CHEERS TEARS AND BITTER MEMORIES
Cheers, tears and bitter memories
IT was a moment of immeasurable madness that brought about the meeting; between the world's most powerful man and Omagh's bereaved.
And the strained expression on the faces of the relatives of bomb victims who waited for President Clinton at Omagh Leisure Centre yesterday summed up the surrealness of such an event.
No doubt both parties were dreading coming face-to-face; Mr Clinton because of the degree of grief he would witness and the bereaved because his presence symbolised the savagery of the crime committed against them.
But they came in their hundreds - entire families of victims, and survivors, some with horrific scars, some in wheelchairs, others hobbling on crutches.
Ann Wilson, whose daughter Lorraine, 15, died instantly when the blast ripped apart the Oxfam shop where she worked part-time as a volunteer, said: "It was a strain to come. But I needed to come and be here very much.
"It means more, than I can say that President Clinton took time out to come and see us."
At the front of the subdued gathering sat two sisters, Laura and Nicola Hamilton, who were both seriously injured in the explosion.
With them was their mother, Theresa, who admitted returning to Omagh had been hard for her girls.
She said: "But they wanted to come. I hope it's been a boost for them and a boost for everyone here in Omagh."
The faces of grieving relatives who were no doubt familiar to the world for the most tragic reasons were dotted across the room.
Lawrence Rush, whose wife of almost 40 years, Libby, died in the blast; Michael Doherty, whose son Oran, eight, was one of the victims, sat stoneyfaced.
At one point, just minutes after President Clinton had begun to address the 500 or so people gathered, an alarm went off, and everyone in the hall froze with fear.
Body guards surrounded the President and the First Lady, and relatives jumped to their feet.
For one awful moment they must have dreaded the worst. But seconds later calm was restored as the alert was declared a false alarm.
IT was a moment of immeasurable madness that brought about the meeting; between the world's most powerful man and Omagh's bereaved.
And the strained expression on the faces of the relatives of bomb victims who waited for President Clinton at Omagh Leisure Centre yesterday summed up the surrealness of such an event.
No doubt both parties were dreading coming face-to-face; Mr Clinton because of the degree of grief he would witness and the bereaved because his presence symbolised the savagery of the crime committed against them.
But they came in their hundreds - entire families of victims, and survivors, some with horrific scars, some in wheelchairs, others hobbling on crutches.
Ann Wilson, whose daughter Lorraine, 15, died instantly when the blast ripped apart the Oxfam shop where she worked part-time as a volunteer, said: "It was a strain to come. But I needed to come and be here very much.
"It means more, than I can say that President Clinton took time out to come and see us."
At the front of the subdued gathering sat two sisters, Laura and Nicola Hamilton, who were both seriously injured in the explosion.
With them was their mother, Theresa, who admitted returning to Omagh had been hard for her girls.
She said: "But they wanted to come. I hope it's been a boost for them and a boost for everyone here in Omagh."
The faces of grieving relatives who were no doubt familiar to the world for the most tragic reasons were dotted across the room.
Lawrence Rush, whose wife of almost 40 years, Libby, died in the blast; Michael Doherty, whose son Oran, eight, was one of the victims, sat stoneyfaced.
At one point, just minutes after President Clinton had begun to address the 500 or so people gathered, an alarm went off, and everyone in the hall froze with fear.
Body guards surrounded the President and the First Lady, and relatives jumped to their feet.
For one awful moment they must have dreaded the worst. But seconds later calm was restored as the alert was declared a false alarm.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/276
Published Date: 04-Sep-98
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