SYMBOL HERALDS START OF A NEW ERA
Symbol heralds start of a new era
By JACKIE McKEOWN
A SYMBOLIC entry into the next Millennium will mark the start of a bright new era for Omagh next month.
For the Co Tyrone town has been chosen to launch the UK's regional Millennium festival celebrations.
A host of celebrities will join people from all over Northern Ireland, and civic leaders from 22 British cities, for the prestigious opening on September 3.
Sparks
And sparks from the Omagh Millennium beacon will be taken back to each city to light their symbols of hope on the eve of the new century.
Festival organisers said they had some reservations about asking the town to host the launch, just three weeks after the first anniversary of the atrocity. But they said town leaders jumped at the chance to be involved in such a positive, and hopeful, ceremony.
"We approached the council with some trepidation, conscious of what is happening this weekend," said festival spokesman Paddy Murphy.
Jumped
"But they had been looking at some way that people could look forward, and jumped at the chance."
Youngsters from the town will be joined by youngsters from around the world to take a spark from the Omagh beacon to 10 other locations in Ulster for a series of regional events the next day.
Added Mr Murphy: "The young people of Northern Ireland feature strongly in our aspirations for a better future. So it is only fitting that they should take the beacon of light to the rest of the province.
"And a feast of entertainment is planned that will no doubt leave everyone with an uplifting, and lasting, memory of the occasion."
By JACKIE McKEOWN
A SYMBOLIC entry into the next Millennium will mark the start of a bright new era for Omagh next month.
For the Co Tyrone town has been chosen to launch the UK's regional Millennium festival celebrations.
A host of celebrities will join people from all over Northern Ireland, and civic leaders from 22 British cities, for the prestigious opening on September 3.
Sparks
And sparks from the Omagh Millennium beacon will be taken back to each city to light their symbols of hope on the eve of the new century.
Festival organisers said they had some reservations about asking the town to host the launch, just three weeks after the first anniversary of the atrocity. But they said town leaders jumped at the chance to be involved in such a positive, and hopeful, ceremony.
"We approached the council with some trepidation, conscious of what is happening this weekend," said festival spokesman Paddy Murphy.
Jumped
"But they had been looking at some way that people could look forward, and jumped at the chance."
Youngsters from the town will be joined by youngsters from around the world to take a spark from the Omagh beacon to 10 other locations in Ulster for a series of regional events the next day.
Added Mr Murphy: "The young people of Northern Ireland feature strongly in our aspirations for a better future. So it is only fitting that they should take the beacon of light to the rest of the province.
"And a feast of entertainment is planned that will no doubt leave everyone with an uplifting, and lasting, memory of the occasion."
Further Information
Publisher: SUNDAY LIFE
Ref: SL/091
Published Date: 15-Aug-99
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