COMPROMISE REACHED OVER COMMEMORATION SERVICE CONTROVERSY
Compromise reached over commemoration service controversy
FOLLOWING an emotional standoff earlier in the week, church leaders have agreed to attend the Omagh Support and Self Help Group's bomb commemoration service this Sunday.
Having originally planned only to attend the Omagh District Council-organised service, the decision by a number of bereaved families to boycott Friday's commemoration in preference for a family-organised service on Sunday, forced local clergy to 're-examine' the issue.
Bereaved families have held a commemorative service on the Sunday closest to August 15 over the past four years.
As the separate 10th anniversary commemorations of Omagh's August 15 car bomb atrocity grew nearer, emotions were this week running high, with fears of division within the community detracting from the 'dignity' of the events.
Citing an underlying conflict with Omagh District Council over their handling of the design of the new memorial garden, and a dispute over the wording for the bomb memorial, a number of families have said that they will still not attend the Friday commemoration, but that it came down to a matter of 'personal choice'.
Some members have gone so far as to say that they will not stand beside representatives of Sinn Fein while they remember those loved ones who were killed by a dissident republican car bomb.
In a statement on Tuesday, co-chair of the Omagh Churches Forum, Monsignor Joseph Donnelly, acknowledged the "difficulties that many families have with the council ceremony", and agreed that clergy will now attend the families' Sunday service.
"We have revisited the situation given the recent developments," he said.
"We had originally put our weight behind the council ceremony in the hope that it would be a unified event.
"But it has become clear in the last few weeks some families would have found attending the event extremely difficult.
"It is not for us to question what they are going through. This is a very difficult time for them.
"So our decision [to attend Sunday's event] is a pastoral response to the situation."
In a previous statement this week, Monsignor Donnelly and co-chair Rev William Seale, asking that the community get behind the Friday service, said: "We would encourage people to attend the civic service on Friday August 15 at 3pm as a community memorial, thus making a very strong statement to those who caused this atrocity and sought to create division in our society.
"From the outset we rightfully committed ourselves to participation in the united Civic Service. However, we are aware that since the Civic Service was organised it has emerged that some, at this stage, have found it difficult to identify with this commemoration and therefore wish to mark the occasion with a separate service on Sunday 17 August at 3 pm.
"In past years clergy have attended and participated in the memorial services and we do know that some local clergy will be attending the Sunday service this year.
"As clergy we have always sought to provide pastoral care and assistance where required. We will naturally continue to do this over the coming weekend and into the future in whatever way is deemed appropriate."
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan never returned home from a shopping trip to Omagh that Saturday, has said that a 'united' service has been made impossible.
"I will not be attending the Friday service, nor will a number of other families who have been directly affected.
"My personal reason is that we were put through an unnecessary hurt with regard to the wording and the organising of the new memorial garden. And I think I would find it too difficult at that particular time to stand beside those that we felt could have dealt with these issues in a more sensitive way.
"Had circumstances been different, I would have liked to have attended both services."
Saying that the memorial issue was 'dictatorial' and should have been handled more sensitively, he expressed his belief that Omagh District Council should have "reached out to the victims".
"We tried to get an input, but we feel that we weren't listened to. We didn't really feel part of the community, and haven't done over the 10 years. People, I think, find it very difficult to accept the fact that we have spoken out, and we have demanded answers to questions most people won't even ask."
Mr Gallagher continued: "Things were allowed to fester, like an open wound, and this is the sad result of it. We cannot feel comfortable about going to the memorial service to the unveiling of the garden that has been constructed to the memory of our loved ones, and to the marking of the bomb site."
Calling Omagh's new Garden of Light a 'great piece of engineering', he notes that memorials at the likes of Lockerbie are more 'personal', including as they do plaques for each individual with words from their families.
"That put a human face on it, and I think that that might be what's missing in Omagh.
"That degree of thinking never went into the Omagh memorial. Its as if it's a place that's there to be photographed, to be looked at, and to leave.
"It's a very sterile area. It's cold and clinical. Artistically it's a great asset to the town, but I don't think it's an appropriate garden of remembrance."
Godfrey Wilson, whose 15-year-old daughter Lorraine was killed after evacuation from Oxfam during her voluntary shift, said earlier this week that he was deeply disappointed and hurt by the Churches Forum's original stance.
Speaking before the clergy's last minute 'volte-face', he expressed his belief that they had abandoned their 'Christian duties', and turned it into a political issue.
