A TIME TO CHOOSE
What we think
A time to choose
The people of this country turned out in huge numbers last weekend, at open air gatherings and church services, people of all religious denominations and none, to remember those killed in the Omagh bombing, to show sympathy to those bereaved and injured and to show solidarity with all the people of Omagh in their time of trouble. Very palpable also was a yearning for peace; that this would be the last time that a day of national mourning like this would be required. People also wanted to express their outrage and condemnation of the terrible atrocity and of those responsible for it.
If it was the intention of those responsible for the bomb in Omagh that it serve to destabilise the peace process, then they have achieved quite the opposite effect. There is now even more pressure on politicians, north and south, and all sides, to make the peace process work and to ensure that a lasting settlement of the differences which have divided people on this small island for generations is forged through dialogue and not through violence. The people of Ireland voted overwhelmingly for peace in the referendums following the Good Friday Agreement and the level of condemnation of the Omagh outrage has reinforced that message.
There have, however, been a few exceptions to the almost universal condemnation of the huge loss of life and horrific injuries inflicted on the people of Omagh, among them a councillor in this county. At a special meeting of Bundoran Urban Council last Thursday, Republican Sinn Fein representative Clr Joe O'Neill could not bring himself to condemn it and abstained when his fellow councillors passed a motion of condemnation. That he could fail to condemn such an appalling act, and ensured that he would not be associated in any way with condemnation of it by abstaining in the vote, is beyond belief. If we are to avoid further Omaghs there is no room any more for ambiguity like that.
The impact which the slaughter in Omagh has had on people's feelings will fade but we cannot allow the present resolve that there never be a repeat to diminish. It is a time for all of us to choose what road we take from here. If we are for peace, if we are for ensuring that no other community or family will suffer as those in Omagh have, then we have to clearly say that and show that and our public representatives have to show that without any equivocation. There can be no ambivalence regarding those who do not clearly choose the road of peace. They can be left under no illusion that we do not support their viewpoint and never will support it. If we want peace then we have to make that choice.
A time to choose
The people of this country turned out in huge numbers last weekend, at open air gatherings and church services, people of all religious denominations and none, to remember those killed in the Omagh bombing, to show sympathy to those bereaved and injured and to show solidarity with all the people of Omagh in their time of trouble. Very palpable also was a yearning for peace; that this would be the last time that a day of national mourning like this would be required. People also wanted to express their outrage and condemnation of the terrible atrocity and of those responsible for it.
If it was the intention of those responsible for the bomb in Omagh that it serve to destabilise the peace process, then they have achieved quite the opposite effect. There is now even more pressure on politicians, north and south, and all sides, to make the peace process work and to ensure that a lasting settlement of the differences which have divided people on this small island for generations is forged through dialogue and not through violence. The people of Ireland voted overwhelmingly for peace in the referendums following the Good Friday Agreement and the level of condemnation of the Omagh outrage has reinforced that message.
There have, however, been a few exceptions to the almost universal condemnation of the huge loss of life and horrific injuries inflicted on the people of Omagh, among them a councillor in this county. At a special meeting of Bundoran Urban Council last Thursday, Republican Sinn Fein representative Clr Joe O'Neill could not bring himself to condemn it and abstained when his fellow councillors passed a motion of condemnation. That he could fail to condemn such an appalling act, and ensured that he would not be associated in any way with condemnation of it by abstaining in the vote, is beyond belief. If we are to avoid further Omaghs there is no room any more for ambiguity like that.
The impact which the slaughter in Omagh has had on people's feelings will fade but we cannot allow the present resolve that there never be a repeat to diminish. It is a time for all of us to choose what road we take from here. If we are for peace, if we are for ensuring that no other community or family will suffer as those in Omagh have, then we have to clearly say that and show that and our public representatives have to show that without any equivocation. There can be no ambivalence regarding those who do not clearly choose the road of peace. They can be left under no illusion that we do not support their viewpoint and never will support it. If we want peace then we have to make that choice.
Further Information
Publisher: DONEGAL DEMOCRAT
Ref: DOD/025
Published Date: 27-Aug-98
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