PRESIDENT REMEMBERS BOMB VICTIMS IN RADIO TRIBUTE
President remembers Omagh bomb victims in special radio tribute
By ROSETTA DONNELLY
A POIGNANT tribute is to be paid to Omagh bomb victim, Avril Monaghan by the President of the United States.
Bill Clinton will join other world leaders in a radio tribute this Friday to the 3,637 people killed as a result of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
BBC Northern Ireland and RTE are to broadcast this special tribute to the victims on the last Christmas Eve of the Millennium.
The half-hour programme will include two minutes each by politicians involved in the peace process - Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern will lead the tributes.
The Omagh bombing will be the subject of President Clinton's contribution and in particular Avril Monaghan, the thirty year old mother of four who was heavily pregnant when she was killed in the Real IRA explosion.
Mr Clinton visited Omagh following the blast and met 700 relatives of the dead and injured in the Leisure Centre, which was turned into an incident room on the evening of the bomb.
The President's words will be personal - there will be no political speeches, say the producers.
The programme which will be broadcast at 8.30 am on BBC's Radio Ulster and RTE's Morning Ireland will be simultaneously broadcast on a New York radio station. The programme is based on the book Lost Lives by David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney and Chris Thornton which recounts every death in the Troubles.
Tony Blair is to speak about the deaths of the Quinn brothers of Ballymoney who died in July 1998 when loyalists petrol-bombed their home. The incident happened during the Drumcree stand-off.
Bertie Ahern, An Taoiseach, will recall the Dublin-Monaghan bombings of 1974 when thirty-three people were killed by the UVF.
Other leaders who took part in the programme were John Hume who recalls the Greysteel murders on Halloween 1993. Gerry Adams speaks in general terms about the 10 hunger strikers who died in 1981, dead IRA members and other victims of the Troubles.
One of the most poignant contributions is by Mary McAleese, President, who recalls the murder of a Protestant friend by a man her family also knew well. She recalls the terrible impact it had on the family of the victim, their Catholic friends and on the relatives of the killer.
David Trimble is said to have become quite emotional when he speaks of the murder of Frederick Anthony, who worked as a cleaner at RUC station. The married man was hugging his three year old daughter when the bomb exploded and she suffered horrendous injuries.
By ROSETTA DONNELLY
A POIGNANT tribute is to be paid to Omagh bomb victim, Avril Monaghan by the President of the United States.
Bill Clinton will join other world leaders in a radio tribute this Friday to the 3,637 people killed as a result of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
BBC Northern Ireland and RTE are to broadcast this special tribute to the victims on the last Christmas Eve of the Millennium.
The half-hour programme will include two minutes each by politicians involved in the peace process - Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern will lead the tributes.
The Omagh bombing will be the subject of President Clinton's contribution and in particular Avril Monaghan, the thirty year old mother of four who was heavily pregnant when she was killed in the Real IRA explosion.
Mr Clinton visited Omagh following the blast and met 700 relatives of the dead and injured in the Leisure Centre, which was turned into an incident room on the evening of the bomb.
The President's words will be personal - there will be no political speeches, say the producers.
The programme which will be broadcast at 8.30 am on BBC's Radio Ulster and RTE's Morning Ireland will be simultaneously broadcast on a New York radio station. The programme is based on the book Lost Lives by David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney and Chris Thornton which recounts every death in the Troubles.
Tony Blair is to speak about the deaths of the Quinn brothers of Ballymoney who died in July 1998 when loyalists petrol-bombed their home. The incident happened during the Drumcree stand-off.
Bertie Ahern, An Taoiseach, will recall the Dublin-Monaghan bombings of 1974 when thirty-three people were killed by the UVF.
Other leaders who took part in the programme were John Hume who recalls the Greysteel murders on Halloween 1993. Gerry Adams speaks in general terms about the 10 hunger strikers who died in 1981, dead IRA members and other victims of the Troubles.
One of the most poignant contributions is by Mary McAleese, President, who recalls the murder of a Protestant friend by a man her family also knew well. She recalls the terrible impact it had on the family of the victim, their Catholic friends and on the relatives of the killer.
David Trimble is said to have become quite emotional when he speaks of the murder of Frederick Anthony, who worked as a cleaner at RUC station. The married man was hugging his three year old daughter when the bomb exploded and she suffered horrendous injuries.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0605
Published Date: 23-Dec-99
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