EFFORTS OF OMAGH SUPPORT AND SELF HELP GROUP APPLAUDED
Efforts of Omagh Support and Self Help Group applauded
Sir,
I write to express my continuing support for the families of the Omagh Bomb victims, who boycotted the official 10th anniversary ceremony, and held their own service - as they had done for an umber of years before. I am sorry I was unable to attend, as I was on holiday at the time. I believe the service was well supported, although I am told - not by all the local clergy and councillors.
I applaud the efforts of the members of the Support and Self Help Group, who have been constantly trying to get justice for the victims and the survivors, but have been frustrated at every turn over the years.
They feel they have been let down by police and politicians in both jurisdictions and the prosecution service. Also, they get no comfort from the recent remarks of the Chief Constable, that the chances of getting a conviction are now pretty slim indeed.
Perhaps the families who have taken a civil action against five named individuals they believe to be implicated, will be successful.
In my opinion, too many skeletons in the cupboard would be exposed were the two governments to grant them the cross-border public enquiry they demand.
To compound their disappointment and frustration, the families feel they have been shabbily treated by the district council and marginalised by the chief executive, who chaired the Memorial Working Group responsible for carrying out the project.
They thought that the wording for a plaque at the bomb site, agreed on by all, would be acceptable. Sadly, it was rejected outright by the working committee, and a high-powered facilitation team was appointed to decide on a more acceptable inscription.
It is for this reason that the families representatives on the Working Group withdrew from the committee. They felt they had been sidelined completely. They certainly wouldn't have been in favour of the grandiose scheme envisaged for the memorial garden, which would permanently commemorate the murder of their loved ones. They simply had no input into any of the decisions taken concerning the new memorial.
I am saddened, but not surprised, that so many folk interviewed by the mediation team agreed with the opinion of most of the members of the Working Group, and no doubt many district council members as well, to avoid making any reference to the organisation responsible for the worst atrocity of the Troubles - even although the perpetrators had admitted to their involvement in it.
The rather bland neutral phase 'act of terror' thought up by the Facilitation Team for the plaque at the bomb site, could as easily refer to a Protestant terror group as a dissident Republican one. I believe the narrative on the inner wall of the garden is so long-winded that one could well miss reading the wording chosen by all the families, and inserted at the tail end of section five.
I know that this inscription would have wide acceptance by a large section of the general public, not invited to give their opinion on the wording to Dr. Dunlop's team. Many of the aggrieved families feel that there was a concerted effort to airbrush out or sanitise the truth concerning the perpetrators who have never shown any remorse for their evil deed.
That is why the whole messy affair has left a very bad taste in the mouth, and the families felt that the only way they could express their disgust was to boycott the council ceremony, so expertly choreographed by the chief executive and his team. They obviously felt they would not be comfortable in the presence of councillors who they felt had done little or nothing to help them, and some of the specially invited guests, whom they strongly disapproved of because of their Republican affiliation.
I recently paid a visit to the glass obelisk at the bomb site, and the memorial garden, both of which are eye-catching to say the least. I feel that the whole 'Garden of Light' concept will be lost on the majority of the visiting public, if they fail to see the crystal heart lighting up inside the giant monument. I wonder if the sun will shine brightly enough for this ever to happen. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
The pool and the symbolic planting above the walls are pleasant to the eye. The former is rather to expansive and leaves little space for seating accommodation. People like to have a place to sit comfortably and reflect, as they could do in the friendly garden that was replaced.
The latter, those tiny little plants known as Thyme, would stand a better chance of surviving if the soil round each could be loosened to enable air to penetrate the roots. Let's hope those vandals who tried to deface the obelisk stay away.
Yours,
W. Breen,
Omagh
Sir,
I write to express my continuing support for the families of the Omagh Bomb victims, who boycotted the official 10th anniversary ceremony, and held their own service - as they had done for an umber of years before. I am sorry I was unable to attend, as I was on holiday at the time. I believe the service was well supported, although I am told - not by all the local clergy and councillors.
I applaud the efforts of the members of the Support and Self Help Group, who have been constantly trying to get justice for the victims and the survivors, but have been frustrated at every turn over the years.
They feel they have been let down by police and politicians in both jurisdictions and the prosecution service. Also, they get no comfort from the recent remarks of the Chief Constable, that the chances of getting a conviction are now pretty slim indeed.
Perhaps the families who have taken a civil action against five named individuals they believe to be implicated, will be successful.
In my opinion, too many skeletons in the cupboard would be exposed were the two governments to grant them the cross-border public enquiry they demand.
To compound their disappointment and frustration, the families feel they have been shabbily treated by the district council and marginalised by the chief executive, who chaired the Memorial Working Group responsible for carrying out the project.
They thought that the wording for a plaque at the bomb site, agreed on by all, would be acceptable. Sadly, it was rejected outright by the working committee, and a high-powered facilitation team was appointed to decide on a more acceptable inscription.
It is for this reason that the families representatives on the Working Group withdrew from the committee. They felt they had been sidelined completely. They certainly wouldn't have been in favour of the grandiose scheme envisaged for the memorial garden, which would permanently commemorate the murder of their loved ones. They simply had no input into any of the decisions taken concerning the new memorial.
I am saddened, but not surprised, that so many folk interviewed by the mediation team agreed with the opinion of most of the members of the Working Group, and no doubt many district council members as well, to avoid making any reference to the organisation responsible for the worst atrocity of the Troubles - even although the perpetrators had admitted to their involvement in it.
The rather bland neutral phase 'act of terror' thought up by the Facilitation Team for the plaque at the bomb site, could as easily refer to a Protestant terror group as a dissident Republican one. I believe the narrative on the inner wall of the garden is so long-winded that one could well miss reading the wording chosen by all the families, and inserted at the tail end of section five.
I know that this inscription would have wide acceptance by a large section of the general public, not invited to give their opinion on the wording to Dr. Dunlop's team. Many of the aggrieved families feel that there was a concerted effort to airbrush out or sanitise the truth concerning the perpetrators who have never shown any remorse for their evil deed.
That is why the whole messy affair has left a very bad taste in the mouth, and the families felt that the only way they could express their disgust was to boycott the council ceremony, so expertly choreographed by the chief executive and his team. They obviously felt they would not be comfortable in the presence of councillors who they felt had done little or nothing to help them, and some of the specially invited guests, whom they strongly disapproved of because of their Republican affiliation.
I recently paid a visit to the glass obelisk at the bomb site, and the memorial garden, both of which are eye-catching to say the least. I feel that the whole 'Garden of Light' concept will be lost on the majority of the visiting public, if they fail to see the crystal heart lighting up inside the giant monument. I wonder if the sun will shine brightly enough for this ever to happen. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
The pool and the symbolic planting above the walls are pleasant to the eye. The former is rather to expansive and leaves little space for seating accommodation. People like to have a place to sit comfortably and reflect, as they could do in the friendly garden that was replaced.
The latter, those tiny little plants known as Thyme, would stand a better chance of surviving if the soil round each could be loosened to enable air to penetrate the roots. Let's hope those vandals who tried to deface the obelisk stay away.
Yours,
W. Breen,
Omagh
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1961
Published Date: 04-Sep-08
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