A STREET WHOSE HEART IS BEGINNING TO BEAT AGAIN
A street whose heart is beginning to beat again
STREETLIFE
BY ANNE HAILES
TODAY the spotlight is on Omagh again, one year after the bomb shattered this close and hardworking community, where it laid waste shops and offices in Market Street a Garden of Remembrance is taking shape and the corner is paved with paths and flower beds with an area to lay flowers in memory of those who died and were injured.
"In the past we used to comfort ourselves that at least the bombs enabled us to renovate the street over 29 years. No one died but many a roof was blown off and repaired!" He was silent for a moment. "Then they took 29 lives in one day." The speaker was a middle-aged man who shook his head sadly as we stood by the garden site. On the opposite side of the road the hording around another flattened area had three sprays of flowers pinned to it, all for a young woman called Esther. The most poignant carried a message dated 29th July 1999. "I know we will not be married today but we are linked with love no parting can sever." It was signed Kenneth.
There's a slight bewilderment that more hasn't been achieved in putting the bricks and mortar back in place since last year. The memory of that day in 1998 will never be erased but many believe getting the street rebuilt would ease the pain.
"But like everyone else they have to get planning permission and that takes time. I know families who travelled home from abroad after the tragedy and have returned this summer and they're appalled that things are moving so slowly," another passerby chipped in. Then along came Billy Hannigan who told me a bit about the street.
"Years ago a fair was held once a month and the cattle were driven up this street to the cow common. Over there was the shunting yard on the Belfast to Derry line and where Dunnes is now was a wee house where the pigs were killed."
Omagh is a market town and this main street is its heart but it has changed for ever. When I asked one woman what it was like working here she raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do you want an honest answer? Abysmal." Few people want to talk about what happened on that Saturday a year ago. The shops will close this afternoon and the memorial service will be held tomorrow. "Maybe it will be better after this weekend. Maybe with a year behind us we'll pick up again."
There are many plans for the area including the development of an arts centre along the River Strule which runs parallel to High Street and Market Street. The loss of the Royal Arms Hotel is considered a blow to some but a development opportunity to others. The deal with a Scottish consortium fell through and now local entrepreneurs Bill Rilley and Mickey McElroy are reported to be developing 14 units for shops, hopefully some multinationals whose presence will bring people back to make this the thriving shopping street it once was. Roy Knox is manager of the imposing Ulster Bank and he feels such a development can only be good for the town.
"The danger is that people who went to Cookstown or Dungannon to shop during last year have formed the habit; we need to break that pattern and bring them back home and the big high street names could do this." He admits that business in the town has been depressed during the last 12 months but statistics show that this is a general trend in similar towns and bearing in mind the difficulties farmers have gone through in recent times it's not surprising. His colleague Peter Tierney became a bank clerk straight from school 20 years ago and agrees with the general opinion that things could be better. "The motorway finishes at Dungannon and so does major employment and there is a fear of what will happen if the hospital closes."
At the top of the long street, beside the courthouse is Dobbins. It was opened in 1946 by Michele Rafferty's mother and now she and her brother run the busy flower shop. Business is constant.
"The usual flowers for births, deaths, marriages and sorries." Sorries? "The desperation order when someone has forgotten a birthday or an anniversary. Then there was an order for 24 red roses then the lady called and attached a little package to each flower. I didn't ask!"
Although there's no doubt that the heart of Omagh stopped last August when this street, and the people who worked and shopped in it were so cruelly devastated, they keep going. The Oxfam shop is stock taking, the Carlton is being refurbished to open as an even bigger bakery and restaurant and Wattersons are having a sale. Staff in the Tourist Office are still taking calls from international TV stations.
Standing outside the imposing courthouse with the twin spires of Sacred Heart looking over its shoulder, it's hard to imagine that day last August and all that has happened since. This week workmen were tidying the flower bed which is the site for the Christmas tree in winter and petunias in summer, people were busy going about their business, stopping to chat to each other in the sunshine while beyond the sound of hammering continues. This is the long main street which has seen princes and presidents, the heads of churches and media from round the world, the curious and the concerned. This street has guts and some day it will have again the heart beat it longs for.