Explaining that he will not be attending the 'official' service tomorrow (Friday), Mr Wilson said he preferred to attend the family service which has been held every year since the sixth anniversary of the Omagh atrocity.
"We feel it is a better day to have it because it doesn't upset business people and it doesn't interfere with the flow of traffic through the town either. And we like to keep our memories to ourselves in that respect as well."
Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena was killed in the 1998 weekend car bomb attack, said that he was 'not happy' with the Churches Forum's verdict earlier this week.
"I doubt if many, any, of our group will attend on Friday. The politicians were to blame for the carnage of The Troubles and I want nothing to do with them, or to stand in their company or with the big chiefs of the PSNI and Guards who have let the perpetrators of Omagh escape Scot-free."
Speaking late last week, as the Churches Forum made public their original decision, he said: "During the lengthy debate about the refurbishment of the garden and memorial design the council insisted everyone's feelings should be taken into consideration. On this occasion the victims' families' feelings have been ignored by the Churches Forum. It's the height of bad manners - the shepherd should lead the flock.
"The last time the council were involved was on the fifth anniversary, and I think Friday is all to do with its self-promotion and profile-building, marking the opening of a redeveloped garden where there is nowhere to place a wreath or sit for a quiet moment of reflection, and the dedication of the glass obelisk.
"The new garden is a masterpiece in bad taste, typical of the local council, somewhere more conducive to a gathering of drunks thrown out of the weekend pubs at closing time. I am horrified, but not surprised at the way things have turned out - a memorial site with a bypass running through it! After the past 10 years, this is the final insult to the families."
Families in Buncrana will also be holding a candlelight vigil in memory of Oran Doherty, Sean McLaughlin and James Barker. Mrs Doherty -mother of eight-year-old Oran - will be attending both Friday and Sunday's remembrance services in Omagh.
While stressing that she does support those families who have decided not to attend Friday's memorial service, she said her decision was a personal one.
She said: "I am going on the Friday because it is the 10th anniversary of Oran's death. The week leading up the Omagh anniversary I always feel a bit down. I just want to be there in Omagh that day. I draw comfort from those services, and I meet people I wouldn't meet very often and we can talk about Oran.
"Me and my family are not going to stand alongside any politician. We are just going to be there for Oran on that day."
FOLLOWING an emotional standoff earlier in the week, church leaders have agreed to attend the Omagh Support and Self Help Group's bomb commemoration service this Sunday.
Having originally planned only to attend the Omagh District Council-organised service, the decision by a number of bereaved families to boycott Friday's commemoration in preference for a family-organised service on Sunday, forced local clergy to 're-examine' the issue.
Bereaved families have held a commemorative service on the Sunday closest to August 15 over the past four years.
As the separate 10th anniversary commemorations of Omagh's August 15 car bomb atrocity grew nearer, emotions were this week running high, with fears of division within the community detracting from the 'dignity' of the events.
Citing an underlying conflict with Omagh District Council over their handling of the design of the new memorial garden, and a dispute over the wording for the bomb memorial, a number of families have said that they will still not attend the Friday commemoration, but that it came down to a matter of 'personal choice'.
Some members have gone so far as to say that they will not stand beside representatives of Sinn Fein while they remember those loved ones who were killed by a dissident republican car bomb.
In a statement on Tuesday, co-chair of the Omagh Churches Forum, Monsignor Joseph Donnelly, acknowledged the "difficulties that many families have with the council ceremony", and agreed that clergy will now attend the families' Sunday service.
"We have revisited the situation given the recent developments," he said.
"We had originally put our weight behind the council ceremony in the hope that it would be a unified event.
"But it has become clear in the last few weeks some families would have found attending the event extremely difficult.
"It is not for us to question what they are going through. This is a very difficult time for them.
"So our decision [to attend Sunday's event] is a pastoral response to the situation."
In a previous statement this week, Monsignor Donnelly and co-chair Rev William Seale, asking that the community get behind the Friday service, said: "We would encourage people to attend the civic service on Friday August 15 at 3pm as a community memorial, thus making a very strong statement to those who caused this atrocity and sought to create division in our society.
"From the outset we rightfully committed ourselves to participation in the united Civic Service. However, we are aware that since the Civic Service was organised it has emerged that some, at this stage, have found it difficult to identify with this commemoration and therefore wish to mark the occasion with a separate service on Sunday 17 August at 3 pm.
