THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS AND THE DARKNESS HAS NOT OVERCOME IT
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it'
At 3pm on Friday, August 15, the Omagh Waterford Peace Choir performed as hundreds gathered on Omagh's Drumragh Avenue, despite the unforgiving downpour, to remember those killed and injured in the 1998 bomb atrocity.
Omagh District Council chief executive, Danny McSorley, greeted those in attendance with an extract from the narrative on the new memorial: "Ten years have now passed since a cruel evil stalked the streets of Omagh on the afternoon of Saturday 15 August 1998.
"Weather-wise it was one of the best days that summer had seen. Ordinary people were doing ordinary things on an ordinary day.
"In one fateful moment, all this was changed forever.
"Time stood still, futures were obliterated, lives were shattered, hearts were broken".
Sinead McLaughlin, principal of Scoil Iosagain - the primary school in Buncrana attended by Oran Doherty and Shaun McLaughlin - read a greeting in Irish.
"We meet again in Omagh's streets today to remember and honour those from three nations whose lives were lost. To remember those who mourn, those who suffer and those whose lives were changed forever in the Omagh bomb.
Madrid's Paula Helguero Mahon, the organiser of the exchange programme which brought 12-year-old Fernando Blasco Baselga and group leader Rocio Abad Ramos to Buncrana, from whence they journeyed to Omagh on a day trip, gave a greeting in Spanish.
"We meet also to acknowledge and give thanks for the resilience of the human spirit and its ability to rise above adversity.
"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it".
Representatives from Omagh Churches Forum - John Murdoch, First Omagh Presbyterian, Sam McGuffin, representing Omagh Methodist Church, and Brendan McCarthy, Omagh Community Church - then read a prayer.
"Almighty and compassionate God, ever present in time of trouble. In you alone we find comfort, strength and hope.
"We come before you now mindful of those we lost, conscious of those injured and bereaved and aware of an untold number of those affected by the events ten years ago today. "Be among us in our fears and our tears. Give comfort and support to our hearts and our souls. Let your light bring a new dawn to all who still struggle in darkness. "As we give thanks for so many acts of generosity, kindness and heroism in those early days, we ask you to refresh and strengthen those who continue to give help and leadership. Unite us with the whole world in one resolve to protect the foundations of our liberty and to live for peace. "In your mercy, hear our prayer. In your grace, bless us in this time with your holy and life-giving presence. In your wisdom, grant us those things that will lead us forward to wholeness, love and peace.
"To you O Lord, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be all Glory and praise.
"Amen."
At 10 minutes past three Omagh stood silent to remember the victims of an indiscriminate car bomb attack on an innocent town. Twenty-nine people, and unborn twins, were killed by a dissident republican bomb, while hundreds to this day carry the scars of that August afternoon.
At 3.11pm the bell at the Sacred Heart Church tolled to mark the end of the moment of silence.
Omagh man, Ronnie Moran, read aloud John Hewitt's poignant poem, 'Neither an Elegy nor a Manifesto'.
From Market Street, at the site of the bomb, the phrase 'bear in mind these dead' was repeated by Omagh's Caroline Martin, sister of bomb victim Esther Gibson, Beragh, in Spanish by Ana Abad, sister of Spanish bomb victim Rocio Abad Ramos, Madrid, and in Irish by John McLaughlin, father of bomb victim Shaun McLaughlin, Buncrana.
At 3.15pm Her Grace the Duchess of Abercorn read aloud the names of those whose lives were claimed on August 15, 1998: Rocio Abad Ramos, James Barker, Fernando Blasco Baselga, Geraldine Breslin, Debra Anne Cartwright, Gareth Conway, Breda Devine, Oran Doherty, Aiden Gallagher, Esther Gibson, Mary Grimes, her daughter Avril Monaghan, Avril's daughters Maura and unborn twin girls, Evelyn and Eimear, Olive Hawkes, Julia Hughes, Brenda Logue, Jolene Marlow, Ann McCombe, Brian McCrory, Samantha McFarland, Sean McGrath, Shaun McLaughlin, Alan Radford, Elizabeth Rush, Veda Short, Mena Skelton, Fred White, Bryan White and Lorraine Wilson.
There followed a reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.11 by Canon Derek Quinn, Church of Ireland, Omagh Churches Forum, and Sr Eveleen Hallahan, Buncrana.
Following the hymn 'Lord there are times', performed by the Omagh Waterford Peace Choir, guest speaker Mr Terry Waite addressed the gathered crowd, noting that "we do not live in a world where we can experience absolute justice".
He said: "With justice as with so many other things in life, we frequently have to settle for something less than the absolute. It is far from easy to recognise that fact."
Those who braved the unrelenting downpour that characterised Friday's service, then joined the Dedication to Peace, led by co-chairs of the Omagh Churches Forum, Monsignor Joseph Donnelly and Rev William Seale.
