OMAGH THE SADNESS
Omagh: the sadness
TEN years after the Omagh bombing, it is a shame that the families of the victims, although united forever by their grief, must disagree on how best to express that grief and honour the dead.
Yesterday, the tenth anniversary, relatives of the victims took part in a sad and dignified commemorative ceremony. Some stayed away, however, unhappy at the district council's handling of the creation of a memorial to the victims. They have organised their own ceremony to be held tomorrow.
They feel the wording on the memorial is less condemnatory of the group that carried out the atrocity than they would wish.
Yet the council seem to have done their best. They sought views on all sides of the community and, when opinion was found to be divided, they enlisted mediators, a senior Presbyterian cleric and a respected Jesuit priest. Had the murderers been brought to justice, such considerations might seem less important.
Yesterday, the people of Omagh - most of them - stood in the rain and listened as the former hostage Terry Waite proclaimed that sometimes we must settle for something less than justice that we live in a world in which absolute justice is not possible.
Many who listened to those true, but agonising, words will have listened too as an accused man was acquitted at Belfast Crown Court last December.
They heard Mr Justice Weir berate those members of the police service whose sloppy handling allowed potential vital evidence to be contaminated. They heard him state bluntly that police officers had joined in a deliberate and calculated attempt to deceive, and they watched as the acquitted man waved and his supporters clapped.
Nobody in Northern Ireland has been convicted of the worst single atrocity in more than 30 years of violence and, yesterday, the Chief Constable admitted that it is unlikely anyone will be brought to justice.
In the absence of such closure, the families of the victims appear to have lost the solidarity that they managed to muster in the immediate aftermath of the atrocity and sustain over the years.
It is sad that the dedication of a memorial should be a cause for controversy and division, rather than a dignified tribute to loved ones who will never be forgotten.
TEN years after the Omagh bombing, it is a shame that the families of the victims, although united forever by their grief, must disagree on how best to express that grief and honour the dead.
Yesterday, the tenth anniversary, relatives of the victims took part in a sad and dignified commemorative ceremony. Some stayed away, however, unhappy at the district council's handling of the creation of a memorial to the victims. They have organised their own ceremony to be held tomorrow.
They feel the wording on the memorial is less condemnatory of the group that carried out the atrocity than they would wish.
Yet the council seem to have done their best. They sought views on all sides of the community and, when opinion was found to be divided, they enlisted mediators, a senior Presbyterian cleric and a respected Jesuit priest. Had the murderers been brought to justice, such considerations might seem less important.
Yesterday, the people of Omagh - most of them - stood in the rain and listened as the former hostage Terry Waite proclaimed that sometimes we must settle for something less than justice that we live in a world in which absolute justice is not possible.
Many who listened to those true, but agonising, words will have listened too as an accused man was acquitted at Belfast Crown Court last December.
They heard Mr Justice Weir berate those members of the police service whose sloppy handling allowed potential vital evidence to be contaminated. They heard him state bluntly that police officers had joined in a deliberate and calculated attempt to deceive, and they watched as the acquitted man waved and his supporters clapped.
Nobody in Northern Ireland has been convicted of the worst single atrocity in more than 30 years of violence and, yesterday, the Chief Constable admitted that it is unlikely anyone will be brought to justice.
In the absence of such closure, the families of the victims appear to have lost the solidarity that they managed to muster in the immediate aftermath of the atrocity and sustain over the years.
It is sad that the dedication of a memorial should be a cause for controversy and division, rather than a dignified tribute to loved ones who will never be forgotten.
Further Information
Publisher: IRISH INDEPENDENT
Ref: II10An/13
Published Date: 16-Aug-08
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