ORANGE ORDER CONDEMS DASTARDLY DEED
Orange Order condemns 'dastardly deed'
THE Orange Order at every level has condemned the people who carried out the Omagh bomb massacre.
Mr. Tom Reid, Grand Master of Tyrone, said almost everyone knew of someone who had been killed or seriously injured in the heinous crime.
"A new low had been reached by republican terrorists with this attack, and the lives and homes of may have been shattered," he said. He expressed sympathy to all those who had lost loved ones and wished those injured in the attack as speedy a recovery to full health as was possible.
"Some of those injured will never be able to lead the lives they did prior to Saturday afternoon. Everyone must rally around them and offer them whatever support they can when they are released from hospital," Mr. Reid added.
Meanwhile, the Tyrone Royal Arch Purple Chapter Grand Master, Mr. Allan Rainey, said the officers and members sympathised with everyone who was affected either by the loss of life or through injuries.
"It was a dastardly deed, one which words cannot be found to describe this brutal attack on innocent people," he said.
Both he and Mr. Reid, praised the work of all those who helped out at the scene, at the hospital and at the incident centre set up at the town's leisure centre.
The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, expressing deepest sympathy to those who had been bereaved and injured, said the Orange family joined with people throughout the world in condemning those who carried out the heinous crime.
"We give thanks for the service of the doctors, nurses and emergency personnel who worked so hard tending to the dying and injured," a statement said.
At an Orange Order rally in Portadown on Saturday night, two minutes' silence was observed for the victims of the Omagh outrage. Five thousand people turned out for the rally, which was organised by the Independent Orange Order to express solidarity with Protestant families living in the lower Garvaghy Road and to reinforce support for the stand taken by Portadown District LOL No 1 over the Drumcree parade.
One of the main speakers, Mr. William McCrea, spoke of his anger and revulsion at the barbarity that had been committed by republicans in Omagh, a town he said he represented as an MP for 14 years.
He offered sympathy to the bereaved and injured, and led the silent remembrance for those who had died.
The officers and members of Omagh District Orange Lodge on Tuesday said they wished to record their abhorrence of the recent appalling atrocity in Omagh, and expressed their heartfelt sorrow and sympathy to those who suffered in the explosion on Saturday.
"Having lost two faithful and loyal members of our District Lodge, we fully understand the hurt and despair of our community at this time.
"This atrocity was murder in its vilest sense, a blow at the very fabric of society. We utterly condemn the perpetrators of the murder and injury of so many innocent people and call on the authorities on both sides of the border to take the strongest possible measures to arrest those responsible and bring them to justice", the organisation said.
"We give thanks to the emergency services who worked so hard under such extreme circumstances. This must surely stress the need for the retention of the Tyrone County Hospital as without it, undoubtedly, more lives would have been lost", the Lodge members said.
THE Orange Order at every level has condemned the people who carried out the Omagh bomb massacre.
Mr. Tom Reid, Grand Master of Tyrone, said almost everyone knew of someone who had been killed or seriously injured in the heinous crime.
"A new low had been reached by republican terrorists with this attack, and the lives and homes of may have been shattered," he said. He expressed sympathy to all those who had lost loved ones and wished those injured in the attack as speedy a recovery to full health as was possible.
"Some of those injured will never be able to lead the lives they did prior to Saturday afternoon. Everyone must rally around them and offer them whatever support they can when they are released from hospital," Mr. Reid added.
Meanwhile, the Tyrone Royal Arch Purple Chapter Grand Master, Mr. Allan Rainey, said the officers and members sympathised with everyone who was affected either by the loss of life or through injuries.
"It was a dastardly deed, one which words cannot be found to describe this brutal attack on innocent people," he said.
Both he and Mr. Reid, praised the work of all those who helped out at the scene, at the hospital and at the incident centre set up at the town's leisure centre.
The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, expressing deepest sympathy to those who had been bereaved and injured, said the Orange family joined with people throughout the world in condemning those who carried out the heinous crime.
"We give thanks for the service of the doctors, nurses and emergency personnel who worked so hard tending to the dying and injured," a statement said.
At an Orange Order rally in Portadown on Saturday night, two minutes' silence was observed for the victims of the Omagh outrage. Five thousand people turned out for the rally, which was organised by the Independent Orange Order to express solidarity with Protestant families living in the lower Garvaghy Road and to reinforce support for the stand taken by Portadown District LOL No 1 over the Drumcree parade.
One of the main speakers, Mr. William McCrea, spoke of his anger and revulsion at the barbarity that had been committed by republicans in Omagh, a town he said he represented as an MP for 14 years.
He offered sympathy to the bereaved and injured, and led the silent remembrance for those who had died.
The officers and members of Omagh District Orange Lodge on Tuesday said they wished to record their abhorrence of the recent appalling atrocity in Omagh, and expressed their heartfelt sorrow and sympathy to those who suffered in the explosion on Saturday.
"Having lost two faithful and loyal members of our District Lodge, we fully understand the hurt and despair of our community at this time.
"This atrocity was murder in its vilest sense, a blow at the very fabric of society. We utterly condemn the perpetrators of the murder and injury of so many innocent people and call on the authorities on both sides of the border to take the strongest possible measures to arrest those responsible and bring them to justice", the organisation said.
"We give thanks to the emergency services who worked so hard under such extreme circumstances. This must surely stress the need for the retention of the Tyrone County Hospital as without it, undoubtedly, more lives would have been lost", the Lodge members said.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0109
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
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