"In past years clergy have attended and participated in the memorial services and we do know that some local clergy will be attending the Sunday service this year.
"As clergy we have always sought to provide pastoral care and assistance where required. We will naturally continue to do this over the coming weekend and into the future in whatever way is deemed appropriate."
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan never returned home from a shopping trip to Omagh that Saturday, has said that a 'united' service has been made impossible.
"I will not be attending the Friday service, nor will a number of other families who have been directly affected.
"My personal reason is that we were put through an unnecessary hurt with regard to the wording and the organising of the new memorial garden. And I think I would find it too difficult at that particular time to stand beside those that we felt could have dealt with these issues in a more sensitive way.
"Had circumstances been different, I would have liked to have attended both services."
Saying that the memorial issue was 'dictatorial' and should have been handled more sensitively, he expressed his belief that Omagh District Council should have "reached out to the victims".
"We tried to get an input, but we feel that we weren't listened to. We didn't really feel part of the community, and haven't done over the 10 years. People, I think, find it very difficult to accept the fact that we have spoken out, and we have demanded answers to questions most people won't even ask."
Mr Gallagher continued: "Things were allowed to fester, like an open wound, and this is the sad result of it. We cannot feel comfortable about going to the memorial service to the unveiling of the garden that has been constructed to the memory of our loved ones, and to the marking of the bomb site."
Calling Omagh's new Garden of Light a 'great piece of engineering', he notes that memorials at the likes of Lockerbie are more 'personal', including as they do plaques for each individual with words from their families.
"That put a human face on it, and I think that that might be what's missing in Omagh.
"That degree of thinking never went into the Omagh memorial. Its as if it's a place that's there to be photographed, to be looked at, and to leave.
"It's a very sterile area. It's cold and clinical. Artistically it's a great asset to the town, but I don't think it's an appropriate garden of remembrance."
Godfrey Wilson, whose 15-year-old daughter Lorraine was killed after evacuation from Oxfam during her voluntary shift, said earlier this week that he was deeply disappointed and hurt by the Churches Forum's original stance.
Speaking before the clergy's last minute 'volte-face', he expressed his belief that they had abandoned their 'Christian duties', and turned it into a political issue.
Explaining that he will not be attending the 'official' service tomorrow (Friday), Mr Wilson said he preferred to attend the family service which has been held every year since the sixth anniversary of the Omagh atrocity.
"We feel it is a better day to have it because it doesn't upset business people and it doesn't interfere with the flow of traffic through the town either. And we like to keep our memories to ourselves in that respect as well."
Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena was killed in the 1998 weekend car bomb attack, said that he was 'not happy' with the Churches Forum's verdict earlier this week.
"I doubt if many, any, of our group will attend on Friday. The politicians were to blame for the carnage of The Troubles and I want nothing to do with them, or to stand in their company or with the big chiefs of the PSNI and Guards who have let the perpetrators of Omagh escape Scot-free."
Speaking late last week, as the Churches Forum made public their original decision, he said: "During the lengthy debate about the refurbishment of the garden and memorial design the council insisted everyone's feelings should be taken into consideration. On this occasion the victims' families' feelings have been ignored by the Churches Forum. It's the height of bad manners - the shepherd should lead the flock.
"The last time the council were involved was on the fifth anniversary, and I think Friday is all to do with its self-promotion and profile-building, marking the opening of a redeveloped garden where there is nowhere to place a wreath or sit for a quiet moment of reflection, and the dedication of the glass obelisk.
"The new garden is a masterpiece in bad taste, typical of the local council, somewhere more conducive to a gathering of drunks thrown out of the weekend pubs at closing time. I am horrified, but not surprised at the way things have turned out - a memorial site with a bypass running through it! After the past 10 years, this is the final insult to the families."
Families in Buncrana will also be holding a candlelight vigil in memory of Oran Doherty, Sean McLaughlin and James Barker. Mrs Doherty -mother of eight-year-old Oran - will be attending both Friday and Sunday's remembrance services in Omagh.
While stressing that she does support those families who have decided not to attend Friday's memorial service, she said her decision was a personal one.
She said: "I am going on the Friday because it is the 10th anniversary of Oran's death. The week leading up the Omagh anniversary I always feel a bit down. I just want to be there in Omagh that day. I draw comfort from those services, and I meet people I wouldn't meet very often and we can talk about Oran.
"Me and my family are not going to stand alongside any politician. We are just going to be there for Oran on that day."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC10An/08
Published Date: 14-Aug-08
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