TONY PARSONS
WHY WE MUST NEVER FORGET OMAGH
Tony Parsons
IF ever the day dawns when there is a united Ireland, then I hope that they will remember Omagh.
If ever the Brits finally go home, deciding they are sick to the back teeth of the mindless tribalism of this blood-soaked scrap of land called Ulster, then I pray to God those left behind will remember Bloody Saturday.
Let them remember the children with their arms and legs blown off.
Let them remember the pregnant woman killed with her unborn baby inside her.
Let them remember the misery and the grief that will endure for a lifetime.
Because make no mistake, the carnage of Omagh was done in the name of a united Ireland.
Yes it was done by a bunch of cowardly fanatics out to wreck the peace process. Yes, it was a bestial act by men who have lost all connection with their conscience.
And yes, it was worse, far worse, than all the bombing's that went before it.
But it was done for a reason. It was - God help us - not a thoughtless act but an act coldly and cruelly calculated.
It was done to edge Ulster closer to the day when it is consumed in a united Ireland.
You have to wonder what kind of a country is built on the slaughter of pregnant women and innocent children. You have to wonder what exactly would be worth celebrating about a united Ireland founded on the dismembered limbs of Irish men. women, children and unborn babies.
How pathetic these bombers seem, with their pathetic misty-eyed dreams of a united Ireland. What sad and truly pitiful little men they must be to imagine any country founded on acts like this would be worth a damn.
They are just as removed from reality as all those Plastic Paddies in America who get teary-eyed when they stick a few dollars in the collection box for "the boys".
I don't know about you, but I am finding it very difficult to watch the news right now.
Who can stomach the well-meaning platitudes of politicians when there are children who have had their faces burnt off, when there are people who have lost the lower half of their body.
No, this is not fitting material for a family newspaper, but then how do you sanitise Omagh for public consumption?
And I confess I find it difficult to watch our old pals in the peace process, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness express their outrage
THEY might be wringing their hands now, but it wasn't so long ago that their comrades in the Provos were planting bombs like the one on Saturday.
And men who will soon be released from prison are guilty of exactly the kind of act that broke the heart of Omagh.
No doubt out there in the cold, hard, real world. Adams and McGuinness need to be included in the peace process. But - come on boys - the dead in Omagh are hardly the first innocent people to have their bodies blown to bits for the Republican cause. The scale of Omagh, that's what is shocking. The dozens already dead, the scores that are blinded, blown apart, plunged into a living hell that they will never escape.
But we have been here before.
There have been other bombs, there have been other children ripped to shreds. It is all horribly and grotesquely familiar.
The peace feels indistinguishable from the war. But there are no soldiers or RUC cops killed in Omagh. Innocent Irish citizens were the victims. Catholics and Protestants, blown to pieces by a bomb that did not discriminate between green and orange.
If the peace process is worth the paper it is printed on Northern Ireland needs to remove itself from the bloody ditch of the past.
It needs to look at that list of dead, dying and dismembered and realise the people of Ulster, Catholic and Protestant, are in this together.
Frankly, I have no idea if that is even possible.
BUT if Omagh finally wakes up Ulster to the mammoth stupidity of its mindless tribalism, then some good will have come out of the slaughter of those poor innocent people who only wanted to spend a Saturday afternoon with their families.
If Northern Ireland is ever going to get the peace the people of that tormented place deserve, then the two tribes will have to see there is more that unites them than divides them. To an Englishman Northern Ireland feels like a foreign country now. The bigots of the Orange Order swaggering through Catholic neighbourhoods in celebration of battles that were fought centuries ago in England we don't even celebrate the second World War - are as alien as the balaclava-clad butchers who kill children for their sentimental dreams of a united Ireland. Pray Omagh could finally unite Northern Ireland, because it is the last torn rag of hope to cling to. But don't call the bombing mindless. It was exploded for a reason - to drive the British from Ulster.
In the name of a united Ireland, the Real IRA - or whatever collection of murderous lunatics planted the bomb - are willing to murder Irish children. What stinking cowards they are, what miserable excuses for human beings they must be.
As an Englishman, I have no great desire for my country to remain on the island of Ireland. All I want - and I want this very much - is that my, country is never bombed into submission by terrorists.
War or peace, the future of Northern Ireland will be decided by the people of the province. But those who want the Brits to go home need to ask themselves one question today.
Think about the babies blown up in the name of your cause. Think about the pregnant woman who was ripped apart.
Think about all those innocents who lost their sight, their limbs, their lives, their loved ones.
Those who desire a united Ireland need to ask themselves one simple question in the bloody, heartbroken aftermath of Omagh - Is it worth it?
