MEETING ENVOY A WASTE OF TIME
MEETING ENVOY A 'WASTE OF TIME'
BY RONAN McSHERRY
r. mcsherry@ulsterherald.com
THE husband of one of the victims of the Omagh bomb has described a meeting with the Spanish Ambassador to the United Kingdom as "a waste of time." Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena lost her life in the atrocity, attended the meeting along with a delegation from the Omagh Support and Self Help Group (OSSHG). They had hoped to highlight what they perceived as the unnecessary delay in erecting a memorial and the wording to be used on it. They also wanted to garner support for a cross border public enquiry.
Mr Skelton, the vice-chairman of the Omagh group, said, "We met him in private but to me it was a complete waste of time. As the Ambassador said himself, he has nothing to do with this jurisdiction. He didn't seem too interested; that is my opinion of him."
Regarding the implementation of a cross-border enquiry, the Drumquin man added, "He didn't say 'yes' or 'no.' He said he would put it to the Spanish government and see what would happen. I wanted him to get pressure put on the Irish and British governments from the Spanish government for the public enquiry."
There has also been controversy regarding the memorial to those killed in the bombing. Members of OSSHG have been in a stand-off with Omagh Council since the inscription submitted by the families at the beginning of last year was deemed inappropriate. The group's vice-chair expressed further frustration.
"There is nothing the ambassador can do about it. It is up to the people here themselves. The Omagh Self-Help group withdrew its cooperation though we had agreed a monument with them. It was ok until we mentioned the wording that included 'dissident republican' and 'murder' and the project was shelved. It was only going to cost about �8,000 with what we had suggested and now they are talking of �250,000."
Mr Skelton is adamant the inscription on the memorial must reflect "the truth." He added, "They can put up whatever they like but they must put the wording the families want on it. In 50 years time when most of us won't be here and people walk through the town, they will want to know what happened.
"Why try to hide the truth? It was carried out by dissident republicans and you cannot blame all republicans. That is why I insisted on that wording. It doesn't offend anybody, at least it shouldn't."
He concluded, "The meeting with the Ambassador was of no benefit. The Omagh Support and Self Help Group will meet again tonight (Thursday) and decide what action to take."
BY RONAN McSHERRY
r. mcsherry@ulsterherald.com
THE husband of one of the victims of the Omagh bomb has described a meeting with the Spanish Ambassador to the United Kingdom as "a waste of time." Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena lost her life in the atrocity, attended the meeting along with a delegation from the Omagh Support and Self Help Group (OSSHG). They had hoped to highlight what they perceived as the unnecessary delay in erecting a memorial and the wording to be used on it. They also wanted to garner support for a cross border public enquiry.
Mr Skelton, the vice-chairman of the Omagh group, said, "We met him in private but to me it was a complete waste of time. As the Ambassador said himself, he has nothing to do with this jurisdiction. He didn't seem too interested; that is my opinion of him."
Regarding the implementation of a cross-border enquiry, the Drumquin man added, "He didn't say 'yes' or 'no.' He said he would put it to the Spanish government and see what would happen. I wanted him to get pressure put on the Irish and British governments from the Spanish government for the public enquiry."
There has also been controversy regarding the memorial to those killed in the bombing. Members of OSSHG have been in a stand-off with Omagh Council since the inscription submitted by the families at the beginning of last year was deemed inappropriate. The group's vice-chair expressed further frustration.
"There is nothing the ambassador can do about it. It is up to the people here themselves. The Omagh Self-Help group withdrew its cooperation though we had agreed a monument with them. It was ok until we mentioned the wording that included 'dissident republican' and 'murder' and the project was shelved. It was only going to cost about �8,000 with what we had suggested and now they are talking of �250,000."
Mr Skelton is adamant the inscription on the memorial must reflect "the truth." He added, "They can put up whatever they like but they must put the wording the families want on it. In 50 years time when most of us won't be here and people walk through the town, they will want to know what happened.
"Why try to hide the truth? It was carried out by dissident republicans and you cannot blame all republicans. That is why I insisted on that wording. It doesn't offend anybody, at least it shouldn't."
He concluded, "The meeting with the Ambassador was of no benefit. The Omagh Support and Self Help Group will meet again tonight (Thursday) and decide what action to take."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1896
Published Date: 26-Apr-07
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