HUGE TRAUMA FOR LONDON, SAYS OMAGH CAMPAIGNER
Huge trauma for London, says Omagh campaigner
By Michael McHugh
LONDONERS face a massive battle to recover from the trauma of yesterday's blast, Omagh residents warned last night.
Omagh Self Help Group chairman Michael Gallagher said that watching coverage of yesterday morning's carnage would have been difficult for many who were bereaved during the Omagh bomb of August 1998.
Mr Gallagher's son Aidan (21) was one of 29 to lose their lives in the Real IRA blast, the bloodiest single atrocity of the Troubles, and his father said he had been glued to coverage of yesterday's unfolding catastrophe.
"Right now there will probably be people right across the world who will not even know that their loved ones have died," he said. "Like Omagh I am sure it will be a long process to identify them and for a lot there was little for them to see at the end of that process and the next week will be very difficult.
"I was personally terrorised after Omagh. I remember going to the Diamond in Derry and my wife going into the shop and me looking at cars and thinking that any of them could explode at any moment and I was absolutely helpless."
Mr Gallagher said he was sure that services like the Omagh Trauma and Transformation Centre would be in demand in London in the coming days and added that people reacted in different ways to tragedy.
"Everybody has different coping mechanisms and everybody will deal with it differently, some will go indoors and not come out again for months and others will busy themselves in trying to find out more about the people that did it and the circumstances surrounding the atrocity.
"I think the least they can do is to make sure that every one of those lives count. They will be remembered by their families and we must learn the lessons of what works well and what does not.
"4,000 lives were lost here in Northern Ireland. We have gained very little in terms of dealing with the trauma and grief which terrorism causes."
Mr Gallagher said it was important to support the many victims in London as they try to come out of the devastation without serious psychological damage.
"People walking along the street and in their houses and offices will be faced with this horrific scene.
"For me the priority should be supporting the people affected and then learning the lessons of how we cope with future attacks and how to prevent them and how we can minimise the effect of successful attacks."
By Michael McHugh
LONDONERS face a massive battle to recover from the trauma of yesterday's blast, Omagh residents warned last night.
Omagh Self Help Group chairman Michael Gallagher said that watching coverage of yesterday morning's carnage would have been difficult for many who were bereaved during the Omagh bomb of August 1998.
Mr Gallagher's son Aidan (21) was one of 29 to lose their lives in the Real IRA blast, the bloodiest single atrocity of the Troubles, and his father said he had been glued to coverage of yesterday's unfolding catastrophe.
"Right now there will probably be people right across the world who will not even know that their loved ones have died," he said. "Like Omagh I am sure it will be a long process to identify them and for a lot there was little for them to see at the end of that process and the next week will be very difficult.
"I was personally terrorised after Omagh. I remember going to the Diamond in Derry and my wife going into the shop and me looking at cars and thinking that any of them could explode at any moment and I was absolutely helpless."
Mr Gallagher said he was sure that services like the Omagh Trauma and Transformation Centre would be in demand in London in the coming days and added that people reacted in different ways to tragedy.
"Everybody has different coping mechanisms and everybody will deal with it differently, some will go indoors and not come out again for months and others will busy themselves in trying to find out more about the people that did it and the circumstances surrounding the atrocity.
"I think the least they can do is to make sure that every one of those lives count. They will be remembered by their families and we must learn the lessons of what works well and what does not.
"4,000 lives were lost here in Northern Ireland. We have gained very little in terms of dealing with the trauma and grief which terrorism causes."
Mr Gallagher said it was important to support the many victims in London as they try to come out of the devastation without serious psychological damage.
"People walking along the street and in their houses and offices will be faced with this horrific scene.
"For me the priority should be supporting the people affected and then learning the lessons of how we cope with future attacks and how to prevent them and how we can minimise the effect of successful attacks."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0968
Published Date: 08-Jul-05
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