Tony Parsons
IF ever the day dawns when there is a united Ireland, then I hope that they will remember Omagh.
If ever the Brits finally go home, deciding they are sick to the back teeth of the mindless tribalism of this blood-soaked scrap of land called Ulster, then I pray to God those left behind will remember Bloody Saturday.
Let them remember the children with their arms and legs blown off.
Let them remember the pregnant woman killed with her unborn baby inside her.
Let them remember the misery and the grief that will endure for a lifetime.
Because make no mistake, the carnage of Omagh was done in the name of a united Ireland.
Yes it was done by a bunch of cowardly fanatics out to wreck the peace process. Yes, it was a bestial act by men who have lost all connection with their conscience.
And yes, it was worse, far worse, than all the bombing's that went before it.
But it was done for a reason. It was - God help us - not a thoughtless act but an act coldly and cruelly calculated.
It was done to edge Ulster closer to the day when it is consumed in a united Ireland.
You have to wonder what kind of a country is built on the slaughter of pregnant women and innocent children. You have to wonder what exactly would be worth celebrating about a united Ireland founded on the dismembered limbs of Irish men. women, children and unborn babies.
How pathetic these bombers seem, with their pathetic misty-eyed dreams of a united Ireland. What sad and truly pitiful little men they must be to imagine any country founded on acts like this would be worth a damn.
They are just as removed from reality as all those Plastic Paddies in America who get teary-eyed when they stick a few dollars in the collection box for "the boys".
I don't know about you, but I am finding it very difficult to watch the news right now.
Who can stomach the well-meaning platitudes of politicians when there are children who have had their faces burnt off, when there are people who have lost the lower half of their body.
No, this is not fitting material for a family newspaper, but then how do you sanitise Omagh for public consumption?
And I confess I find it difficult to watch our old pals in the peace process, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness express their outrage
THEY might be wringing their hands now, but it wasn't so long ago that their comrades in the Provos were planting bombs like the one on Saturday.
And men who will soon be released from prison are guilty of exactly the kind of act that broke the heart of Omagh.
No doubt out there in the cold, hard, real world. Adams and McGuinness need to be included in the peace process. But - come on boys - the dead in Omagh are hardly the first innocent people to have their bodies blown to bits for the Republican cause. The scale of Omagh, that's what is shocking. The dozens already dead, the scores that are blinded, blown apart, plunged into a living hell that they will never escape.
But we have been here before.
There have been other bombs, there have been other children ripped to shreds. It is all horribly and grotesquely familiar.
The peace feels indistinguishable from the war. But there are no soldiers or RUC cops killed in Omagh. Innocent Irish citizens were the victims. Catholics and Protestants, blown to pieces by a bomb that did not discriminate between green and orange.
If the peace process is worth the paper it is printed on Northern Ireland needs to remove itself from the bloody ditch of the past.
It needs to look at that list of dead, dying and dismembered and realise the people of Ulster, Catholic and Protestant, are in this together.
Frankly, I have no idea if that is even possible.
BUT if Omagh finally wakes up Ulster to the mammoth stupidity of its mindless tribalism, then some good will have come out of the slaughter of those poor innocent people who only wanted to spend a Saturday afternoon with their families.
If Northern Ireland is ever going to get the peace the people of that tormented place deserve, then the two tribes will have to see there is more that unites them than divides them. To an Englishman Northern Ireland feels like a foreign country now. The bigots of the Orange Order swaggering through Catholic neighbourhoods in celebration of battles that were fought centuries ago in England we don't even celebrate the second World War - are as alien as the balaclava-clad butchers who kill children for their sentimental dreams of a united Ireland. Pray Omagh could finally unite Northern Ireland, because it is the last torn rag of hope to cling to. But don't call the bombing mindless. It was exploded for a reason - to drive the British from Ulster.
In the name of a united Ireland, the Real IRA - or whatever collection of murderous lunatics planted the bomb - are willing to murder Irish children. What stinking cowards they are, what miserable excuses for human beings they must be.
As an Englishman, I have no great desire for my country to remain on the island of Ireland. All I want - and I want this very much - is that my, country is never bombed into submission by terrorists.
War or peace, the future of Northern Ireland will be decided by the people of the province. But those who want the Brits to go home need to ask themselves one question today.
Think about the babies blown up in the name of your cause. Think about the pregnant woman who was ripped apart.
Think about all those innocents who lost their sight, their limbs, their lives, their loved ones.
Those who desire a united Ireland need to ask themselves one simple question in the bloody, heartbroken aftermath of Omagh - Is it worth it?
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/015
Published Date: 17-Aug-98
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