdoch said the new year had already seen the first stirrings of hope.
"We're all trying to face into the new year and we are determined to stand together.
"There is a determination to reclaim as much normality as possible.
"Although people are still feeling incapacitated and hurt, there is a positive spirit abroad."
Jewellery retailer Roy Allen, of the Omagh Association of Traders, hoped Omagh could become a "model town for Northern Ireland".
He said: "The inclusion of so many Omagh people in the New Year honours list proves what we can do when we pull together.
"We have to become a model town for the future of Northern Ireland - if only to make sense of it all."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0554
Published Date: 02-Jan-99
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