CELEBRATION OF NEW BEGINNING FOR OMAGH
Celebration of new beginning for Omagh
by David Killen
Unveiling ceremony at 'landmark building'
A NEW community house under construction near the Omagh bomb site will bring life, light and good feeling back to an area of great sadness and darkness, one of those behind the project said this week.
The Omagh Community House is being built close to the scene of the bomb explosion that caused such devastating destruction and loss of life in August 1998.
The project for a landmark building to provide facilities for community groups in the district is well on course for completion at the end of the year.
It is being seen as part of the healing, remembrance and regeneration of the town in the aftermath of the bomb.
The largest single contributor of funding for the project was the American lrelands Fund, which gave $500,000.
To mark this key contribution, Loretta Brennan Glucksman, chairman of the Funds, unveiled an inscribed stone at the building on Tuesday.
Work at the corner of Drumragh Avenue and Market Street has been ongoing for some time. The site encompasses a joint business and community use.
Fronting onto Market Street, just a matter of yards from the epicentre of the bomb blast, will be three rebuilt business premises.
To the rear and above will be the new community house. It will provide office space for 12 community groups, which provide important services on a wide range of local issues.
Access to the community house will be from the bridge side, and, facing onto the river as it does, the community house will be the starting point for the proposed riverwalk.
It is expected that the building work will be completed by November and the businesses should be able to reopen then. The community house, it is hoped, will be officially opened in the new year.
On Tuesday, representatives of the community groups, directors of the community house and funders had their first chance to see inside the fencing that has surrounded the site for many months. Also there were Gary and Donna Marie McGillion, who were badly injured in the explosion.
And, afterwards at a reception in the Silverbirch Hotel, the new facility was described as a landmark building for Omagh.
While plans for a community house were first made in February of 1998, the bomb explosion of six months later was to give the scheme added impetus.
Challenge
Loretta Brennan Glucksman said the success of the American Ireland Funds depended on the integrity of the projects the money was put into. Raising the money was, she said, the easy part, putting it in the right place was the challenge.
The Omagh Community House was 'a wonderful project,' she said.
She said the American Ireland Funds raised $500,000 in the US, and the Ireland Funds GB raised �100,000 for the community house.
She added: "It is a tangible financial way to show what we feel in solidarity with the people of Omagh Never would I have believed that when I finally had a chance to come to Omagh to celebrate this tremendous project that I would be reflecting on what happened in New York on September 11 and that none of us is invulnerable to this scourge on our planet. That scourge will one day be eradicated."
'One-stop shop'
Mr Conor McGale, one of the directors of the project, explained that the community house would be a landmark building. It would, he said, provide a one-stop shop for 12 community groups, as well as being of general benefit to the Omagh people.
"This siting will always be a landmark for Omagh. For many people it will mean different things. For those who work in the community it is an opportunity to bring life, light and good feeling back to an area of great sadness and darkness.
"This project posed many problems and sensitive issues for directors and the member groups. We feel that we have taken into consideration the concerns of the people of Omagh and they will join with us today in a celebration of a brand new beginning."
It would, Mr McGale said, be an example of community co-operation, despite the most provocative attempt to perpetrate division.
He paid tribute to three landowners at the site, James Maguire, Eamon Cunningham and Gertrude McKibben, who would be rebuilding, and who had supported the community house project in practical ways.
He also paid tribute to Omagh District Council for facilitating the project, supplying technical advice and even donating land.
Mr. Barry McElduff, the council chairman, said everyone was challenged by the concept of the new community house.
Healing
It was, Mr McElduff said, part of the healing, remembering and regeneration process.
"As a community here in Tyrone we rely first on our own strengths, but we are aided by, and we welcome, the assistance of the people of the USA and elsewhere," he said.
A foyer of remembrance would be a central part of the new building, Mr McElduff said.
"All of us are endeavouring to be as sensitive as we can in relation to what we say and what we do in relation to Omagh and its aftermath," he said.
"We are all challenged to provide a better society in the future than the one that has gone past," he added.
