BOMB VICTIMS UNITE TO PAY SILENT TRIBUTE
Bomb victims unite to pay silent tribute
By: JACQUELINE COURTNEY
OVER 1,000 people, who paid a silent tribute to the Omagh dead on Saturday, heard a local-born priest make a passionate plea from the Market Street bomb-site to show the world that love is more powerful than hate.
Hundreds of local people and visitors to the town, with heads bowed, stood in the peace to remember its darkest hour when the devastating bomb ripped through the town - with such savage consequences.
Shops and public houses closed for an hour and most remained closed for the remainder of the Saturday evening.
Church bells rang out over the sombre gathering before a minute's silence at ten past three which brought it all home to the relatives and friends of the thirty one who had perished.
In the flickering sunlight, a little girl innocently played with her shoelace during an emotive Prayer Service - unaware of the deep sense of grief that surrounded her.
And minutes later, the rain fell down like large tears into puddles which had formed in the roadway.
Human tears also flowed freely during the ceremony which was essentially a private act of remembrance for the bereaved families and those injured in the blast.
A short time later, the sun broke through to dry away the tears and gave solace to the cortege of mourners.
As he stood at the edge of the bomb scene, Fr Shane Bradley, from Buncrana, emotionally expressed sympathy to the town in its "awful role of playing host to the atrocity."
He also told the hundreds of mourners - as they stood a short distance from the town's temporary Garden of Remembrance: "We can never forget!"
During the moving Service, the local born priest also thanked the people of Omagh for constantly reaching out with love in the most trying of circumstances.
They would remember also, he said, with inspiration "that hope that you have held onto, the belief you have in life and all its offers in the face of death and destruction.
He said: "To the people of Omagh, on behalf of those most affected by our shared tragedy living in Buncrana, we remember our loved ones who died, with a sense of shared grief and despair. The pain of your bereaved families and all the scarred, physically and emotionally, our families also know the emptiness, loss and loneliness. They too have felt the confusion of emotions - anger, guilt, fear and the despair - as they live day by day with the deaths of ones they loved.
"We remember with a sense of heart-felt gratitude your kindness, care and love expressed in the sensitive manner of all the nurses, doctors, social carers, clergy, army, police and others when carrying out your most difficult of tasks in the Leisure Centre that night, in your temporary mortuary, in the Chapel of Rest, in the hospitals and in every encounter since.
"We remember with a sincere sense of admiration the courage and leadership many of you have shown as you strive to be creative after such destruction in offering healing after such hurt and injuries and in constantly reaching out with love in the most trying of circumstance".
And he prayed: "Together, may you who have the awful role of playing host to this atrocity and we whose friends from Madrid and sons who were amongst your visitors that fateful day, show to the world that love is more powerful than hate, that what unites is is deeper and longer lasting than what divides us and that life can be found after death."
Earlier the words of local Presbyterian Minister, Robert Herron, could be heard over the silence:
"In our streets, blood and water flowed,
Silence shouts to those with ears to hear.
Hey you, who still have breath,
who have not had to drink this cup
of wrath, look hard upon death.
And let these few wrecked buildings
keep now the silent voice of our people.
"We have gone, our blood has done its work
You must go on, press on into life."
Local priest, Fr Kevin Mullan, then asked the people to pray with the quiet trust of troubled hearts the "Lord's Prayer" before a private wreath laying service took place.
