TEARS AND ANGER AS A CITY MOURNS
TEARS AND ANGER AS A CITY MOURNS
By DON MACKAY
Thousands crowd Belfast in vigil for bomb victims
THE anger was etched on the sea of faces as Belfast city centre ground to a halt yesterday.
Thousands took part in a silent vigil for 28 innocents murdered in a bomb massacre that shook Ulster and the rest of the world.
Horror and shame were mixed with fury against the men of violence who have tried to take peace away from the ordinary people of Northern Ireland in the carnage of Omagh.
Homage
Grown men wept with tears, office workers gave up their lunch breaks and mums held their children close, as the city paid homage to those lost or badly injured in the market town blast 75 miles away.
Around 4,000 people filled the streets of the capital outside the City Hall.
Only the crying of a tiny baby broke the silence - a reminder of the peace people so desperately want for themselves and their children's future.
Behind the grief was a determination that the bombers of the Real IRA wouldn't win.
The city's Lord Mayor, David Alderdice pledged that the "bad old days" would not return.
"Everyone wants peace - all sections of the community."
Minutes earlier he had led the people in prayer as he told them: "We are here to remember the dead, the bereaved and all those who are suffering from the Omagh tragedy.
"This is a time to stand and reflect.
"This is a time for prayer not speeches. A time to be quiet and to listen to the still small voice."
Heads were bowed and hands were clasped as the gathering stayed silent for two minutes.
Then the Lord Mayor's Chaplain, The Reverend Ruth Patterson, read out Psalm 46 with its telling lines:
"God is our refuge and our strength, always ready to help in time of trouble. So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come and the mountains tumble into the sea.
"Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge..."
Feelings
And one line from the second verse of the Psalm summed up the feelings of the people of Belfast: "God himself lives in that city - it cannot be destroyed."
And as the growing crowd filled Chichester Street and spilled down Royal Avenue, the Chaplain read from Romans 8: "Death can't and life can't. The angels can't and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't take God's love away."
As the silence filled the air it was only broken by Lord Mayor Alderdice reading out the names of those who died in the weekend blast which stunned every right-thinking human being.
The liturgy of the lost in the young Mayor's quiet voice began: "Brenda Louge 17 from Omagh: Gareth Conway 18 from Carrickmore ..."
He read out all 28 names and for nearly half an hour afterwards the vigil stood silent, still only broken by the crying of the young baby.
As people shuffled away still quietly 54-year-old Maurice Adams, of Larne, said: "We had to express our sympathies to the people of Omagh.
"We have seen so many tragedies over a number of years but this has to be the worst.
"It affected not only Catholics and Protestants but people from a different nation and all we want is peace."
Jenny Bingam of Newtownabbey wiped away tears as she said: "I had to come. You have to think of those people.
"I feel so sorry for them - and yet there is nothing I can do for them."
By DON MACKAY
Thousands crowd Belfast in vigil for bomb victims
THE anger was etched on the sea of faces as Belfast city centre ground to a halt yesterday.
Thousands took part in a silent vigil for 28 innocents murdered in a bomb massacre that shook Ulster and the rest of the world.
Horror and shame were mixed with fury against the men of violence who have tried to take peace away from the ordinary people of Northern Ireland in the carnage of Omagh.
Homage
Grown men wept with tears, office workers gave up their lunch breaks and mums held their children close, as the city paid homage to those lost or badly injured in the market town blast 75 miles away.
Around 4,000 people filled the streets of the capital outside the City Hall.
Only the crying of a tiny baby broke the silence - a reminder of the peace people so desperately want for themselves and their children's future.
Behind the grief was a determination that the bombers of the Real IRA wouldn't win.
The city's Lord Mayor, David Alderdice pledged that the "bad old days" would not return.
"Everyone wants peace - all sections of the community."
Minutes earlier he had led the people in prayer as he told them: "We are here to remember the dead, the bereaved and all those who are suffering from the Omagh tragedy.
"This is a time to stand and reflect.
"This is a time for prayer not speeches. A time to be quiet and to listen to the still small voice."
Heads were bowed and hands were clasped as the gathering stayed silent for two minutes.
Then the Lord Mayor's Chaplain, The Reverend Ruth Patterson, read out Psalm 46 with its telling lines:
"God is our refuge and our strength, always ready to help in time of trouble. So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come and the mountains tumble into the sea.
"Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge..."
Feelings
And one line from the second verse of the Psalm summed up the feelings of the people of Belfast: "God himself lives in that city - it cannot be destroyed."
And as the growing crowd filled Chichester Street and spilled down Royal Avenue, the Chaplain read from Romans 8: "Death can't and life can't. The angels can't and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't take God's love away."
As the silence filled the air it was only broken by Lord Mayor Alderdice reading out the names of those who died in the weekend blast which stunned every right-thinking human being.
The liturgy of the lost in the young Mayor's quiet voice began: "Brenda Louge 17 from Omagh: Gareth Conway 18 from Carrickmore ..."
He read out all 28 names and for nearly half an hour afterwards the vigil stood silent, still only broken by the crying of the young baby.
As people shuffled away still quietly 54-year-old Maurice Adams, of Larne, said: "We had to express our sympathies to the people of Omagh.
"We have seen so many tragedies over a number of years but this has to be the worst.
"It affected not only Catholics and Protestants but people from a different nation and all we want is peace."
Jenny Bingam of Newtownabbey wiped away tears as she said: "I had to come. You have to think of those people.
"I feel so sorry for them - and yet there is nothing I can do for them."
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/047
Published Date: 19-Aug-98
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