QUEEN TO ATTEND MEMORIAL SERVICE
Queen to attend memorial service
By JOHN DEANE
QUEEN Elizabeth is to lead mourners at a formal service in memory of the victims of the Omagh bombing, Downing Street announced yesterday. The Duke of Edinburgh and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will also attend the service, the date and venue for which have yet to be finalised.
Downing Street said President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, as well as Spanish Prime Minister Jose-Maria Aznar, would also be invited and are expected to attend.
A No 10 spokesman said Mr Blair believed the wishes of the relatives of the victims should be "paramount'', and therefore the timing, location and form of the service would be decided in consultation with them.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the Queen realised that the people of Omagh needed time to grieve in peace.''
"She will be attending the service when it is organised in due course,'' he said.
A few hours after the bombing last Saturday the Queen sent a message of her "heartfelt sympathy'' to the bereaved and injured and said she was "shocked to hear of the appalling crime''.
Downing Street said planning for the memorial service was at an early stage.
A spokesman insisted it was too soon to say anything about the timing or location of the service, or whether it was likely to be in Omagh itself.
"All these issues are to be decided,'' the spokesman emphasised last night.
Mr Aznar's presence at the service will reflect the Spanish dimension to the tragedy.
Representatives of Spain's royal family and British and Irish politicians on Thursday joined relatives of Fernando Blasco Baselga (12) and Rocio Abad Ramos, the two Spaniards killed in the blast, at a memorial service in Madrid.
As well as the two Spanish visitors killed in the blast, 12 young Spaniards in their party were among more than 300 people injured in the blast.
By JOHN DEANE
QUEEN Elizabeth is to lead mourners at a formal service in memory of the victims of the Omagh bombing, Downing Street announced yesterday. The Duke of Edinburgh and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will also attend the service, the date and venue for which have yet to be finalised.
Downing Street said President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, as well as Spanish Prime Minister Jose-Maria Aznar, would also be invited and are expected to attend.
A No 10 spokesman said Mr Blair believed the wishes of the relatives of the victims should be "paramount'', and therefore the timing, location and form of the service would be decided in consultation with them.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the Queen realised that the people of Omagh needed time to grieve in peace.''
"She will be attending the service when it is organised in due course,'' he said.
A few hours after the bombing last Saturday the Queen sent a message of her "heartfelt sympathy'' to the bereaved and injured and said she was "shocked to hear of the appalling crime''.
Downing Street said planning for the memorial service was at an early stage.
A spokesman insisted it was too soon to say anything about the timing or location of the service, or whether it was likely to be in Omagh itself.
"All these issues are to be decided,'' the spokesman emphasised last night.
Mr Aznar's presence at the service will reflect the Spanish dimension to the tragedy.
Representatives of Spain's royal family and British and Irish politicians on Thursday joined relatives of Fernando Blasco Baselga (12) and Rocio Abad Ramos, the two Spaniards killed in the blast, at a memorial service in Madrid.
As well as the two Spanish visitors killed in the blast, 12 young Spaniards in their party were among more than 300 people injured in the blast.
Further Information
Publisher: IRISH INDEPENDENT
Ref: II/087
Published Date: 22-Aug-98
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