The mission of the American Ireland Funds is to support programmes promoting reconciliation, education and community development, the arts and culture in Ireland, Over the past 30 years the Funds have raised more than $150 million.
by David Killen
Unveiling ceremony at 'landmark building'
A NEW community house under construction near the Omagh bomb site will bring life, light and good feeling back to an area of great sadness and darkness, one of those behind the project said this week.
The Omagh Community House is being built close to the scene of the bomb explosion that caused such devastating destruction and loss of life in August 1998.
The project for a landmark building to provide facilities for community groups in the district is well on course for completion at the end of the year.
It is being seen as part of the healing, remembrance and regeneration of the town in the aftermath of the bomb.
The largest single contributor of funding for the project was the American lrelands Fund, which gave $500,000.
To mark this key contribution, Loretta Brennan Glucksman, chairman of the Funds, unveiled an inscribed stone at the building on Tuesday.
Work at the corner of Drumragh Avenue and Market Street has been ongoing for some time. The site encompasses a joint business and community use.
Fronting onto Market Street, just a matter of yards from the epicentre of the bomb blast, will be three rebuilt business premises.
To the rear and above will be the new community house. It will provide office space for 12 community groups, which provide important services on a wide range of local issues.
Access to the community house will be from the bridge side, and, facing onto the river as it does, the community house will be the starting point for the proposed riverwalk.
It is expected that the building work will be completed by November and the businesses should be able to reopen then. The community house, it is hoped, will be officially opened in the new year.
On Tuesday, representatives of the community groups, directors of the community house and funders had their first chance to see inside the fencing that has surrounded the site for many months. Also there were Gary and Donna Marie McGillion, who were badly injured in the explosion.
And, afterwards at a reception in the Silverbirch Hotel, the new facility was described as a landmark building for Omagh.
While plans for a community house were first made in February of 1998, the bomb explosion of six months later was to give the scheme added impetus.
Challenge
Loretta Brennan Glucksman said the success of the American Ireland Funds depended on the integrity of the projects the money was put into. Raising the money was, she said, the easy part, putting it in the right place was the challenge.
The Omagh Community House was 'a wonderful project,' she said.
She said the American Ireland Funds raised $500,000 in the US, and the Ireland Funds GB raised �100,000 for the community house.
She added: "It is a tangible financial way to show what we feel in solidarity with the people of Omagh Never would I have believed that when I finally had a chance to come to Omagh to celebrate this tremendous project that I would be reflecting on what happened in New York on September 11 and that none of us is invulnerable to this scourge on our planet. That scourge will one day be eradicated."
'One-stop shop'
Mr Conor McGale, one of the directors of the project, explained that the community house would be a landmark building. It would, he said, provide a one-stop shop for 12 community groups, as well as being of general benefit to the Omagh people.
"This siting will always be a landmark for Omagh. For many people it will mean different things. For those who work in the community it is an opportunity to bring life, light and good feeling back to an area of great sadness and darkness.
"This project posed many problems and sensitive issues for directors and the member groups. We feel that we have taken into consideration the concerns of the people of Omagh and they will join with us today in a celebration of a brand new beginning."
It would, Mr McGale said, be an example of community co-operation, despite the most provocative attempt to perpetrate division.
He paid tribute to three landowners at the site, James Maguire, Eamon Cunningham and Gertrude McKibben, who would be rebuilding, and who had supported the community house project in practical ways.
He also paid tribute to Omagh District Council for facilitating the project, supplying technical advice and even donating land.
Mr. Barry McElduff, the council chairman, said everyone was challenged by the concept of the new community house.
Healing
It was, Mr McElduff said, part of the healing, remembering and regeneration process.
"As a community here in Tyrone we rely first on our own strengths, but we are aided by, and we welcome, the assistance of the people of the USA and elsewhere," he said.
A foyer of remembrance would be a central part of the new building, Mr McElduff said.
"All of us are endeavouring to be as sensitive as we can in relation to what we say and what we do in relation to Omagh and its aftermath," he said.
"We are all challenged to provide a better society in the future than the one that has gone past," he added.
The mission of the American Ireland Funds is to support programmes promoting reconciliation, education and community development, the arts and culture in Ireland, Over the past 30 years the Funds have raised more than $150 million.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1042
Published Date: 25-Apr-02
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