THE AGONY OF OMAGH
The agony of Omagh
Ten years on and the agony of a sunny August day has never gone away. And while the island of Ireland will tomorrow officially remember that bloody day in Omagh, those who lost loved ones or suffered horrific injuries have never been able to forget.
Forget what should have been a normal Saturday afternoon in the County Tyrone market town with people going about their business or their pleasure and no hint of the horrors to come. Among them three young boys from Buncrana and two Spaniards who were on a student trip to the Donegal resort town. Just five among twenty-nine, including a woman pregnant with twins, who were to lose their lives when the Real I.R.A. bomb destroyed them and so many others in so many different ways.
There had, at the time, been a real hope that the dark days of atrocities such as these were well and truly buried in the past. But the terrorists responsible, not content with the blood that had already been shed in over thirty years of strife, had a different viewpoint.
And on the evening of the fateful afternoon when Omagh exploded they probably returned to the bosom of their own families, perhaps even playing with their young daughters and sons. Sons like 8 year old Oran Doherty from Buncrana. Or his friend Sean McLaughlin. Or 12 year old James Barker whose own family would be, quite literally, torn apart as a result. Twenty-nine innocent lives, along with two unborn babies, blown into the next world. And for what?
And ten years on, as Omagh prepares to mark the anniversary with a special commemoration ceremony, have those responsible for the carnage ever stopped to consider the full implications of what they did a decade ago?
Having never been convicted of this bloodiest of crimes, have they ever woken up in cold sweats, agonising at their actions and wishing they could turn back time and defuse the car bomb that caused so much grief? And still causes to this day.
But with the agony there is also anger. Not just at the fact that there has nobody been brought to justice over the savage attack, not just because there has never been an enquiry held into the bloody incident but over tomorrow's commemoration service. At least ten of the bereaved families intend boycotting the service at Market Street over the wording on the memorials.
The original stone in the Garden of Remembrance had stated that the victims had been "murdered by a dissident Republican terrorist car bomb" but this is not the wording on the glass obelisk at the site of the bomb.
It has led to divisions in Omagh and some of the families will consequently hold their own separate service tomorrow.
That in itself is a tragedy when the pain has been equally shared by all the victims and their families. But whatever the varied opinions, Omagh and the likes of Buncrana will come to a standstill in memory of the lives lost when a warm summer's day was chilled to the bone.
Ten years on and the agony of a sunny August day has never gone away. And while the island of Ireland will tomorrow officially remember that bloody day in Omagh, those who lost loved ones or suffered horrific injuries have never been able to forget.
Forget what should have been a normal Saturday afternoon in the County Tyrone market town with people going about their business or their pleasure and no hint of the horrors to come. Among them three young boys from Buncrana and two Spaniards who were on a student trip to the Donegal resort town. Just five among twenty-nine, including a woman pregnant with twins, who were to lose their lives when the Real I.R.A. bomb destroyed them and so many others in so many different ways.
There had, at the time, been a real hope that the dark days of atrocities such as these were well and truly buried in the past. But the terrorists responsible, not content with the blood that had already been shed in over thirty years of strife, had a different viewpoint.
And on the evening of the fateful afternoon when Omagh exploded they probably returned to the bosom of their own families, perhaps even playing with their young daughters and sons. Sons like 8 year old Oran Doherty from Buncrana. Or his friend Sean McLaughlin. Or 12 year old James Barker whose own family would be, quite literally, torn apart as a result. Twenty-nine innocent lives, along with two unborn babies, blown into the next world. And for what?
And ten years on, as Omagh prepares to mark the anniversary with a special commemoration ceremony, have those responsible for the carnage ever stopped to consider the full implications of what they did a decade ago?
Having never been convicted of this bloodiest of crimes, have they ever woken up in cold sweats, agonising at their actions and wishing they could turn back time and defuse the car bomb that caused so much grief? And still causes to this day.
But with the agony there is also anger. Not just at the fact that there has nobody been brought to justice over the savage attack, not just because there has never been an enquiry held into the bloody incident but over tomorrow's commemoration service. At least ten of the bereaved families intend boycotting the service at Market Street over the wording on the memorials.
The original stone in the Garden of Remembrance had stated that the victims had been "murdered by a dissident Republican terrorist car bomb" but this is not the wording on the glass obelisk at the site of the bomb.
It has led to divisions in Omagh and some of the families will consequently hold their own separate service tomorrow.
That in itself is a tragedy when the pain has been equally shared by all the victims and their families. But whatever the varied opinions, Omagh and the likes of Buncrana will come to a standstill in memory of the lives lost when a warm summer's day was chilled to the bone.
Further Information
Publisher: DONEGAL DEMOCRAT
Ref: DOD10An/01
Published Date: 14-Aug-08
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