TOWN PREPARES TO REMEMBER VICTIMS
Town prepares to remember victims
OMAGH will come to a halt this weekend when the market town stops to formally remember the victims of last year's bomb.
Secretary of State Mo Mowlam and Irish junior Foreign Minister Liz O'Donnell are expected to be among thousands of people attending a memorial service for the victims tomorrow.
The town will come to a standstill at 3.10pm, the time the massive car bomb exploded, killing 29 people and injuring 350.
The dissident republican group the Real IRA claimed it carried out the atrocity, which saw the biggest loss of life of any single incident in 30 years of terrorism.
Omagh District Council chief executive John McKinney said: "Essentially, the service is for the people of Omagh. It will not be turned into a showpiece for VIP guests but everyone who wants to pay their respects is welcome."
This afternoon, church bells will ring out at 3pm and a short private ceremony will be held at the bomb site in Market Street, where a temporary garden of remembrance has been created.
A service will also be held in Buncrana, Co Donegal, the home town of three young boys who died in the blast, and prayers will be said for the two Spanish victims, who were on an exchange visit.
Ireland's pop stars have raised a staggering �200,000 for the Omagh Fund.
Ross Graham and Tim Hegarty, of White Records, handed over a cheque yesterday for that amount from the sales of the album Across the Bridge of Hope to John McKinney of the council.
Van Morrison, Liam Neeson, the Corrs, Sinead O'Connor, U2 and Boyzone were among artists from north and south of the border who contributed their talents free to the album.
Already it has sold 60,000 copies in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, it is now on sale in France and South Africa and Sinead O'Connor is currently in America promoting it.
There could be another huge cheque on its way to the Omagh Fund judging by the extent of the overseas sales so far.
Sean O'Dwyer, chairman of the Omagh Fund trustees, said yesterday: "We have now received into the fund 5.6 million pounds."
OMAGH will come to a halt this weekend when the market town stops to formally remember the victims of last year's bomb.
Secretary of State Mo Mowlam and Irish junior Foreign Minister Liz O'Donnell are expected to be among thousands of people attending a memorial service for the victims tomorrow.
The town will come to a standstill at 3.10pm, the time the massive car bomb exploded, killing 29 people and injuring 350.
The dissident republican group the Real IRA claimed it carried out the atrocity, which saw the biggest loss of life of any single incident in 30 years of terrorism.
Omagh District Council chief executive John McKinney said: "Essentially, the service is for the people of Omagh. It will not be turned into a showpiece for VIP guests but everyone who wants to pay their respects is welcome."
This afternoon, church bells will ring out at 3pm and a short private ceremony will be held at the bomb site in Market Street, where a temporary garden of remembrance has been created.
A service will also be held in Buncrana, Co Donegal, the home town of three young boys who died in the blast, and prayers will be said for the two Spanish victims, who were on an exchange visit.
Ireland's pop stars have raised a staggering �200,000 for the Omagh Fund.
Ross Graham and Tim Hegarty, of White Records, handed over a cheque yesterday for that amount from the sales of the album Across the Bridge of Hope to John McKinney of the council.
Van Morrison, Liam Neeson, the Corrs, Sinead O'Connor, U2 and Boyzone were among artists from north and south of the border who contributed their talents free to the album.
Already it has sold 60,000 copies in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, it is now on sale in France and South Africa and Sinead O'Connor is currently in America promoting it.
There could be another huge cheque on its way to the Omagh Fund judging by the extent of the overseas sales so far.
Sean O'Dwyer, chairman of the Omagh Fund trustees, said yesterday: "We have now received into the fund 5.6 million pounds."
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/231
Published Date: 14-Aug-99
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