GIVE US TIME TO MOURN OMAGH
Give us time to mourn: Omagh
By GEORGE JACKSON
THE people of Omagh yesterday made an impassioned plea to the Apprentice Boys and nationalist residents' groups not to defile the anniversary of the Omagh bombing.
Chairman of the Omagh Trust Fund, Mr Sean O'Dwyer and the chief executive of Omagh Council, Mr John McKinney, yesterday appealed to the Apprentice Boys and to the Bogside and Lower Ormeau Residents' Groups to do all they could to ensure the weekend's first anniversary of the atrocity was not tarnished by confrontations in either Belfast or Derry.
Mr O'Dwyer and Mr McKinney made their separate appeals at a ceremony in Derry yesterday at which a cheque for stg �200.000, the proceeds from the sales of a CD produced by Ross Graham, was presented to the Omagh Trust Fund.
"I certainly feel that if people sit down and think of how the people of Omagh have suffered, they really should, on all sides, pull back and say 'Look, we will not be the cause of any further trouble either in Derry this weekend or in Northern Ireland in the future'," said Mr O'Dwyer.
"I want them just to pull back from the brink. Both sides have shown a certain amount of goodwill over the last couple of weeks for which we are grateful, but they should now go the extra yard or the extra mile to avoid confrontation.
"I think it would be a great pity if the sufferings of the people of Omagh, which are still continuing and which are still very deep, were to be made worse by having further tensions and troubles going on in other parts of Northern Ireland, in particular Derry, because the people of Omagh look upon Derry as being on their doorstep," said Mr O'Dwyer.
Meanwhile Mr McKinney said the people of Omagh, particularly the families of the 29 bomb victims, "dearly want to have a peaceful weekend in both Derry and Belfast".
"We all deserve that, especially the bereaved and injured of Omagh because we should all remember that this weekend of all weekends belongs to the victims and their families.
"It is their weekend. It is the weekend when they will be coming together with obviously very sad memories of what happened this time last year. Those memories will be with them forever and let us hope we do have a calm and peaceful weekend in respect of what is happening in Omagh this weekend.
"Any day or weekend that is soiled by violence is a bad day for the relatives of those killed in the Omagh bomb. That sadness would be on an even greater scale if violence were to happen this weekend.
"The people of Omagh have suffered enough. They have suffered but they have been very brave and on their behalf I would like to say for God's sake let's try to have a peaceful weekend." People in Omagh were in a reflective mood and one had to expect and respect that, he added.
"We are obviously looking at Derry. We are very thankful that we are not having a march in Omagh and I am grateful to the organisers for by-passing Omagh on their way home. That is very good.
"All the people in Omagh want is a peaceful weekend, a weekend in which they can get on with their mourning and perhaps try to go forward. I hope both sides will pull back from the brink," said Mr McKinney.
There was a noticeable increase in the activities of the security forces on the streets of Derry yesterday afternoon, in advance of today's Apprentice Boys parade. Several convoys of British army vehicles, among them personnel carriers and military ambulances, were seen being driven into Derry along the main Limavady Road throughout the afternoon. Military patrols were also stepped up in the city centre and along the route of today's parade. There was also a significant increase in the numbers of RUC foot and mobile patrols.
Meanwhile a meeting yesterday morning between four SDLP members of Derry City Council and representatives of the Bogside Residents Group, failed to break the deadlock surrounding today's parade.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is ending his Kerry holiday to return to Dublin for this evening's 1st anniversary Mass in the Pro-Cathedral for the victims of the Omagh bombing.
By GEORGE JACKSON
THE people of Omagh yesterday made an impassioned plea to the Apprentice Boys and nationalist residents' groups not to defile the anniversary of the Omagh bombing.
Chairman of the Omagh Trust Fund, Mr Sean O'Dwyer and the chief executive of Omagh Council, Mr John McKinney, yesterday appealed to the Apprentice Boys and to the Bogside and Lower Ormeau Residents' Groups to do all they could to ensure the weekend's first anniversary of the atrocity was not tarnished by confrontations in either Belfast or Derry.
Mr O'Dwyer and Mr McKinney made their separate appeals at a ceremony in Derry yesterday at which a cheque for stg �200.000, the proceeds from the sales of a CD produced by Ross Graham, was presented to the Omagh Trust Fund.
"I certainly feel that if people sit down and think of how the people of Omagh have suffered, they really should, on all sides, pull back and say 'Look, we will not be the cause of any further trouble either in Derry this weekend or in Northern Ireland in the future'," said Mr O'Dwyer.
"I want them just to pull back from the brink. Both sides have shown a certain amount of goodwill over the last couple of weeks for which we are grateful, but they should now go the extra yard or the extra mile to avoid confrontation.
"I think it would be a great pity if the sufferings of the people of Omagh, which are still continuing and which are still very deep, were to be made worse by having further tensions and troubles going on in other parts of Northern Ireland, in particular Derry, because the people of Omagh look upon Derry as being on their doorstep," said Mr O'Dwyer.
Meanwhile Mr McKinney said the people of Omagh, particularly the families of the 29 bomb victims, "dearly want to have a peaceful weekend in both Derry and Belfast".
"We all deserve that, especially the bereaved and injured of Omagh because we should all remember that this weekend of all weekends belongs to the victims and their families.
"It is their weekend. It is the weekend when they will be coming together with obviously very sad memories of what happened this time last year. Those memories will be with them forever and let us hope we do have a calm and peaceful weekend in respect of what is happening in Omagh this weekend.
"Any day or weekend that is soiled by violence is a bad day for the relatives of those killed in the Omagh bomb. That sadness would be on an even greater scale if violence were to happen this weekend.
"The people of Omagh have suffered enough. They have suffered but they have been very brave and on their behalf I would like to say for God's sake let's try to have a peaceful weekend." People in Omagh were in a reflective mood and one had to expect and respect that, he added.
"We are obviously looking at Derry. We are very thankful that we are not having a march in Omagh and I am grateful to the organisers for by-passing Omagh on their way home. That is very good.
"All the people in Omagh want is a peaceful weekend, a weekend in which they can get on with their mourning and perhaps try to go forward. I hope both sides will pull back from the brink," said Mr McKinney.
There was a noticeable increase in the activities of the security forces on the streets of Derry yesterday afternoon, in advance of today's Apprentice Boys parade. Several convoys of British army vehicles, among them personnel carriers and military ambulances, were seen being driven into Derry along the main Limavady Road throughout the afternoon. Military patrols were also stepped up in the city centre and along the route of today's parade. There was also a significant increase in the numbers of RUC foot and mobile patrols.
Meanwhile a meeting yesterday morning between four SDLP members of Derry City Council and representatives of the Bogside Residents Group, failed to break the deadlock surrounding today's parade.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is ending his Kerry holiday to return to Dublin for this evening's 1st anniversary Mass in the Pro-Cathedral for the victims of the Omagh bombing.
Further Information
Publisher: IRISH INDEPENDENT
Ref: II/171
Published Date: 14-Aug-99
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.