IRA STATEMENT 'TOO LITTLE TOO LATE'
IRA statement 'too little, too late' - Omagh families
TOO little, too late - that was the reaction this week from families of those killed in the Omagh bomb to the IRA statement claiming an end to its armed struggle and a pledge to pursue its political ends by peaceful and democratic means.
The 5001b car bomb which ripped through the heart of Omagh on a summer afternoon in August 1998 was planted by the IRA. It claimed the lives of 29 innocent people, both protestant and catholic, and unborn twins.
The organisation released an historic statement on Thursday of last week promising an end to violence and a commitment to both peace and democracy. In response, the dismantling of key security bases in Northern Ireland has already begun, and a further announcement revealed that the Army will cease to provide support to this province in 2007 with the resultant disbandment of the Home Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment.
This week the fathers of two of the young people killed by the blast said that while the promise of peace was always to be welcomed, albeit cautiously, the move was too late for their children.
Mr Godfrey Wilson, who lost Lorraine, his 15-year-old daughter, in the bomb, said he felt that there was no democracy in society any more and that the removal of security was a further appeasement to terrorists.
He said: "Definitely, for us, it's too little, too late, but any call for a ceasefire in a community where there is terrorism should always be acknowledged. What we are going through as a bereaved family is what nobody should ever have to go through.
"Tony Blair and the British government seem to now be singing from the same hymn sheet as Gerry Adams, they can't wait to get rid of us. I appreciate that we are trying to get the country stabilised but to respond so quickly to a terrorist group and begin dismantling the protective forces is a bit fast in my view.
"My initial reaction was that we have heard it all before, but when I heard it coming so strong from Gerry Adams the thought came into my head that a deal had been done between the terrorists and the British government. It puts doubt in my mind over the Omagh bomb in terms of what deals are being done there too. Everything is being done to appease the terrorists.
"Tony Blair and George Bush are forever telling us that terrorists must be dealt with, but look at how they are dealing with them, putting them in government and treating them nicely. The victims don't get the same kindness shown to them. Democracy seems to have been pushed to one side, when people like myself, who have had their 15-year-old daughter slaughtered in the street while she was doing charity work, are shown no respect.
"Tony Blair came to Omagh and stood there and shook my hand and promised to leave no stone unturned, but it's pretty clear now that they don't want to give us justice. It's another hurt to us when we see that even democracy is not working for us, but for the criminal," he added.
Meanwhile, Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aidan died in Omagh that day, said that he would wait to see whether the IRA statement turned out to be as historic as political leaders seemed to think it would be, adding that he felt the whole process of 'normalisation' had got off on the wrong foot due to lack of consultation, particularly with unionists.
He said: "I would tend to be cautious and will wait and see if this statement is as historic as the IRA, Sinn Fein, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern seem to think it is. It's certainly long overdue, it's seven years - since the Good Friday Agreement was signed and people expected these things to be happening at that time.
"The thing that disappoints me is that there has been no mention of the victims, the people who have had to pay the price for Sinn Fein's rise to fame. The government seems to have abandoned the people who have suffered over the past 35 years.
"Particularly after the Omagh bomb, that was the time to show good faith, and build support in the community, and Sinn Fein should have come forward at that time and supported the investigation into Omagh, and that's my lasting concern, that they never supported the investigation north or south of the border. They never called on the people they had influence with who knew what happened here to come forward and share that with the PSNI or the Garda.
"I would throw that out as a challenge to Sinn Fein as a gesture of proving to people like ourselves that they are turning the corner on violence.
"I was totally surprised that the other main parties were not aware of the demilitarisation; if there is to be a move forward in the community I think, whether one side or the other agrees or not, the least that should be done is they should all be informed. It's a very bad start to go ahead and take action which has the effect of destabilising part of the community.
"It's a sad fact that of the statement that was delivered last Thursday, the people that seemed most pleased were Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern and American supporters, but the people who really need to have applauded that move forward were the people in the unionist community, and that is who the IRA and Sinn Fein should have been reaching out to," he concluded.
