REAL IRA'S WAR IS WITH IRELAND
Real IRA's war is with Ireland
ONLY the hardest of hearts could have been left unmoved by the scenes yesterday at the first funerals of victims from the Omagh massacre.
Avril Monaghan, who was 30 and heavily pregnant with twin girls, together with her 18-month-old daughter, Maura, were buried after Requiem Mass at St McCartan's church in Augher.
The funeral of Mrs Monaghan's 65-year-old mother, Mary Grimes, takes place in nearby Beragh later today.
Dr Joseph Duffy, the Bishop of Clogher, and Fr James Grimes, the uncle of Mrs Monaghan, both made poignant contributions to yesterday's proceedings.
The bishop said: "We must all of us again honestly face the perverse insanity and deep-seated and deep-rooted nature of the evil that has caused all this pain and suffering."
Fr Grimes said: "We ask the Lord to forgive those men and women that were involved to change their hearts so that this may be the last of the terrible agonies our people have suffered during the last 30 years."
The courage and dignity of the grieving relatives shone through a statement later issued on their behalf.
It said: "Both families know it would have been the wish of Mary and Avril that in some way good would come from their untimely deaths.
"They would also wish to make it clear that no party or section of the community should seek to take advantage of this tragedy."
Those words deserve to be studied closely by all those considering any form of public comment on the Omagh atrocity in the days ahead.
There was another statement issued yesterday in the wake of the outrage.
Although it was the product of warped minds, it still deserves to be brought to the attention of the wider community.
The group known as the Real IRA finally admitted that it was responsible for the murder of 28 men, women and children on Saturday afternoon.
If its leaders had a shred of human decency, they would have taken the opportunity to announce that their organisation no longer existed.
Instead, they pathetically attempted to place the blame for the carnage on others and hinted that their entirely evil campaign was still in progress. The statement included a blatant lie about the content of the warning calls made before the bomb, and finished by offering a terse and totally unacceptable apology to the civilian casualties. It was significant in that it provided all the proof needed to confirm that the Real IRA is effectively at war with all the people of Ireland, north and south. Paramilitary groups can only be defeated by a combination of political and security initiatives.
The Good Friday agreement created the political conditions in which a peaceful settlement can be achieved.
It is up to the Dublin and London governments to ensure that all the security arrangements appropriate to deal with the Real IRA are brought into position immediately.
ONLY the hardest of hearts could have been left unmoved by the scenes yesterday at the first funerals of victims from the Omagh massacre.
Avril Monaghan, who was 30 and heavily pregnant with twin girls, together with her 18-month-old daughter, Maura, were buried after Requiem Mass at St McCartan's church in Augher.
The funeral of Mrs Monaghan's 65-year-old mother, Mary Grimes, takes place in nearby Beragh later today.
Dr Joseph Duffy, the Bishop of Clogher, and Fr James Grimes, the uncle of Mrs Monaghan, both made poignant contributions to yesterday's proceedings.
The bishop said: "We must all of us again honestly face the perverse insanity and deep-seated and deep-rooted nature of the evil that has caused all this pain and suffering."
Fr Grimes said: "We ask the Lord to forgive those men and women that were involved to change their hearts so that this may be the last of the terrible agonies our people have suffered during the last 30 years."
The courage and dignity of the grieving relatives shone through a statement later issued on their behalf.
It said: "Both families know it would have been the wish of Mary and Avril that in some way good would come from their untimely deaths.
"They would also wish to make it clear that no party or section of the community should seek to take advantage of this tragedy."
Those words deserve to be studied closely by all those considering any form of public comment on the Omagh atrocity in the days ahead.
There was another statement issued yesterday in the wake of the outrage.
Although it was the product of warped minds, it still deserves to be brought to the attention of the wider community.
The group known as the Real IRA finally admitted that it was responsible for the murder of 28 men, women and children on Saturday afternoon.
If its leaders had a shred of human decency, they would have taken the opportunity to announce that their organisation no longer existed.
Instead, they pathetically attempted to place the blame for the carnage on others and hinted that their entirely evil campaign was still in progress. The statement included a blatant lie about the content of the warning calls made before the bomb, and finished by offering a terse and totally unacceptable apology to the civilian casualties. It was significant in that it provided all the proof needed to confirm that the Real IRA is effectively at war with all the people of Ireland, north and south. Paramilitary groups can only be defeated by a combination of political and security initiatives.
The Good Friday agreement created the political conditions in which a peaceful settlement can be achieved.
It is up to the Dublin and London governments to ensure that all the security arrangements appropriate to deal with the Real IRA are brought into position immediately.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0092
Published Date: 19-Aug-98
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