MESSAGES OF SOLIDARITY
Messages of solidarity
Relatives will read international words of horror and hope
By Liz Trainor
GRIEVING relatives of victims of the Omagh bomb are to be given a private viewing of the thousands of messages of hope penned in the days after the atrocity.
Omagh district council is to formally invite relatives to view the poignant messages left in hundreds of books of condolences after the bomb blast which killed 29 people on August 15.
Over 200 books have already been gathered up by the district council - and they expect that number to double within the coming weeks.
The thousands of messages, from both sides of the border, came in the form of poems, words of sympathy and signatures.
Books were signed by Northern Ireland's new first and deputy first ministers and British PM Tony Blair penned a verse while visiting the devastated town in the aftermath of the blast.
Around 3,000 signatures have also been collected by each of Northern Ireland's 26 district councils.
And in Omagh, loose leaf books left around the district closed yesterday - exactly a month after the atrocity.
A spokesman for the council said: "The messages have been coming from all over Ireland - with a lot from the south.
"People were so shocked by what happened, so I imagine there is a lot more books to come."
The council plans to display the books in a permanent memorial place along with an art form made out of the bunches of flowers sent to the town.
Meanwhile, hundreds of messages of sympathy and support, left on the Irish News online book of condolence, will be specially bound and sent to Omagh.
The book was set up on the Irish News internet site as messages of sorrow, shock and solidarity flooded in from Romania, Brazil, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong and all over Ireland and Britain.
The messages of support - and hope - included one from Omagh-born priest Fr Patrick Collins in New Zealand who wrote: "I was horrified to hear of this disaster... but since then the heroic response of all the people of Omagh and beyond has filled me with pride for my home town and hope for the future of my country."
Relatives will read international words of horror and hope
By Liz Trainor
GRIEVING relatives of victims of the Omagh bomb are to be given a private viewing of the thousands of messages of hope penned in the days after the atrocity.
Omagh district council is to formally invite relatives to view the poignant messages left in hundreds of books of condolences after the bomb blast which killed 29 people on August 15.
Over 200 books have already been gathered up by the district council - and they expect that number to double within the coming weeks.
The thousands of messages, from both sides of the border, came in the form of poems, words of sympathy and signatures.
Books were signed by Northern Ireland's new first and deputy first ministers and British PM Tony Blair penned a verse while visiting the devastated town in the aftermath of the blast.
Around 3,000 signatures have also been collected by each of Northern Ireland's 26 district councils.
And in Omagh, loose leaf books left around the district closed yesterday - exactly a month after the atrocity.
A spokesman for the council said: "The messages have been coming from all over Ireland - with a lot from the south.
"People were so shocked by what happened, so I imagine there is a lot more books to come."
The council plans to display the books in a permanent memorial place along with an art form made out of the bunches of flowers sent to the town.
Meanwhile, hundreds of messages of sympathy and support, left on the Irish News online book of condolence, will be specially bound and sent to Omagh.
The book was set up on the Irish News internet site as messages of sorrow, shock and solidarity flooded in from Romania, Brazil, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong and all over Ireland and Britain.
The messages of support - and hope - included one from Omagh-born priest Fr Patrick Collins in New Zealand who wrote: "I was horrified to hear of this disaster... but since then the heroic response of all the people of Omagh and beyond has filled me with pride for my home town and hope for the future of my country."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0495
Published Date: 16-Sep-98
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