STREETLIFE
BY ANNE HAILES
TODAY the spotlight is on Omagh again, one year after the bomb shattered this close and hardworking community, where it laid waste shops and offices in Market Street a Garden of Remembrance is taking shape and the corner is paved with paths and flower beds with an area to lay flowers in memory of those who died and were injured.
"In the past we used to comfort ourselves that at least the bombs enabled us to renovate the street over 29 years. No one died but many a roof was blown off and repaired!" He was silent for a moment. "Then they took 29 lives in one day." The speaker was a middle-aged man who shook his head sadly as we stood by the garden site. On the opposite side of the road the hording around another flattened area had three sprays of flowers pinned to it, all for a young woman called Esther. The most poignant carried a message dated 29th July 1999. "I know we will not be married today but we are linked with love no parting can sever." It was signed Kenneth.
There's a slight bewilderment that more hasn't been achieved in putting the bricks and mortar back in place since last year. The memory of that day in 1998 will never be erased but many believe getting the street rebuilt would ease the pain.
"But like everyone else they have to get planning permission and that takes time. I know families who travelled home from abroad after the tragedy and have returned this summer and they're appalled that things are moving so slowly," another passerby chipped in. Then along came Billy Hannigan who told me a bit about the street.
"Years ago a fair was held once a month and the cattle were driven up this street to the cow common. Over there was the shunting yard on the Belfast to Derry line and where Dunnes is now was a wee house where the pigs were killed."
Omagh is a market town and this main street is its heart but it has changed for ever. When I asked one woman what it was like working here she raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do you want an honest answer? Abysmal." Few people want to talk about what happened on that Saturday a year ago. The shops will close this afternoon and the memorial service will be held tomorrow. "Maybe it will be better after this weekend. Maybe with a year behind us we'll pick up again."
There are many plans for the area including the development of an arts centre along the River Strule which runs parallel to High Street and Market Street. The loss of the Royal Arms Hotel is considered a blow to some but a development opportunity to others. The deal with a Scottish consortium fell through and now local entrepreneurs Bill Rilley and Mickey McElroy are reported to be developing 14 units for shops, hopefully some multinationals whose presence will bring people back to make this the thriving shopping street it once was. Roy Knox is manager of the imposing Ulster Bank and he feels such a development can only be good for the town.
"The danger is that people who went to Cookstown or Dungannon to shop during last year have formed the habit; we need to break that pattern and bring them back home and the big high street names could do this." He admits that business in the town has been depressed during the last 12 months but statistics show that this is a general trend in similar towns and bearing in mind the difficulties farmers have gone through in recent times it's not surprising. His colleague Peter Tierney became a bank clerk straight from school 20 years ago and agrees with the general opinion that things could be better. "The motorway finishes at Dungannon and so does major employment and there is a fear of what will happen if the hospital closes."
At the top of the long street, beside the courthouse is Dobbins. It was opened in 1946 by Michele Rafferty's mother and now she and her brother run the busy flower shop. Business is constant.
"The usual flowers for births, deaths, marriages and sorries." Sorries? "The desperation order when someone has forgotten a birthday or an anniversary. Then there was an order for 24 red roses then the lady called and attached a little package to each flower. I didn't ask!"
Although there's no doubt that the heart of Omagh stopped last August when this street, and the people who worked and shopped in it were so cruelly devastated, they keep going. The Oxfam shop is stock taking, the Carlton is being refurbished to open as an even bigger bakery and restaurant and Wattersons are having a sale. Staff in the Tourist Office are still taking calls from international TV stations.
Standing outside the imposing courthouse with the twin spires of Sacred Heart looking over its shoulder, it's hard to imagine that day last August and all that has happened since. This week workmen were tidying the flower bed which is the site for the Christmas tree in winter and petunias in summer, people were busy going about their business, stopping to chat to each other in the sunshine while beyond the sound of hammering continues. This is the long main street which has seen princes and presidents, the heads of churches and media from round the world, the curious and the concerned. This street has guts and some day it will have again the heart beat it longs for.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0316
Published Date: 14-Aug-99
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