Those who took part in the moving ceremony included:
St Eugene's Brass and Reed Band, under conductor Christopher Benson
Piper, Martin McCormick, third year student from Monaghan Drummer, Martin Campbell, from Newbuildings, a member of Bready Pipe Band
John McKinney, Chief Executive of Omagh District Council
Eilis Gallagher, retired voluntary worker from Omagh
Dr Haldane Mitchell, retired GP and local historian
Senor Augustin Gervas, Counsellor from the Spanish Embassy in London Sylvia Donaldson, social worker who visited Spanish families in Madrid
Jimmy McBride, retired vice-principal of Scoil Iosagain in Buncrana Jim Sheridan, school principal and member of Buncrana
Urban District Council Fr Kevin Mullan CC, Strathroy
Rev John Murdoch, First Omagh Presbyterian Church
Dr Irfran Hassan, GP and Chairman of Omagh GP Forum
Sandra Peake, Director of WAVE
Fr John Gilmore CC, Omagh Rev Clinton Langston, Anglican Padre, Lisanelly Barracks
Fr Robert Devine PP, Drumquin Rev Arthur O'Neill, Fintona and Creevan Presbyterian Church
Fr Francis Barber, Catholic Padre, Lisanelly Barracks James Patterson, Clerk of Sessions, Seskinore Presbyterian Church
Blanaid Murphy, Director of RTE Corn na nOg Choir
Fr Eugene Hasson CC, Cappagh and Hospitals Chaplain
Rev Derek Quinn, Rector of Cappagh and Lislimnaghan Churches Rev Ruth Adams, Church of Ireland
Marion Radford, mother of Alan Lorna Gilmore, niece of Olive Hawkes Audrey O'Neill, friend of Olive Hawkes
Kathleen Fleming, sister of Sylvia Ann Treanor, bereaved Poyntzpass family Noreen Hill, wife of Ronnie Hill, injured in Enniskillen bomb
Rita Restorick, mother of Lance Bombadeer Steven Restorick
Patricia Bradley, whose son was shot in 1996
Fitore Byqmeti, a Kosovan refugee currently living in Cork
Margaret McKinney, mother of one of the Disappeared
Fr Terry Connelly PP, Eskra Rev Ian Mairs, Mountjoy and Drumlegagh Presbyterian Churches
Rustam Jamshidi, retired Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
Jessica McFarland, Omagh High School
Hanora Fleming, Loreto Grammar School
Stephen Coyle, Strabane, one of those injured in the bombing
Gemma Kelly, Dean Brian Maguire High School, Carrickmore
Rachael Irvine, Omagh Academy Dr Brendan McCarthy, Omagh Community Church
Fr Michael Keaveny PP, Omagh Maureen Murphy, soprano, London
Ciaran Kelly, boy soprano, Derry
Brian Oliphant, Manager of Omagh Fund
Sandra Jones, Hospital Road Community Association
Patrick Bogues, President of Omagh Chamber of Commerce
Rev Robert Clarke, Rector of Edenderry and Clanabogan
Stanley Millar, Chief Officer, Western Health and Social Services Council
Omagh Community Youth Choir, under director of Daryl Simpson
Rev Peter Good, Omagh and Fintona Methodist Churches
Canon Charles Leeke, St Columba's Church, Omagh
Andrew Graham, aged 10, one of the injured
Gemma Gallagher, sister of Claire Gallagher
Sister Aengus Fitzpatrick, Loreto Convent
Allan Rainey, Chairman of Omagh District Council
By: JACQUELINE COURTNEY
OVER 1,000 people, who paid a silent tribute to the Omagh dead on Saturday, heard a local-born priest make a passionate plea from the Market Street bomb-site to show the world that love is more powerful than hate.
Hundreds of local people and visitors to the town, with heads bowed, stood in the peace to remember its darkest hour when the devastating bomb ripped through the town - with such savage consequences.
Shops and public houses closed for an hour and most remained closed for the remainder of the Saturday evening.
Church bells rang out over the sombre gathering before a minute's silence at ten past three which brought it all home to the relatives and friends of the thirty one who had perished.
In the flickering sunlight, a little girl innocently played with her shoelace during an emotive Prayer Service - unaware of the deep sense of grief that surrounded her.
And minutes later, the rain fell down like large tears into puddles which had formed in the roadway.
Human tears also flowed freely during the ceremony which was essentially a private act of remembrance for the bereaved families and those injured in the blast.
A short time later, the sun broke through to dry away the tears and gave solace to the cortege of mourners.
As he stood at the edge of the bomb scene, Fr Shane Bradley, from Buncrana, emotionally expressed sympathy to the town in its "awful role of playing host to the atrocity."
He also told the hundreds of mourners - as they stood a short distance from the town's temporary Garden of Remembrance: "We can never forget!"
During the moving Service, the local born priest also thanked the people of Omagh for constantly reaching out with love in the most trying of circumstances.
They would remember also, he said, with inspiration "that hope that you have held onto, the belief you have in life and all its offers in the face of death and destruction.
He said: "To the people of Omagh, on behalf of those most affected by our shared tragedy living in Buncrana, we remember our loved ones who died, with a sense of shared grief and despair. The pain of your bereaved families and all the scarred, physically and emotionally, our families also know the emptiness, loss and loneliness. They too have felt the confusion of emotions - anger, guilt, fear and the despair - as they live day by day with the deaths of ones they loved.
"We remember with a sense of heart-felt gratitude your kindness, care and love expressed in the sensitive manner of all the nurses, doctors, social carers, clergy, army, police and others when carrying out your most difficult of tasks in the Leisure Centre that night, in your temporary mortuary, in the Chapel of Rest, in the hospitals and in every encounter since.