"We were not made for this, Neither for the taking of our own, Nor the darkening of the light. For this, earth's men and women were not made. And now, In love and hope,
To the suffering and the threatened We pledge the living of our days." Gordon Buchanan, WAVE, and Maura Twohig, TARA - representatives of those services which supported persons affected, either directly or indirectly by the trauma of the Omagh bomb -then read The Beatitudes.
Likewise David Bolton, from the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma and Transformation, which provides a trauma focused cognitive therapy treatment programme for people suffering from conditions such as post traumatic stress disorder and related conditions, read 'Finding the Inner Light - A Mother's Reflection'.
He said: "The following is based upon words written by a mother who lost her child in the Omagh bombing. Her insights have been sculpted from raw and terrible loss. Her journey through her loss and sorrow offers us all hope.
"Bereavement and times of crisis shake up our stable world and we can be left with the feeling that nothing will ever be the same again. We are forced to make adjustments in how, where and when we work, in how we spend our leisure time and how we relate to family and friends.
"Inner healing begins when we give up the hope for a better yesterday and take the first step towards making a better tomorrow. If we are to survive a crisis - and beyond it, to again find hope and the joy of life, we can find a way; by thinking new thoughts and believing new things about our lives.
"It can be painful to face the facts of our experience and the crisis it has created, yet this is the first step to becoming whole again. At such times, when we reach deep within ourselves we will find hidden strength, courage and hope, which we never knew existed. And when we feel we could not possibly be strong, have courage or find hope, these resources are there within us, waiting to be found.
"When we look around us we find that others, too, have known such things to be true. In times past another who understood this, recognised the possibility that those who mourn could exchange beauty for ashes, could again find joy instead of sorrow and feel praise instead of despair."
At the site of the bomb a lament, 'Kilmarnock', was played on bagpipes by Newtownstewart's Drew McDermott, while young people from Omagh Youth Theatre scattered petals on Market Street in remembrance.
From the Memorial Garden, Fiona Mullan responded on the uileann pipes with a more uplifting piece, 'New Foundland'.
The four young people then joined siblings and close relatives of the children from Buncrana who died on August 15, making their way from the place of death and injury with floral tributes to be placed in the garden.
This was followed by the official opening of the 'Garden of Light' by chairman of Omagh District Council, Martin McColgan, switching on of the 'Heliostat' by Sean O'Dwyer, chairman of the Omagh Fund, and the unveiling of the memorial by Rosemary Kelly, chairperson of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
Following the grace and closing hymn, representatives of some of the bereaved families and official guests laid floral tributes in the memorial garden.
At 3pm on Friday, August 15, the Omagh Waterford Peace Choir performed as hundreds gathered on Omagh's Drumragh Avenue, despite the unforgiving downpour, to remember those killed and injured in the 1998 bomb atrocity.
Omagh District Council chief executive, Danny McSorley, greeted those in attendance with an extract from the narrative on the new memorial: "Ten years have now passed since a cruel evil stalked the streets of Omagh on the afternoon of Saturday 15 August 1998.
"Weather-wise it was one of the best days that summer had seen. Ordinary people were doing ordinary things on an ordinary day.
"In one fateful moment, all this was changed forever.
"Time stood still, futures were obliterated, lives were shattered, hearts were broken".
Sinead McLaughlin, principal of Scoil Iosagain - the primary school in Buncrana attended by Oran Doherty and Shaun McLaughlin - read a greeting in Irish.
"We meet again in Omagh's streets today to remember and honour those from three nations whose lives were lost. To remember those who mourn, those who suffer and those whose lives were changed forever in the Omagh bomb.
Madrid's Paula Helguero Mahon, the organiser of the exchange programme which brought 12-year-old Fernando Blasco Baselga and group leader Rocio Abad Ramos to Buncrana, from whence they journeyed to Omagh on a day trip, gave a greeting in Spanish.
"We meet also to acknowledge and give thanks for the resilience of the human spirit and its ability to rise above adversity.
"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it".
Representatives from Omagh Churches Forum - John Murdoch, First Omagh Presbyterian, Sam McGuffin, representing Omagh Methodist Church, and Brendan McCarthy, Omagh Community Church - then read a prayer.
"Almighty and compassionate God, ever present in time of trouble. In you alone we find comfort, strength and hope.
"We come before you now mindful of those we lost, conscious of those injured and bereaved and aware of an untold number of those affected by the events ten years ago today. "Be among us in our fears and our tears. Give comfort and support to our hearts and our souls. Let your light bring a new dawn to all who still struggle in darkness. "As we give thanks for so many acts of generosity, kindness and heroism in those early days, we ask you to refresh and strengthen those who continue to give help and leadership. Unite us with the whole world in one resolve to protect the foundations of our liberty and to live for peace. "In your mercy, hear our prayer. In your grace, bless us in this time with your holy and life-giving presence. In your wisdom, grant us those things that will lead us forward to wholeness, love and peace.
"To you O Lord, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be all Glory and praise.
"Amen."
