NO NEED FOR TEAM OF INDEPENDENTS
No need for team of independents
IT SEEMS to me that the appointment of an independent facilitation team to elicit a suitable form of words as an inscription for the new memorial sculpture is like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
I realise that the Memorial Working Group, chaired by the chief executive of Omagh District Council is anxious to devise a set of words which republicans can feel comfortable with. These folk have obviously taken exception to the phrase "dissident republican car bomb" which appears on the stone in the Memorial Garden. Why, I ask, is it so important to assuage the sensitivities of these people and their supporters so long after the atrocity that was perpetrated in the town?
In my opinion, it would take a latter day Solomon to come up with a form of words that in Dr Dunlop's opinion, "Everyone can support." More unnecessary expense will be incurred as the team of facilitators travel round the Omagh District, perhaps to Buncrana and even to Spain, as we understand everyone affected by the bomb will be interviewed. What, I ask once again, is so unacceptable about the simple inscription chosen by the bereaved families, which conveys the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth of what really happened in Lower Market Street on August 15, 1998?
I entirely agree with the views expressed by the chairman of the Support and Self-Help Group none of whom, incidentally were invited to the launch when the Facilitation Team was unveiled to the press. It was certainly disrespectful of those responsible not to have asked the chairman along, even it was felt he might not be willing to attend. Who actually decided to appoint three mediators? Was any member of Omagh Council involved or was a single councillor even aware of the press launch taking place?
One member of the general public, a bereaved relative, seemed to know the date, the time and the location of the meeting. Did a little bird inform him in advance?
It would be good to know just how many people in Omagh and further afield are in favour of the elaborate scheme that is envisaged to commemorate the atrocity in Omagh or for that matter the painstaking procedure being devised in order to come up with a set of words as an inscription which does not disturb the sensitivities of Irish republicans.
W. Breen Omagh
IT SEEMS to me that the appointment of an independent facilitation team to elicit a suitable form of words as an inscription for the new memorial sculpture is like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
I realise that the Memorial Working Group, chaired by the chief executive of Omagh District Council is anxious to devise a set of words which republicans can feel comfortable with. These folk have obviously taken exception to the phrase "dissident republican car bomb" which appears on the stone in the Memorial Garden. Why, I ask, is it so important to assuage the sensitivities of these people and their supporters so long after the atrocity that was perpetrated in the town?
In my opinion, it would take a latter day Solomon to come up with a form of words that in Dr Dunlop's opinion, "Everyone can support." More unnecessary expense will be incurred as the team of facilitators travel round the Omagh District, perhaps to Buncrana and even to Spain, as we understand everyone affected by the bomb will be interviewed. What, I ask once again, is so unacceptable about the simple inscription chosen by the bereaved families, which conveys the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth of what really happened in Lower Market Street on August 15, 1998?
I entirely agree with the views expressed by the chairman of the Support and Self-Help Group none of whom, incidentally were invited to the launch when the Facilitation Team was unveiled to the press. It was certainly disrespectful of those responsible not to have asked the chairman along, even it was felt he might not be willing to attend. Who actually decided to appoint three mediators? Was any member of Omagh Council involved or was a single councillor even aware of the press launch taking place?
One member of the general public, a bereaved relative, seemed to know the date, the time and the location of the meeting. Did a little bird inform him in advance?
It would be good to know just how many people in Omagh and further afield are in favour of the elaborate scheme that is envisaged to commemorate the atrocity in Omagh or for that matter the painstaking procedure being devised in order to come up with a set of words as an inscription which does not disturb the sensitivities of Irish republicans.
W. Breen Omagh
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1913
Published Date: 15-Nov-07
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