FORMER HOSTAGE TERRY WAITE MAIN SPEAKER AT CEREMONY
Former hostage Terry Waite main speaker at ceremony
THE main speaker at tomorrow's ceremony will be Terry Waite who is no stranger to Omagh having been present at the launch of the Omagh Support Group's website.
The gentle giant, who hails from Cheshire, has been very supportive to Omagh since the atrocity and was delighted to receive an invitation to attend the launch of the Omagh families' on-line archive.
Now he is to address the tenth anniversary commemorative ceremony from the new memorial garden in front of an estimated few thousand people.
In the early 1980s Terry Waite successfully negotiated the release of several hostages from Iran and this event brought him to public attention. In 1983 he negotiated with Colonel Gaddafi for the release of British hostages held in Libya and again was successful. In January 1987, while negotiating for the release of Western hostages in Lebanon, he himself was taken captive and remained in captivity for 1,763 days, the first four years of which were spent in total solitary confinement.
Getting the proceedings underway at the memorial garden on Friday afternoon will be the Omagh Waterford Choir which, according to one fan, 'create an awesome sound.'
The choir has been performing together officially for almost two years now and is going from strength to strength. Comprised of 14 singers from Omagh and 12 from Waterford, it has had quite a few high profile performances, including singing alongside the Fureys last November in Waterford at a fund-raising event, and the Celtic Tenors the year before that. The members are also singing in Croke Park this Christmas.
Since the choir's formation, and particularly since December 2004, it has been consistently raising funds to send directly to Sri Lanka via the Arklow Ireland group to help victims of the tsunami.
The fundraising, along with a lot of hard work on the behalf of those in Sri Lanka, has helped build four children's homes, two schools and a bakery in southern Sri Lanka.
One of the choir members said, "Performing at the tenth anniversary of the Omagh bomb is a great honour for us and especially for those members of the choir whose hometown it is, as it gives us a chance to give something back to our community, to help spread our message of peace, and try and make a difference through the music.
THE main speaker at tomorrow's ceremony will be Terry Waite who is no stranger to Omagh having been present at the launch of the Omagh Support Group's website.
The gentle giant, who hails from Cheshire, has been very supportive to Omagh since the atrocity and was delighted to receive an invitation to attend the launch of the Omagh families' on-line archive.
Now he is to address the tenth anniversary commemorative ceremony from the new memorial garden in front of an estimated few thousand people.
In the early 1980s Terry Waite successfully negotiated the release of several hostages from Iran and this event brought him to public attention. In 1983 he negotiated with Colonel Gaddafi for the release of British hostages held in Libya and again was successful. In January 1987, while negotiating for the release of Western hostages in Lebanon, he himself was taken captive and remained in captivity for 1,763 days, the first four years of which were spent in total solitary confinement.
Getting the proceedings underway at the memorial garden on Friday afternoon will be the Omagh Waterford Choir which, according to one fan, 'create an awesome sound.'
The choir has been performing together officially for almost two years now and is going from strength to strength. Comprised of 14 singers from Omagh and 12 from Waterford, it has had quite a few high profile performances, including singing alongside the Fureys last November in Waterford at a fund-raising event, and the Celtic Tenors the year before that. The members are also singing in Croke Park this Christmas.
Since the choir's formation, and particularly since December 2004, it has been consistently raising funds to send directly to Sri Lanka via the Arklow Ireland group to help victims of the tsunami.
The fundraising, along with a lot of hard work on the behalf of those in Sri Lanka, has helped build four children's homes, two schools and a bakery in southern Sri Lanka.
One of the choir members said, "Performing at the tenth anniversary of the Omagh bomb is a great honour for us and especially for those members of the choir whose hometown it is, as it gives us a chance to give something back to our community, to help spread our message of peace, and try and make a difference through the music.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH10An/13
Published Date: 14-Aug-08
Related Images
