PRIEST TELLS OF LASTING TRAUMA FOR SURVIVORS
Priest tells of lasting trauma for survivors
By LARA BRADLEY
THE Rev Brian D'Arcy was one of the many ministers of religion who were in Omagh to absorb some of the pain inflicted by the massacre.
Yesterday he broke down on BBC Radio as he recalled holding the hand of an elderly man who still had the flowers he bought for his wife's 65th birthday.
Listeners to the Pause for Thought programme heard him explain: "He placed them on her coffin as he buried not only his wife, but his daughter, his grand-daughter and two unborn babies. 'I can't take it in', he sobbed, 'They were all babies to me'.
"A young man had to share with me how he tried to help by picking up a lovely young girl who had lost a limb, but didn't know it. She told him she could hear the ambulance and that she was all right. 'Tell mum I'll be in the County Hospital', she said. And then she just died in his arms.'"
After the programme Father D'Arcy told the News Letter there is a danger the scaffolding of care and support which propped up the people of Omagh could collapse come Monday morning.
"Grief runs at an individual pace and some people if they live another 50 years will never get over their pain. Some will start to pick up the pieces on Monday and others will be annoyed to see people getting back to normal. That is the nature of grief," he said.
Father D'Arcy describes Omagh as his "second home". He was reluctant to bring his own story into the lime-light in Ulster's darkest week, but the well-known priest admitted he, like many others, was afraid to leave his home on Saturday in case the phone rang with bad news.
His happy schooldays were spent in Omagh where his sister and a "huge number" of friends and relatives still live. Yesterday he was at a low ebb after a week offer pastoral support to devastated families.
"It has been a desperately despairing time for the spirit. There is the most striking quietness in Omagh. The town is full of sobbing and whispering and every person has their own story to tell.
"Some of the injured are overwhelmed with misplaced guilt. They can't grasp why they were spared when the person standing next to them is dead. I have watched them visibly crumple in their beds every time the video of the bomb is shown on the news.
"Their nightmares are all different," he said.
By LARA BRADLEY
THE Rev Brian D'Arcy was one of the many ministers of religion who were in Omagh to absorb some of the pain inflicted by the massacre.
Yesterday he broke down on BBC Radio as he recalled holding the hand of an elderly man who still had the flowers he bought for his wife's 65th birthday.
Listeners to the Pause for Thought programme heard him explain: "He placed them on her coffin as he buried not only his wife, but his daughter, his grand-daughter and two unborn babies. 'I can't take it in', he sobbed, 'They were all babies to me'.
"A young man had to share with me how he tried to help by picking up a lovely young girl who had lost a limb, but didn't know it. She told him she could hear the ambulance and that she was all right. 'Tell mum I'll be in the County Hospital', she said. And then she just died in his arms.'"
After the programme Father D'Arcy told the News Letter there is a danger the scaffolding of care and support which propped up the people of Omagh could collapse come Monday morning.
"Grief runs at an individual pace and some people if they live another 50 years will never get over their pain. Some will start to pick up the pieces on Monday and others will be annoyed to see people getting back to normal. That is the nature of grief," he said.
Father D'Arcy describes Omagh as his "second home". He was reluctant to bring his own story into the lime-light in Ulster's darkest week, but the well-known priest admitted he, like many others, was afraid to leave his home on Saturday in case the phone rang with bad news.
His happy schooldays were spent in Omagh where his sister and a "huge number" of friends and relatives still live. Yesterday he was at a low ebb after a week offer pastoral support to devastated families.
"It has been a desperately despairing time for the spirit. There is the most striking quietness in Omagh. The town is full of sobbing and whispering and every person has their own story to tell.
"Some of the injured are overwhelmed with misplaced guilt. They can't grasp why they were spared when the person standing next to them is dead. I have watched them visibly crumple in their beds every time the video of the bomb is shown on the news.
"Their nightmares are all different," he said.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/511
Published Date: 22-Aug-98
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