SERVICE HEARS DEAN'S TALK OF SHAME
Service hears Dean's talk of 'shame'
by Sean McCarthaigh
THE bombing of Omagh represented a day of shame for Ireland, the Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin said yesterday during a memorial service to commemorate the 28 victims of last week's atrocity.
Dr Maurice Stewart told the large congregation that included the President, Mary McAleese, and many other dignitaries that everyone shared some of the responsibility for allowing such an outrage to happen in our country.
While he had felt shame as a member of the Church of Ireland for the events at Drumcree this summer, Dr Stewart said August 15, the date of the bombing, should be seen as "a day of shame for Ireland."
He added: "Shame that such a heinous, utterly sinful deed should he perpetrated against anyone, let alone our own flesh and blood; shame that it should be plotted and planned not 100 miles from Dublin, and we are told that the names of the murderers are common knowledge."
He continued: "We are all involved in this, we all in some measure bear responsibility, for this is our country. We should hang our heads in shame until some attempt has been made to expiate this stain and purge our land of this satanic evil."
But Dr Stewart said Omagh had also signalled a sign of hope through the selfless outpouring of human concern that followed the bombing. "Omagh will become for us always a place to be remembered for what it suffered, but also a place of courage and co-operation."
He also called on people to remember the many who were injured but who remain anonymous.
Dean Stewart said the Omagh bombing had created a keen sense of disappointment, because the atrocity had followed so quickly after the signing of the Belfast Agreement.
"We may have been naive, but with all the euphoria after Good Friday we thought we had the right to expect peace," he remarked. During the service, President McAleese gave the Gospel reading, while the first lesson was read by Alan Rainey, vice chairman of Omagh District Council, and the second reading was given in Spanish by the Spanish Ambassador, Jose Maria Sanz-Pastor.
The intercession prayers were led by Michelle O'Brien, whose mother was killed in the 1974 bombing of Dublin. Included in the prayers was a poem by bomb victim Sean McLaughlin,12, from Buncrana, which was specially written for a visit to Aras an Uachtarain to meet President McAleese earlier this year.
Others attending the service included the Chief Justice, Liam Hamilton; the President of the High Court, Frederick Morris; the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Walton Empey; the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Raymond Field; Junior Foreign Affairs Minister, Liz O'Donnell and the Attorney General, David Byrne as well as members of various political parties, religious denominations and the diplomatic corps.
A special welcome was extended by Dean Stewart to officials from Omagh District Council.
At the end of the service, Dublin's Lord Mayor, Senator Joe Doyle, presented a book of condolences signed by over 30,000 people to the chairman of Omagh District Council, Sean Clarke.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
by Sean McCarthaigh
THE bombing of Omagh represented a day of shame for Ireland, the Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin said yesterday during a memorial service to commemorate the 28 victims of last week's atrocity.
Dr Maurice Stewart told the large congregation that included the President, Mary McAleese, and many other dignitaries that everyone shared some of the responsibility for allowing such an outrage to happen in our country.
While he had felt shame as a member of the Church of Ireland for the events at Drumcree this summer, Dr Stewart said August 15, the date of the bombing, should be seen as "a day of shame for Ireland."
He added: "Shame that such a heinous, utterly sinful deed should he perpetrated against anyone, let alone our own flesh and blood; shame that it should be plotted and planned not 100 miles from Dublin, and we are told that the names of the murderers are common knowledge."
He continued: "We are all involved in this, we all in some measure bear responsibility, for this is our country. We should hang our heads in shame until some attempt has been made to expiate this stain and purge our land of this satanic evil."
But Dr Stewart said Omagh had also signalled a sign of hope through the selfless outpouring of human concern that followed the bombing. "Omagh will become for us always a place to be remembered for what it suffered, but also a place of courage and co-operation."
He also called on people to remember the many who were injured but who remain anonymous.
Dean Stewart said the Omagh bombing had created a keen sense of disappointment, because the atrocity had followed so quickly after the signing of the Belfast Agreement.
"We may have been naive, but with all the euphoria after Good Friday we thought we had the right to expect peace," he remarked. During the service, President McAleese gave the Gospel reading, while the first lesson was read by Alan Rainey, vice chairman of Omagh District Council, and the second reading was given in Spanish by the Spanish Ambassador, Jose Maria Sanz-Pastor.
The intercession prayers were led by Michelle O'Brien, whose mother was killed in the 1974 bombing of Dublin. Included in the prayers was a poem by bomb victim Sean McLaughlin,12, from Buncrana, which was specially written for a visit to Aras an Uachtarain to meet President McAleese earlier this year.
Others attending the service included the Chief Justice, Liam Hamilton; the President of the High Court, Frederick Morris; the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Walton Empey; the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Raymond Field; Junior Foreign Affairs Minister, Liz O'Donnell and the Attorney General, David Byrne as well as members of various political parties, religious denominations and the diplomatic corps.
A special welcome was extended by Dean Stewart to officials from Omagh District Council.
At the end of the service, Dublin's Lord Mayor, Senator Joe Doyle, presented a book of condolences signed by over 30,000 people to the chairman of Omagh District Council, Sean Clarke.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
Further Information
Publisher: THE EXAMINER
Ref: TEX/166
Published Date: 24-Aug-98
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