AHERN JOINS OMAGH KIDS TO MAKE MILLENNIUM WISH
Ahern joins Omagh kids to make millennium wish
By Michael O'Toole
Dublin Correspondent
TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday joined a group of children from Omagh to wish for a peaceful new millennium.
Children from the Co Tyrone town, devastated by a Real IRA bomb which killed 29 people in August 1998, travelled to Government Buildings in Dublin where they presented Mr Ahern with the Omagh Millennium Beacon.
The flame was first lit at the launch of the Northern Ireland Millennium Festival in September and has since been kept burning at Omagh Leisure Centre - the site where relatives were comforted after the bomb outrage.
The beacon will tomorrow be used by Mr Ahern to light candles during the start of millennium celebrations.
At sunset across the Republic people are being urged to light a candle to mark the new millennium and Mr Ahern will light candles at a special ceremony in Dublin city centre.
When asked what his millennium wish was, Mr Ahern said: That this country continues to be peaceful and prosper. I just hope we can continue and sustain that into the future."
Alan Rainey, Ulster Unionist chairman of Omagh District Council -whose grandchildren presented the Omagh Beacon to Mr Ahern - said: "I hope that this signals to the world that we are putting our divisions behind us."
Mr Ahern condemned the alleged Continuity IRA bomb threat which wrecked the St Stephen's day race-card at Kempton Park in England -and vowed to continue to crack down on dissident republicans.
He said: "There is still a hardcore who do not want to see the peace process succeed."
By Michael O'Toole
Dublin Correspondent
TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday joined a group of children from Omagh to wish for a peaceful new millennium.
Children from the Co Tyrone town, devastated by a Real IRA bomb which killed 29 people in August 1998, travelled to Government Buildings in Dublin where they presented Mr Ahern with the Omagh Millennium Beacon.
The flame was first lit at the launch of the Northern Ireland Millennium Festival in September and has since been kept burning at Omagh Leisure Centre - the site where relatives were comforted after the bomb outrage.
The beacon will tomorrow be used by Mr Ahern to light candles during the start of millennium celebrations.
At sunset across the Republic people are being urged to light a candle to mark the new millennium and Mr Ahern will light candles at a special ceremony in Dublin city centre.
When asked what his millennium wish was, Mr Ahern said: That this country continues to be peaceful and prosper. I just hope we can continue and sustain that into the future."
Alan Rainey, Ulster Unionist chairman of Omagh District Council -whose grandchildren presented the Omagh Beacon to Mr Ahern - said: "I hope that this signals to the world that we are putting our divisions behind us."
Mr Ahern condemned the alleged Continuity IRA bomb threat which wrecked the St Stephen's day race-card at Kempton Park in England -and vowed to continue to crack down on dissident republicans.
He said: "There is still a hardcore who do not want to see the peace process succeed."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0336
Published Date: 30-Dec-99
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