FAMILIES BOYCOTT COUNCIL PANTOMIME CEREMONY
Families boycott Council 'pantomime' ceremony
BY MARK McKELVEY
m.mckelvey@ulsterherald.com
THE unveiling of the new memorial garden and crystal monument in Market Street on Friday, as part of the Omagh bomb tenth anniversary commemorations, has been shrouded in controversy with many of the victims' families deciding to boycott the ceremony, describing it as a pantomime.
There has been conflict for many years between Omagh District Council, which is organising Friday's events and the Omagh Support and Self Help Group which will hold its own interdenominational memorial service on Sunday as it has done for the past number of years. However, this latest bitter breakdown regarding the tenth anniversary plans has left their relationship in an untenable position.
One of those who have chosen to boycott Friday's ceremony is the group's vice-chairman Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena was murdered on the streets of Omagh ten years ago, affirming that he couldn't stand next to some of the dignitaries who he says have been an obstacle in the families fight for justice and that he would probably be arrested for his actions if he did go.
He said, "What we are having on Friday is just a pantomime. I would have been happy with a wee plaque on the wall. That big lump of glass represents nothing and is a tourist attraction drummed up by Omagh District Council without taking into consideration peoples feelings.
"I am not going down to stand with DUP, Sinn Fein or any of the British or Irish politicians. I have no objection to Spanish representations, but no politicians from any camp has done us any favours over the past ten years.
"They say the Omagh bomb was an attack on the Good Friday Agreement. I didn't need a Good Friday Agreement. I didn't fight with anybody. The Good Friday Agreement cost me dearly. There are none of those politicians will stand up and fight the corner for the families to find out the truth into the Omagh bombing. Considering the politicians that will be in attendance on Friday, to be quite honest if I was there I would be arrested.
"The representation from the PSNI and Garda who will be there and together they made damn sure that no-one was going to be prosecuted. There will never, ever be anyone convicted of the Omagh bomb. I am very angry about that because they (police) know who done it, we know who done it but the political will is not there to put them away. A rat is a rat. It doesn't matter if it is dressed in a three piece suit."
Besides his objections to who will be present at the official anniversary, Kevin is also angered with the monument chosen, as he say's it is symbolic of nothing and feels the garden is nothing more than a "swimming pool for drunks to pish in". He continued to say a fully functioning hospital would have been a more fitting tribute to those that lost their lives and were injured on the streets of Omagh ten years ago.
Kevin said, "Some of the things that have happened over the past ten years makes me feel sick to my stomach. Over the past ten years there are a lot of people around this town that have made money on the back of the Omagh bomb and there is no question about that. The people that were injured and those that lost their loved ones were used. The money would never have come into his town if it hadn't been for the bomb.
"Omagh in 1998 was falling to the ground. We now have a nice brand new town. The only thing we haven't got now is a hospital. We have a big fancy lump of glass being unveiled next Friday, but as a memorial I am not interested in it. The garden that we have had for the past nine years for me has been turned into a swimming pool for people coming out of the pub late at night can have a pish in.
"There is not even a place you could lay a wreath. The garden we had before wasn't that big but it was more fitting than what they have built now. At least before we had a quiet area to sit. There are elderly and lots of people who were injured that visit the garden and there is now nowhere for them. This is a total farce and an utter shambles. Nobody wanted anything like this.
"A more fitting memorial for the people that died and were injured would be a hospital, and I mean a hospital that caters for everything, not selected treatments. If something happens here now we have to go to Enniskillen or Derry. There is no-one else to blame for this than the party in the Assembly at the minute - Sinn Fein. People blame Des Browne and everybody, but the downgrading of the hospital started with Barbre de Bruin as Minister of Health."
Kevin concluded, "We have held our service every year and Omagh District Council was not involved. Now they have come with this big showpiece because they know the cameras will be in town. What they have planned and who they have invited is really putting the knife in and screwing it."
BY MARK McKELVEY
m.mckelvey@ulsterherald.com
THE unveiling of the new memorial garden and crystal monument in Market Street on Friday, as part of the Omagh bomb tenth anniversary commemorations, has been shrouded in controversy with many of the victims' families deciding to boycott the ceremony, describing it as a pantomime.
There has been conflict for many years between Omagh District Council, which is organising Friday's events and the Omagh Support and Self Help Group which will hold its own interdenominational memorial service on Sunday as it has done for the past number of years. However, this latest bitter breakdown regarding the tenth anniversary plans has left their relationship in an untenable position.
One of those who have chosen to boycott Friday's ceremony is the group's vice-chairman Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena was murdered on the streets of Omagh ten years ago, affirming that he couldn't stand next to some of the dignitaries who he says have been an obstacle in the families fight for justice and that he would probably be arrested for his actions if he did go.
He said, "What we are having on Friday is just a pantomime. I would have been happy with a wee plaque on the wall. That big lump of glass represents nothing and is a tourist attraction drummed up by Omagh District Council without taking into consideration peoples feelings.
"I am not going down to stand with DUP, Sinn Fein or any of the British or Irish politicians. I have no objection to Spanish representations, but no politicians from any camp has done us any favours over the past ten years.
"They say the Omagh bomb was an attack on the Good Friday Agreement. I didn't need a Good Friday Agreement. I didn't fight with anybody. The Good Friday Agreement cost me dearly. There are none of those politicians will stand up and fight the corner for the families to find out the truth into the Omagh bombing. Considering the politicians that will be in attendance on Friday, to be quite honest if I was there I would be arrested.
"The representation from the PSNI and Garda who will be there and together they made damn sure that no-one was going to be prosecuted. There will never, ever be anyone convicted of the Omagh bomb. I am very angry about that because they (police) know who done it, we know who done it but the political will is not there to put them away. A rat is a rat. It doesn't matter if it is dressed in a three piece suit."
Besides his objections to who will be present at the official anniversary, Kevin is also angered with the monument chosen, as he say's it is symbolic of nothing and feels the garden is nothing more than a "swimming pool for drunks to pish in". He continued to say a fully functioning hospital would have been a more fitting tribute to those that lost their lives and were injured on the streets of Omagh ten years ago.
Kevin said, "Some of the things that have happened over the past ten years makes me feel sick to my stomach. Over the past ten years there are a lot of people around this town that have made money on the back of the Omagh bomb and there is no question about that. The people that were injured and those that lost their loved ones were used. The money would never have come into his town if it hadn't been for the bomb.
"Omagh in 1998 was falling to the ground. We now have a nice brand new town. The only thing we haven't got now is a hospital. We have a big fancy lump of glass being unveiled next Friday, but as a memorial I am not interested in it. The garden that we have had for the past nine years for me has been turned into a swimming pool for people coming out of the pub late at night can have a pish in.
"There is not even a place you could lay a wreath. The garden we had before wasn't that big but it was more fitting than what they have built now. At least before we had a quiet area to sit. There are elderly and lots of people who were injured that visit the garden and there is now nowhere for them. This is a total farce and an utter shambles. Nobody wanted anything like this.
"A more fitting memorial for the people that died and were injured would be a hospital, and I mean a hospital that caters for everything, not selected treatments. If something happens here now we have to go to Enniskillen or Derry. There is no-one else to blame for this than the party in the Assembly at the minute - Sinn Fein. People blame Des Browne and everybody, but the downgrading of the hospital started with Barbre de Bruin as Minister of Health."
Kevin concluded, "We have held our service every year and Omagh District Council was not involved. Now they have come with this big showpiece because they know the cameras will be in town. What they have planned and who they have invited is really putting the knife in and screwing it."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH10An/18
Published Date: 14-Aug-08
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