PM CAN HELP OMAGH RETURN TO NORMALITY
PM can help Omagh return to normality
PRIME MINISTER Tony Blair flies in to Northern Ireland today, and is expected to visit Omagh where, yesterday, the first tentative steps towards recovery were taken. Ten long days after the atrocity, traders, with the blessing of the bereaved, re-opened their businesses and ordinary people began doing ordinary things again.
It is a measure of Mr Blair's personal sadness over the bomb attack, and of his determination not to allow it to wreck the peace process, that he interrupted his family holiday last week to fly to the Province, and is returning again on his first day back at work.
The main purpose of his visit is to outline the British Government's new measures for combating terrorism, and that is an important objective, but it is vital too that there is a very practical demonstration of help for the people of Omagh.
The Prune Minister should make it clear that the rebuilding of the town is a priority. He should instruct the Northern Ireland Office to cut through the red tape as quickly as possible so that the task of re-building the bomb-battered centre can begin as quickly as possible.
This is important because while the physical scars of the bombing remain, it will be all the harder for the people of the town to put the memory of that awful event behind them.
Property can be re-built, and with the Government's help, Omagh will once again become a prosperous and thriving town. But the psychological wounds and the terrible physical injuries inflicted by the Real IRA's bomb attack will take much longer to heal. It will help all those who grieve and suffer if those responsible for the attack are brought to book.
The review of the existing arrangements for dealing with terrorism is also important because the new Assembly's work will be jeopordised if Ulster again descends into the spiral of random violence.
It is expected that Mr Blair will opt for a parallel approach with Dublin and announce new laws to make it easier to detain and convict members of proscribed organisations. The civil libertarians may whinge, but the most basic human right is that of people to live their lives free of violence or the threat of it. Those who remove that right by criminal acts have no place in society, and deserve to be dealt with as severely as civilised law will allow.
By its blood-letting in Omagh, the Real IRA was attacking the very peace the people of Northern Ireland hope to nurture. They sought to divide, and to break the spirit and the resolve of those in both communities who are working towards reconciliation.
They have so obviously failed. The outpouring of sympathy and solidarity among people of all traditions and faiths, on both sides of the border, has been unprecedented. Sectarian divisions have been set to the side and the desire for an end to all violence has been overwhelming.
Even in its own perceived community, the Real IRA and its political representatives have been ostracised and isolated. Already it is reeling as a result of the mass hostility directed against it. A concerted and co-ordinated security effort on both sides of the border could strangle it before more harm is done.
Any new measures by the two governments to combat the evil that is represented by political terrorism will be widely welcomed, and the only dispute is likely to centre around whether or not the new measures go far enough.
Only time will tell. If in practice they prove to be effective in preventing further atrocities, and help to put purveyors of terrorism behind bars, there will be no need for more draconian measures.
But the situation must be closely monitored, and the advice of the security agencies taken on board. Nothing can be left to chance. The prospect of another Omagh, whether here or on the mainland, is simply too awful to contemplate.
PRIME MINISTER Tony Blair flies in to Northern Ireland today, and is expected to visit Omagh where, yesterday, the first tentative steps towards recovery were taken. Ten long days after the atrocity, traders, with the blessing of the bereaved, re-opened their businesses and ordinary people began doing ordinary things again.
It is a measure of Mr Blair's personal sadness over the bomb attack, and of his determination not to allow it to wreck the peace process, that he interrupted his family holiday last week to fly to the Province, and is returning again on his first day back at work.
The main purpose of his visit is to outline the British Government's new measures for combating terrorism, and that is an important objective, but it is vital too that there is a very practical demonstration of help for the people of Omagh.
The Prune Minister should make it clear that the rebuilding of the town is a priority. He should instruct the Northern Ireland Office to cut through the red tape as quickly as possible so that the task of re-building the bomb-battered centre can begin as quickly as possible.
This is important because while the physical scars of the bombing remain, it will be all the harder for the people of the town to put the memory of that awful event behind them.
Property can be re-built, and with the Government's help, Omagh will once again become a prosperous and thriving town. But the psychological wounds and the terrible physical injuries inflicted by the Real IRA's bomb attack will take much longer to heal. It will help all those who grieve and suffer if those responsible for the attack are brought to book.
The review of the existing arrangements for dealing with terrorism is also important because the new Assembly's work will be jeopordised if Ulster again descends into the spiral of random violence.
It is expected that Mr Blair will opt for a parallel approach with Dublin and announce new laws to make it easier to detain and convict members of proscribed organisations. The civil libertarians may whinge, but the most basic human right is that of people to live their lives free of violence or the threat of it. Those who remove that right by criminal acts have no place in society, and deserve to be dealt with as severely as civilised law will allow.
By its blood-letting in Omagh, the Real IRA was attacking the very peace the people of Northern Ireland hope to nurture. They sought to divide, and to break the spirit and the resolve of those in both communities who are working towards reconciliation.
They have so obviously failed. The outpouring of sympathy and solidarity among people of all traditions and faiths, on both sides of the border, has been unprecedented. Sectarian divisions have been set to the side and the desire for an end to all violence has been overwhelming.
Even in its own perceived community, the Real IRA and its political representatives have been ostracised and isolated. Already it is reeling as a result of the mass hostility directed against it. A concerted and co-ordinated security effort on both sides of the border could strangle it before more harm is done.
Any new measures by the two governments to combat the evil that is represented by political terrorism will be widely welcomed, and the only dispute is likely to centre around whether or not the new measures go far enough.
Only time will tell. If in practice they prove to be effective in preventing further atrocities, and help to put purveyors of terrorism behind bars, there will be no need for more draconian measures.
But the situation must be closely monitored, and the advice of the security agencies taken on board. Nothing can be left to chance. The prospect of another Omagh, whether here or on the mainland, is simply too awful to contemplate.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/101
Published Date: 25-Aug-98
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