DELAY OF MEMORIAL IS A DISGRACE
Delay of memorial is a disgrace
IT beggars belief that it has taken so long for the erection of a fitting memorial stone to commemorate the 1998 republican car bomb in Market Street, Omagh. We recall the then council chief executive proudly showing various VIPs, including Prince Charles and President Clinton, the very temporary structure then. I believe the Queen also was shown the site when she last paid her brief visit. Little did Omagh folk think that eight long years would have passed with little or nothing to report on such an important project.
I feel very sorry for the the families of the victims who died or were seriously injured and traumatised.
Some older relatives and their friends could be dead and gone before the stone is finally in position. And, of course, there is no guarantee that when it is erected will not be vandalised by republican sympathisers, many of whom have voted consistently for a party that supported the terror campaign for over 30 years.
I have got every sympathy for the Victims' Support Group who have tried very hard to get a suitable memorial stone for the bomb site. I understand they had selected a stone to the satisfaction of the council's chief technical officer and project consultants and all agreed to the wording of the inscription, which, in my opinion, is quite simple and factually correct. However, certain community groups' representatives on the Memorial Working Group have taken exception to this wording, supported by some Sinn Fein council members and the whole project has been stalled for over a year.
Obviously, they have all been made uncomfortable by the actual wording on the stone. Little wonder the chairman of the Victims' Group was so angry with the sorry mess created, that he very rightly voiced the committee's frustration to the Victims' minister when he was in Omagh recently.
I am simply at a loss to know why there is so much opposition to the stone's inscription from Sinn Fein, especially when the Real IRA has admitted responsibility. It is a total disgrace that the project could not have been incorporated into the Environmental Improvement Scheme, as the Belfast consultants envisaged.
Those who have been actively holding up the project should be thoroughly ashamed.
I am told that the memorial stone scheme is to be completed in time for the 10th anniversary of the bomb. What is now being proposed - the involvement of the Irish and Spanish governments, the Northern Ireland Office and the office of the Victims' Commissioner to advise the Memorial Working Group - is, in my opinion, much like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. How can we ever expect to have a meaningful consensus of the wider community when there are those prepared to split hairs about a perfectly acceptable inscription, originally proposed by the folk who really matter most, the bereaved families? Their sentiments have been shamefully trampled underfoot by a small number of insensitive, publicity seeking local politicians and their supporters.
Wilfred Breen (former UUP Councillor)
IT beggars belief that it has taken so long for the erection of a fitting memorial stone to commemorate the 1998 republican car bomb in Market Street, Omagh. We recall the then council chief executive proudly showing various VIPs, including Prince Charles and President Clinton, the very temporary structure then. I believe the Queen also was shown the site when she last paid her brief visit. Little did Omagh folk think that eight long years would have passed with little or nothing to report on such an important project.
I feel very sorry for the the families of the victims who died or were seriously injured and traumatised.
Some older relatives and their friends could be dead and gone before the stone is finally in position. And, of course, there is no guarantee that when it is erected will not be vandalised by republican sympathisers, many of whom have voted consistently for a party that supported the terror campaign for over 30 years.
I have got every sympathy for the Victims' Support Group who have tried very hard to get a suitable memorial stone for the bomb site. I understand they had selected a stone to the satisfaction of the council's chief technical officer and project consultants and all agreed to the wording of the inscription, which, in my opinion, is quite simple and factually correct. However, certain community groups' representatives on the Memorial Working Group have taken exception to this wording, supported by some Sinn Fein council members and the whole project has been stalled for over a year.
Obviously, they have all been made uncomfortable by the actual wording on the stone. Little wonder the chairman of the Victims' Group was so angry with the sorry mess created, that he very rightly voiced the committee's frustration to the Victims' minister when he was in Omagh recently.
I am simply at a loss to know why there is so much opposition to the stone's inscription from Sinn Fein, especially when the Real IRA has admitted responsibility. It is a total disgrace that the project could not have been incorporated into the Environmental Improvement Scheme, as the Belfast consultants envisaged.
Those who have been actively holding up the project should be thoroughly ashamed.
I am told that the memorial stone scheme is to be completed in time for the 10th anniversary of the bomb. What is now being proposed - the involvement of the Irish and Spanish governments, the Northern Ireland Office and the office of the Victims' Commissioner to advise the Memorial Working Group - is, in my opinion, much like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. How can we ever expect to have a meaningful consensus of the wider community when there are those prepared to split hairs about a perfectly acceptable inscription, originally proposed by the folk who really matter most, the bereaved families? Their sentiments have been shamefully trampled underfoot by a small number of insensitive, publicity seeking local politicians and their supporters.
Wilfred Breen (former UUP Councillor)
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1875
Published Date: 16-Nov-06
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