I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER HIS SMILE
I'll always remember his smile - mother
By Michael O'Toole
JAMES BARKER'S heartbroken mother told how she held her young son for the last time after she identified his body.
Donna Marie Barker, speaking from her Buncrana home, told of her anguish at not being able to say goodbye to her 12-year-old son.
Buncrana is a town in mourning, stunned by the deaths of three local boys James Barker, Sean McLaughlin (12) and Oran Doherty (8).
They were on a trip to Omagh with a group of Spanish students when they were caught up in the nightmare.
Two Spaniards Rocia Abad, a 22-year-old group leader and Fernando Blasco (12), were also killed.
The Barker family moved to Donegal from Chertsey in Surrey 10 months ago. James was due to start at Cabin Hill preparatory school, Belfast next month.
Mrs Barker revealed that her daughter Estella was meant to go on the fateful trip to Omagh, but pulled out at the last minute.
She said: "We were having a meal in a restaurant when my mother came in and told us what had happened.
"We then rang every hospital in Northern Ireland, but we had to wait three hours before we knew my son was dead."
She then had the harrowing task of going to Omagh to identify her son's body.
She said: "He had a blanket over his body and they didn't want me to look at him.
"But I had to hold him.
"I lifted it back and saw the back of his head caved in where he had taken the full force of the explosion."
Mrs Barker, whose husband Victor still works in his lawyer's practice in Surrey and commutes every week, said she would always remember
her son's smile.
John McLaughlin, the father of 12 year old victim Sean, paid tribute to the RUC, and emergency and social services in Omagh who, he said, did so much to help all the victims and their families.
The parents of Oran Doherty were too upset to talk to reporters.
Buncrana parish priest Fatherr Shane Bradley said the whole town had been stunned by the deaths.
He said: "It hasn't really sunk in here yet but I am sure it will over the next couple of days.
"It's three-and-a-half years since I arrived in Buncrana and not in my wildest nightmares did I think I would have the task I have today."
By Michael O'Toole
JAMES BARKER'S heartbroken mother told how she held her young son for the last time after she identified his body.
Donna Marie Barker, speaking from her Buncrana home, told of her anguish at not being able to say goodbye to her 12-year-old son.
Buncrana is a town in mourning, stunned by the deaths of three local boys James Barker, Sean McLaughlin (12) and Oran Doherty (8).
They were on a trip to Omagh with a group of Spanish students when they were caught up in the nightmare.
Two Spaniards Rocia Abad, a 22-year-old group leader and Fernando Blasco (12), were also killed.
The Barker family moved to Donegal from Chertsey in Surrey 10 months ago. James was due to start at Cabin Hill preparatory school, Belfast next month.
Mrs Barker revealed that her daughter Estella was meant to go on the fateful trip to Omagh, but pulled out at the last minute.
She said: "We were having a meal in a restaurant when my mother came in and told us what had happened.
"We then rang every hospital in Northern Ireland, but we had to wait three hours before we knew my son was dead."
She then had the harrowing task of going to Omagh to identify her son's body.
She said: "He had a blanket over his body and they didn't want me to look at him.
"But I had to hold him.
"I lifted it back and saw the back of his head caved in where he had taken the full force of the explosion."
Mrs Barker, whose husband Victor still works in his lawyer's practice in Surrey and commutes every week, said she would always remember
her son's smile.
John McLaughlin, the father of 12 year old victim Sean, paid tribute to the RUC, and emergency and social services in Omagh who, he said, did so much to help all the victims and their families.
The parents of Oran Doherty were too upset to talk to reporters.
Buncrana parish priest Fatherr Shane Bradley said the whole town had been stunned by the deaths.
He said: "It hasn't really sunk in here yet but I am sure it will over the next couple of days.
"It's three-and-a-half years since I arrived in Buncrana and not in my wildest nightmares did I think I would have the task I have today."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0676
Published Date: 18-Aug-98
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