PRESIDENT SPEAKS OF HOLY SILENCE IN THE TOWN
President speaks of 'holy silence' in the town
THE President of the Republic of Ireland, Mrs. Mary McAleese, has described those who carried out Saturday's atrocity as a "manic minority who are out of control".
Mrs. McAleese, who came to Omagh on Sunday to offer sympathy to the bereaved and injured, said the visit evoked memories of when her father's pub was car bombed in Belfast over 20 years ago.
She said the Omagh bombers must be handed over to the police by those who know their identity.
Earlier, she said: "I just want to be there in whatever way I can in order to support those ordinary people, whose lives have been thrown so cruelly out of kilter."
And she said there was now a "posse of serial killers on the loose" on the island of Ireland, who should be hunted down and brought to justice.
Surveying the devastation, Mrs. McAleese said there was "an almost holy silence" in the town.
"Anybody parking the car yesterday with the bomb in it would have seen little shops on a very, very busy Saturday afternoon -mummies and daddies and shoppers, up and down the streets - a scene of such humble innocence," she said.
She went on: "Whoever planted that bomb, they knew exactly what they were doing. I had to say that - there is no other explanation that one can offer."
She said people's lives had been devastated by "this act of the most extraordinary evil and anarchy ever to be visited on the people of this island".
The Irish President also visited the Tyrone County Hospital and Omagh Leisure Centre.
She added that the bombers had not been influenced by the debate within the republican movement, which had led to the IRA ceasefire.
And she said they were "flying in the face of the express wish of all the people of this island, in continuing a campaign of murder and hatred".
THE President of the Republic of Ireland, Mrs. Mary McAleese, has described those who carried out Saturday's atrocity as a "manic minority who are out of control".
Mrs. McAleese, who came to Omagh on Sunday to offer sympathy to the bereaved and injured, said the visit evoked memories of when her father's pub was car bombed in Belfast over 20 years ago.
She said the Omagh bombers must be handed over to the police by those who know their identity.
Earlier, she said: "I just want to be there in whatever way I can in order to support those ordinary people, whose lives have been thrown so cruelly out of kilter."
And she said there was now a "posse of serial killers on the loose" on the island of Ireland, who should be hunted down and brought to justice.
Surveying the devastation, Mrs. McAleese said there was "an almost holy silence" in the town.
"Anybody parking the car yesterday with the bomb in it would have seen little shops on a very, very busy Saturday afternoon -mummies and daddies and shoppers, up and down the streets - a scene of such humble innocence," she said.
She went on: "Whoever planted that bomb, they knew exactly what they were doing. I had to say that - there is no other explanation that one can offer."
She said people's lives had been devastated by "this act of the most extraordinary evil and anarchy ever to be visited on the people of this island".
The Irish President also visited the Tyrone County Hospital and Omagh Leisure Centre.
She added that the bombers had not been influenced by the debate within the republican movement, which had led to the IRA ceasefire.
And she said they were "flying in the face of the express wish of all the people of this island, in continuing a campaign of murder and hatred".
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0106
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
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