At 10 minutes past three Omagh stood silent to remember the victims of an indiscriminate car bomb attack on an innocent town. Twenty-nine people, and unborn twins, were killed by a dissident republican bomb, while hundreds to this day carry the scars of that August afternoon.
At 3.11pm the bell at the Sacred Heart Church tolled to mark the end of the moment of silence.
Omagh man, Ronnie Moran, read aloud John Hewitt's poignant poem, 'Neither an Elegy nor a Manifesto'.
From Market Street, at the site of the bomb, the phrase 'bear in mind these dead' was repeated by Omagh's Caroline Martin, sister of bomb victim Esther Gibson, Beragh, in Spanish by Ana Abad, sister of Spanish bomb victim Rocio Abad Ramos, Madrid, and in Irish by John McLaughlin, father of bomb victim Shaun McLaughlin, Buncrana.
At 3.15pm Her Grace the Duchess of Abercorn read aloud the names of those whose lives were claimed on August 15, 1998: Rocio Abad Ramos, James Barker, Fernando Blasco Baselga, Geraldine Breslin, Debra Anne Cartwright, Gareth Conway, Breda Devine, Oran Doherty, Aiden Gallagher, Esther Gibson, Mary Grimes, her daughter Avril Monaghan, Avril's daughters Maura and unborn twin girls, Evelyn and Eimear, Olive Hawkes, Julia Hughes, Brenda Logue, Jolene Marlow, Ann McCombe, Brian McCrory, Samantha McFarland, Sean McGrath, Shaun McLaughlin, Alan Radford, Elizabeth Rush, Veda Short, Mena Skelton, Fred White, Bryan White and Lorraine Wilson.
There followed a reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.11 by Canon Derek Quinn, Church of Ireland, Omagh Churches Forum, and Sr Eveleen Hallahan, Buncrana.
Following the hymn 'Lord there are times', performed by the Omagh Waterford Peace Choir, guest speaker Mr Terry Waite addressed the gathered crowd, noting that "we do not live in a world where we can experience absolute justice".
He said: "With justice as with so many other things in life, we frequently have to settle for something less than the absolute. It is far from easy to recognise that fact."
Those who braved the unrelenting downpour that characterised Friday's service, then joined the Dedication to Peace, led by co-chairs of the Omagh Churches Forum, Monsignor Joseph Donnelly and Rev William Seale.
"We were not made for this, Neither for the taking of our own, Nor the darkening of the light. For this, earth's men and women were not made. And now, In love and hope,
To the suffering and the threatened We pledge the living of our days." Gordon Buchanan, WAVE, and Maura Twohig, TARA - representatives of those services which supported persons affected, either directly or indirectly by the trauma of the Omagh bomb -then read The Beatitudes.
Likewise David Bolton, from the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma and Transformation, which provides a trauma focused cognitive therapy treatment programme for people suffering from conditions such as post traumatic stress disorder and related conditions, read 'Finding the Inner Light - A Mother's Reflection'.
He said: "The following is based upon words written by a mother who lost her child in the Omagh bombing. Her insights have been sculpted from raw and terrible loss. Her journey through her loss and sorrow offers us all hope.
"Bereavement and times of crisis shake up our stable world and we can be left with the feeling that nothing will ever be the same again. We are forced to make adjustments in how, where and when we work, in how we spend our leisure time and how we relate to family and friends.
"Inner healing begins when we give up the hope for a better yesterday and take the first step towards making a better tomorrow. If we are to survive a crisis - and beyond it, to again find hope and the joy of life, we can find a way; by thinking new thoughts and believing new things about our lives.
"It can be painful to face the facts of our experience and the crisis it has created, yet this is the first step to becoming whole again. At such times, when we reach deep within ourselves we will find hidden strength, courage and hope, which we never knew existed. And when we feel we could not possibly be strong, have courage or find hope, these resources are there within us, waiting to be found.
"When we look around us we find that others, too, have known such things to be true. In times past another who understood this, recognised the possibility that those who mourn could exchange beauty for ashes, could again find joy instead of sorrow and feel praise instead of despair."
At the site of the bomb a lament, 'Kilmarnock', was played on bagpipes by Newtownstewart's Drew McDermott, while young people from Omagh Youth Theatre scattered petals on Market Street in remembrance.
From the Memorial Garden, Fiona Mullan responded on the uileann pipes with a more uplifting piece, 'New Foundland'.
The four young people then joined siblings and close relatives of the children from Buncrana who died on August 15, making their way from the place of death and injury with floral tributes to be placed in the garden.
This was followed by the official opening of the 'Garden of Light' by chairman of Omagh District Council, Martin McColgan, switching on of the 'Heliostat' by Sean O'Dwyer, chairman of the Omagh Fund, and the unveiling of the memorial by Rosemary Kelly, chairperson of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
Following the grace and closing hymn, representatives of some of the bereaved families and official guests laid floral tributes in the memorial garden.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC10An/44
Published Date: 21-Aug-08
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