CANDLELIGHT VIGIL OFFERS RAY OF HOPE TO THOUSANDS
Candlelight vigil offers ray of hope to thousands
FIVE thousand quiet mourners gathered in Omagh for a dignified candlelit vigil, on Tuesday night.
There were no public displays of emotion at the gathering in Drumragh car park: it was too soon for that.
Instead, there was the contained grief a town still unable to contemplate the enormity of its loss.
Three community workers read the names of the 28 dead.
Brigid McAleer began the list, until she broke down and was replaced by Gerry McCusker. When his voice faltered over the names of the babies, Maura Monaghan and Breda Devine, Garvan McCann, stepped up to complete the roll.
Dominic Kirwan led the singing of the 23rd Psalm, 'The Lord's My Shepherd', as a flame was passed from candle to candle among the crowd.
Monica Coyle, Chairperson of the Omagh Women's Area, cried as she read the 'Prayer for Healing', which had been written by local community groups that day.
Mourners held each other as Dominic Kirwan called for a minutes silence for all who lost their lives, as well as those who were seriously injured in the blast.
It was a moving moment and even image-hungry press photographers stopped snapping.
As community workers led a procession to lay flowers in honour of the dead, one old man offered them a crown of thorns.
Snippets of conversations could be heard when the crowd was halted at the police line, and people enquired about the extent of the horrific injuries of friends and associates caught up in the carnage.
Policemen displayed emotion as they were weighed down with bunches flowers bearing messages of hurt and disbelief, to lay at the site where 28 people had died.
Geraldine Keyes, FOCUS spokesperson, said the vigil was "plain, simple and signified."
"There's an unearthly feeling in Omagh tonight, and I think people needed an outlet for their public grief," she said.
"People are still in shock, and those who were not directly involved needed to do something that didn't impose on the grieving families.
She said that community groups had been inundated with calls of support, proving that there is good will throughout Ireland and beyond, and perhaps more importantly, a hope for change.
Community worker Noel Thompson said that the vigil had been organised by Focus, the Omagh Forum, and the Omagh Women's Area Network, during a special meeting on Sunday night.
"We all knew somebody, everybody was hurting. It was bad enough, but for this to happen on the final day of the community festival - when we had planned to bring all the estates together with a parade of floats through the town centre - is inconceivable," he said.
"This is an appropriate gesture for the people who have been lost. This was needed."
Composed just that day by local community groups, the following Prayer for Healing was read at Tuesday night's vigil:
In different ways we have all been wounded.
Some in our bodies, many in our hearts and minds.
We feel great grief and despair,
Now we need to find a way to help and support each other,
To listen to each other
Today, and in the days to come.
Lord, help us to be gentle with each other.
Listen to each other and bring us closer together
In our search for peace and healing.
Amen.
FIVE thousand quiet mourners gathered in Omagh for a dignified candlelit vigil, on Tuesday night.
There were no public displays of emotion at the gathering in Drumragh car park: it was too soon for that.
Instead, there was the contained grief a town still unable to contemplate the enormity of its loss.
Three community workers read the names of the 28 dead.
Brigid McAleer began the list, until she broke down and was replaced by Gerry McCusker. When his voice faltered over the names of the babies, Maura Monaghan and Breda Devine, Garvan McCann, stepped up to complete the roll.
Dominic Kirwan led the singing of the 23rd Psalm, 'The Lord's My Shepherd', as a flame was passed from candle to candle among the crowd.
Monica Coyle, Chairperson of the Omagh Women's Area, cried as she read the 'Prayer for Healing', which had been written by local community groups that day.
Mourners held each other as Dominic Kirwan called for a minutes silence for all who lost their lives, as well as those who were seriously injured in the blast.
It was a moving moment and even image-hungry press photographers stopped snapping.
As community workers led a procession to lay flowers in honour of the dead, one old man offered them a crown of thorns.
Snippets of conversations could be heard when the crowd was halted at the police line, and people enquired about the extent of the horrific injuries of friends and associates caught up in the carnage.
Policemen displayed emotion as they were weighed down with bunches flowers bearing messages of hurt and disbelief, to lay at the site where 28 people had died.
Geraldine Keyes, FOCUS spokesperson, said the vigil was "plain, simple and signified."
"There's an unearthly feeling in Omagh tonight, and I think people needed an outlet for their public grief," she said.
"People are still in shock, and those who were not directly involved needed to do something that didn't impose on the grieving families.
She said that community groups had been inundated with calls of support, proving that there is good will throughout Ireland and beyond, and perhaps more importantly, a hope for change.
Community worker Noel Thompson said that the vigil had been organised by Focus, the Omagh Forum, and the Omagh Women's Area Network, during a special meeting on Sunday night.
"We all knew somebody, everybody was hurting. It was bad enough, but for this to happen on the final day of the community festival - when we had planned to bring all the estates together with a parade of floats through the town centre - is inconceivable," he said.
"This is an appropriate gesture for the people who have been lost. This was needed."
Composed just that day by local community groups, the following Prayer for Healing was read at Tuesday night's vigil:
In different ways we have all been wounded.
Some in our bodies, many in our hearts and minds.
We feel great grief and despair,
Now we need to find a way to help and support each other,
To listen to each other
Today, and in the days to come.
Lord, help us to be gentle with each other.
Listen to each other and bring us closer together
In our search for peace and healing.
Amen.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0088
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
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