TOO little, too late - that was the reaction this week from families of those killed in the Omagh bomb to the IRA statement claiming an end to its armed struggle and a pledge to pursue its political ends by peaceful and democratic means.
The 5001b car bomb which ripped through the heart of Omagh on a summer afternoon in August 1998 was planted by the IRA. It claimed the lives of 29 innocent people, both protestant and catholic, and unborn twins.
The organisation released an historic statement on Thursday of last week promising an end to violence and a commitment to both peace and democracy. In response, the dismantling of key security bases in Northern Ireland has already begun, and a further announcement revealed that the Army will cease to provide support to this province in 2007 with the resultant disbandment of the Home Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment.
This week the fathers of two of the young people killed by the blast said that while the promise of peace was always to be welcomed, albeit cautiously, the move was too late for their children.
Mr Godfrey Wilson, who lost Lorraine, his 15-year-old daughter, in the bomb, said he felt that there was no democracy in society any more and that the removal of security was a further appeasement to terrorists.
He said: "Definitely, for us, it's too little, too late, but any call for a ceasefire in a community where there is terrorism should always be acknowledged. What we are going through as a bereaved family is what nobody should ever have to go through.
"Tony Blair and the British government seem to now be singing from the same hymn sheet as Gerry Adams, they can't wait to get rid of us. I appreciate that we are trying to get the country stabilised but to respond so quickly to a terrorist group and begin dismantling the protective forces is a bit fast in my view.
"My initial reaction was that we have heard it all before, but when I heard it coming so strong from Gerry Adams the thought came into my head that a deal had been done between the terrorists and the British government. It puts doubt in my mind over the Omagh bomb in terms of what deals are being done there too. Everything is being done to appease the terrorists.
"Tony Blair and George Bush are forever telling us that terrorists must be dealt with, but look at how they are dealing with them, putting them in government and treating them nicely. The victims don't get the same kindness shown to them. Democracy seems to have been pushed to one side, when people like myself, who have had their 15-year-old daughter slaughtered in the street while she was doing charity work, are shown no respect.
"Tony Blair came to Omagh and stood there and shook my hand and promised to leave no stone unturned, but it's pretty clear now that they don't want to give us justice. It's another hurt to us when we see that even democracy is not working for us, but for the criminal," he added.
Meanwhile, Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aidan died in Omagh that day, said that he would wait to see whether the IRA statement turned out to be as historic as political leaders seemed to think it would be, adding that he felt the whole process of 'normalisation' had got off on the wrong foot due to lack of consultation, particularly with unionists.
He said: "I would tend to be cautious and will wait and see if this statement is as historic as the IRA, Sinn Fein, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern seem to think it is. It's certainly long overdue, it's seven years - since the Good Friday Agreement was signed and people expected these things to be happening at that time.
"The thing that disappoints me is that there has been no mention of the victims, the people who have had to pay the price for Sinn Fein's rise to fame. The government seems to have abandoned the people who have suffered over the past 35 years.
"Particularly after the Omagh bomb, that was the time to show good faith, and build support in the community, and Sinn Fein should have come forward at that time and supported the investigation into Omagh, and that's my lasting concern, that they never supported the investigation north or south of the border. They never called on the people they had influence with who knew what happened here to come forward and share that with the PSNI or the Garda.
"I would throw that out as a challenge to Sinn Fein as a gesture of proving to people like ourselves that they are turning the corner on violence.
"I was totally surprised that the other main parties were not aware of the demilitarisation; if there is to be a move forward in the community I think, whether one side or the other agrees or not, the least that should be done is they should all be informed. It's a very bad start to go ahead and take action which has the effect of destabilising part of the community.
"It's a sad fact that of the statement that was delivered last Thursday, the people that seemed most pleased were Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern and American supporters, but the people who really need to have applauded that move forward were the people in the unionist community, and that is who the IRA and Sinn Fein should have been reaching out to," he concluded.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1797
Published Date: 04-Aug-05
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