A COMMUNITY REBUILDS
A Community Rebuilds
BY JACQUELINE COURTNEY
NO sooner do the people of Omagh get over one setback than they are faced with another emotional roller coaster.
The terrible attacks on the USA on September the 11th brought painful memories flooding hack to those who had already suffered more than most should have to endure.
Now as the quest for openness and accountability brings the media circus back to Omagh, again the wounds are cruelly reopened.
However, with the help of the entire community, the courageous families may once again have reason to look to a better future.
OUTPOURING
The people of the town and the surrounding areas feel deeply for those affected as was shown in the various mass outpouring of grief that closely followed the tragedy. As our photographs show, thousands of concerned people from all over Tyrone and further afield poured into Omagh to show their outrage at what had happened and their solidarity to the townspeople.
With the advent of the Ombudsman's report and the prospect of the truth finally emerging from the now requested Public Inquiry, perhaps Omagh will then finally be able to move on.
It will be a tough struggle for the people of the town to get over this latest hurdle but hopefully it will be the watershed in this sad chapter in the town's history.
The town has suffered from a serious deficit of morale since the tragedy. The absence of the crowds that traditionally would have filled the streets at this time of year is ample evidence that much has yet to be done to restore vitality to this once thriving entity.
Omagh has shown by its very survival that those who wreaked such trouble on the town in August of 1998 are the real losers.
Omagh will have justice maybe not in the courts but in the streets and parks where succeeding generations will live in peace and remember the courage of those who carried the torch through their darkest days.
Market Street is being rebuilt and there are extensive plans to develop the old Royal Arms Hotel site, businesses will be encouraged from other parts and slowly the confidence of the people of Omagh will return.
And it is that image of Omagh that must be nurtured to achieve its final victory at the end of the long dark tunnel.
BY JACQUELINE COURTNEY
NO sooner do the people of Omagh get over one setback than they are faced with another emotional roller coaster.
The terrible attacks on the USA on September the 11th brought painful memories flooding hack to those who had already suffered more than most should have to endure.
Now as the quest for openness and accountability brings the media circus back to Omagh, again the wounds are cruelly reopened.
However, with the help of the entire community, the courageous families may once again have reason to look to a better future.
OUTPOURING
The people of the town and the surrounding areas feel deeply for those affected as was shown in the various mass outpouring of grief that closely followed the tragedy. As our photographs show, thousands of concerned people from all over Tyrone and further afield poured into Omagh to show their outrage at what had happened and their solidarity to the townspeople.
With the advent of the Ombudsman's report and the prospect of the truth finally emerging from the now requested Public Inquiry, perhaps Omagh will then finally be able to move on.
It will be a tough struggle for the people of the town to get over this latest hurdle but hopefully it will be the watershed in this sad chapter in the town's history.
The town has suffered from a serious deficit of morale since the tragedy. The absence of the crowds that traditionally would have filled the streets at this time of year is ample evidence that much has yet to be done to restore vitality to this once thriving entity.
Omagh has shown by its very survival that those who wreaked such trouble on the town in August of 1998 are the real losers.
Omagh will have justice maybe not in the courts but in the streets and parks where succeeding generations will live in peace and remember the courage of those who carried the torch through their darkest days.
Market Street is being rebuilt and there are extensive plans to develop the old Royal Arms Hotel site, businesses will be encouraged from other parts and slowly the confidence of the people of Omagh will return.
And it is that image of Omagh that must be nurtured to achieve its final victory at the end of the long dark tunnel.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0888
Published Date: 13-Dec-01
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