NATION SHARES BURDEN OF GRIEF
Nation shares burden of grief
By Steven McCaffery
AFTER the longest week of their lives, the people of Omagh came together on Saturday to "reclaim their town".
Tens of thousands took part in a service of remembrance on the streets, which just seven days before buzzed with the comforting routine of normal life.
The quiet Co Tyrone town, changed forever by the bomb blast which claimed 28 lives and damaged many more, heard pledges on Saturday to rebuild for the future.
By their presence, the people of Omagh showed a determination to carry out that job together.
Dignitaries from across Ireland and Britain and representatives of all the main churches, together with relatives of those killed in the Real IRA bomb attack, lined the steps running down from the front of Omagh courthouse.
From here, set against a red velvet backdrop hung from the towering facade, local churchmen and community leaders addressed the crowd that spilled downhill from the court toward the scene of the blast and off into nearby side-streets.
"Today we stand together as a united community," said Dr Brendan McCarthy of Omagh Community Church.
"We are here to remember our dead with dignity, to pray for their families and for all who have been injured and traumatised; to pay tribute to all those who have worked tirelessly to save lives, to heal wounds, to comfort the broken-hearted.
"We are also here to reclaim our town - to reclaim it for the people of Omagh, to reclaim it for our children and grandchildren, to reclaim it for the kingdom of God..."
There was a tense atmosphere before the ceremony, which was opened at 2.45pm by local priest Fr Kevin Mullan, whom eyewitnesses said had wept as he prayed over the bodies of the dying at the scene of the blast.
Recounting the seven days that had passed since the bomb, he told the crowd those days and nights had been "journeyed through in horror and pain and grief.
He recalled how just one week before, the dead and injured had milled around this same street, how they "shopped and served, talked and strolled and drove".
"Each of them, each of us, at this hour last Saturday, had a future for some time on this earth. But the future had already been brought among us," he said.
"Evil had already possessed some human hearts and minds to do evil unto other human beings. At ten minutes past three the future came. Death and life were blasted together.
"Death carried life and peace away."
Many in the crowd wept as the ceremony progressed. After prayers and singing, Omagh District Council Chief Executive, John McKinney, who had co-ordinated the council's handling of the emergency, read the names of the dead.
The hush that had fallen over the crowd deepened into silence, as at 3.10pm, the time of the blast, Mr McKinney called for a minute of quiet reflection in honour of those killed and injured.
The gesture was repeated across Ireland, north and south. In Derry, a bigger crowd than that which greeted US President Bill Clinton gathered in honour of Omagh. There were also services at Enniskillen and Banbridge and at Buncrana, which lost three of its children and two young Spanish visitors in the explosion.
Dundalk - the town described in press reports as the Real IRA's power base - saw 12,000 take to the streets. The act of remembrance was the biggest demonstration in the town's history.
And at Belfast's city hall, though no official ceremony had been organised, thousands assembled in a spontaneous show of solidarity with the people of Omagh and the city fell silent.
The Omagh event was attended by a representative of the queen, British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. President of Ireland Mary McAleese, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and other political and religious figures.
First Minister David Trimble and his deputy Seamus Mallon, as well as Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and SDLP leader John Hume, were among the local politicians present for the service.
A huge operation had swung into action in Omagh to organise the event, with free buses ferrying people from outlying villages and from special car parks which were set up on the outskirts of the town.
Stanley McCombe, whose wife Ann had been killed in the Omagh bomb, stood with other bereaved relatives and stared out over the crowd which had gathered to share their grief. He later said the ceremony had been a "tremendous help".
By Steven McCaffery
AFTER the longest week of their lives, the people of Omagh came together on Saturday to "reclaim their town".
Tens of thousands took part in a service of remembrance on the streets, which just seven days before buzzed with the comforting routine of normal life.
The quiet Co Tyrone town, changed forever by the bomb blast which claimed 28 lives and damaged many more, heard pledges on Saturday to rebuild for the future.
By their presence, the people of Omagh showed a determination to carry out that job together.
Dignitaries from across Ireland and Britain and representatives of all the main churches, together with relatives of those killed in the Real IRA bomb attack, lined the steps running down from the front of Omagh courthouse.
From here, set against a red velvet backdrop hung from the towering facade, local churchmen and community leaders addressed the crowd that spilled downhill from the court toward the scene of the blast and off into nearby side-streets.
"Today we stand together as a united community," said Dr Brendan McCarthy of Omagh Community Church.
"We are here to remember our dead with dignity, to pray for their families and for all who have been injured and traumatised; to pay tribute to all those who have worked tirelessly to save lives, to heal wounds, to comfort the broken-hearted.
"We are also here to reclaim our town - to reclaim it for the people of Omagh, to reclaim it for our children and grandchildren, to reclaim it for the kingdom of God..."
There was a tense atmosphere before the ceremony, which was opened at 2.45pm by local priest Fr Kevin Mullan, whom eyewitnesses said had wept as he prayed over the bodies of the dying at the scene of the blast.
Recounting the seven days that had passed since the bomb, he told the crowd those days and nights had been "journeyed through in horror and pain and grief.
He recalled how just one week before, the dead and injured had milled around this same street, how they "shopped and served, talked and strolled and drove".
"Each of them, each of us, at this hour last Saturday, had a future for some time on this earth. But the future had already been brought among us," he said.
"Evil had already possessed some human hearts and minds to do evil unto other human beings. At ten minutes past three the future came. Death and life were blasted together.
"Death carried life and peace away."
Many in the crowd wept as the ceremony progressed. After prayers and singing, Omagh District Council Chief Executive, John McKinney, who had co-ordinated the council's handling of the emergency, read the names of the dead.
The hush that had fallen over the crowd deepened into silence, as at 3.10pm, the time of the blast, Mr McKinney called for a minute of quiet reflection in honour of those killed and injured.
The gesture was repeated across Ireland, north and south. In Derry, a bigger crowd than that which greeted US President Bill Clinton gathered in honour of Omagh. There were also services at Enniskillen and Banbridge and at Buncrana, which lost three of its children and two young Spanish visitors in the explosion.
Dundalk - the town described in press reports as the Real IRA's power base - saw 12,000 take to the streets. The act of remembrance was the biggest demonstration in the town's history.
And at Belfast's city hall, though no official ceremony had been organised, thousands assembled in a spontaneous show of solidarity with the people of Omagh and the city fell silent.
The Omagh event was attended by a representative of the queen, British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. President of Ireland Mary McAleese, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and other political and religious figures.
First Minister David Trimble and his deputy Seamus Mallon, as well as Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and SDLP leader John Hume, were among the local politicians present for the service.
A huge operation had swung into action in Omagh to organise the event, with free buses ferrying people from outlying villages and from special car parks which were set up on the outskirts of the town.
Stanley McCombe, whose wife Ann had been killed in the Omagh bomb, stood with other bereaved relatives and stared out over the crowd which had gathered to share their grief. He later said the ceremony had been a "tremendous help".
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0179
Published Date: 24-Aug-98
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