"We remember with a sincere sense of admiration the courage and leadership many of you have shown as you strive to be creative after such destruction in offering healing after such hurt and injuries and in constantly reaching out with love in the most trying of circumstance".
And he prayed: "Together, may you who have the awful role of playing host to this atrocity and we whose friends from Madrid and sons who were amongst your visitors that fateful day, show to the world that love is more powerful than hate, that what unites is is deeper and longer lasting than what divides us and that life can be found after death."
Earlier the words of local Presbyterian Minister, Robert Herron, could be heard over the silence:
"In our streets, blood and water flowed,
Silence shouts to those with ears to hear.
Hey you, who still have breath,
who have not had to drink this cup
of wrath, look hard upon death.
And let these few wrecked buildings
keep now the silent voice of our people.
"We have gone, our blood has done its work
You must go on, press on into life."
Local priest, Fr Kevin Mullan, then asked the people to pray with the quiet trust of troubled hearts the "Lord's Prayer" before a private wreath laying service took place.
Those who took part in the moving ceremony included:
St Eugene's Brass and Reed Band, under conductor Christopher Benson
Piper, Martin McCormick, third year student from Monaghan Drummer, Martin Campbell, from Newbuildings, a member of Bready Pipe Band
John McKinney, Chief Executive of Omagh District Council
Eilis Gallagher, retired voluntary worker from Omagh
Dr Haldane Mitchell, retired GP and local historian
Senor Augustin Gervas, Counsellor from the Spanish Embassy in London Sylvia Donaldson, social worker who visited Spanish families in Madrid
Jimmy McBride, retired vice-principal of Scoil Iosagain in Buncrana Jim Sheridan, school principal and member of Buncrana
Urban District Council Fr Kevin Mullan CC, Strathroy
Rev John Murdoch, First Omagh Presbyterian Church
Dr Irfran Hassan, GP and Chairman of Omagh GP Forum
Sandra Peake, Director of WAVE
Fr John Gilmore CC, Omagh Rev Clinton Langston, Anglican Padre, Lisanelly Barracks
Fr Robert Devine PP, Drumquin Rev Arthur O'Neill, Fintona and Creevan Presbyterian Church
Fr Francis Barber, Catholic Padre, Lisanelly Barracks James Patterson, Clerk of Sessions, Seskinore Presbyterian Church
Blanaid Murphy, Director of RTE Corn na nOg Choir
Fr Eugene Hasson CC, Cappagh and Hospitals Chaplain
Rev Derek Quinn, Rector of Cappagh and Lislimnaghan Churches Rev Ruth Adams, Church of Ireland
Marion Radford, mother of Alan Lorna Gilmore, niece of Olive Hawkes Audrey O'Neill, friend of Olive Hawkes
Kathleen Fleming, sister of Sylvia Ann Treanor, bereaved Poyntzpass family Noreen Hill, wife of Ronnie Hill, injured in Enniskillen bomb
Rita Restorick, mother of Lance Bombadeer Steven Restorick
Patricia Bradley, whose son was shot in 1996
Fitore Byqmeti, a Kosovan refugee currently living in Cork
Margaret McKinney, mother of one of the Disappeared
Fr Terry Connelly PP, Eskra Rev Ian Mairs, Mountjoy and Drumlegagh Presbyterian Churches
Rustam Jamshidi, retired Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
Jessica McFarland, Omagh High School
Hanora Fleming, Loreto Grammar School
Stephen Coyle, Strabane, one of those injured in the bombing
Gemma Kelly, Dean Brian Maguire High School, Carrickmore
Rachael Irvine, Omagh Academy Dr Brendan McCarthy, Omagh Community Church
Fr Michael Keaveny PP, Omagh Maureen Murphy, soprano, London
Ciaran Kelly, boy soprano, Derry
Brian Oliphant, Manager of Omagh Fund
Sandra Jones, Hospital Road Community Association
Patrick Bogues, President of Omagh Chamber of Commerce
Rev Robert Clarke, Rector of Edenderry and Clanabogan
Stanley Millar, Chief Officer, Western Health and Social Services Council
Omagh Community Youth Choir, under director of Daryl Simpson
Rev Peter Good, Omagh and Fintona Methodist Churches
Canon Charles Leeke, St Columba's Church, Omagh
Andrew Graham, aged 10, one of the injured
Gemma Gallagher, sister of Claire Gallagher
Sister Aengus Fitzpatrick, Loreto Convent
Allan Rainey, Chairman of Omagh District Council
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0567
Published Date: 19-Aug-99
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