Remembering the Victims of the Omagh Bombing
national |
anti-war / imperialism |
opinion/analysis 
Friday August 15, 2008 12:03
by Mark C - 1 of Indymedia.ie
mark at poetry dot ie
10 Years On - Remembering the Victims of the Omagh Bombing 15th August 1998
My wife was pregnant with twins this time last year and it got me thinking about Avril Monaghan, the woman who died, pregnant with twins, in the Omagh bombing. This is a short piece that I wrote at the time, remembering that tragic day in general, and those hugely unfortunate twins in particular. I'm sharing it here to commerorate these people on the tenth anniversary of their deaths.
Two Who Almost Were
You two then were like our two now
When the big bang banged
But you two now are like our two then
Because the big bang banged
And what did you know of it?
Or what did you care for it?
The cause, I mean –
Not the big bang that banged.
The result for those committed
Can not be considered worth it.
That big bang that banged
For an Ireland that has never been –
Unlike you two who always will be – united.
- Mark Conroy.
Comments (7 of 7)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7Very nice piece Mark. Appreciate your sentiment.
A very touching ceremony in Omagh today.
A fitting tribute to the 31 souls who lost their lives.
A comfort to the hundreds who carry the physical and mental scars they suffered during and since.
A reminder to this country of the past we are trying to leave behind.
An infusion of cold reality for those on both sides who want to continue the armed struggle - may it cause them to reflect and find a better way.
A stark reminder to those who willingly inflicted murder and carnage on innocent people that they their evil deeds have not been forgotten.
An inconvenient truth to some who still choose to look the other way.
May God grant peace to the relatives and friends of those who died and may he grant relief to the victims and ease their sorrow and their anguish.
Not because there was something special about this atrocity just because of the death toll.
There were many many more bombs that dismembered, eviscerated and maimed innocent men women and children.
It is simply that the word "Omagh" encompasses all the atrocities of the Troubles.
"Omagh" is a symbol much larger now than the actual bombing of Omagh, much larger now than the victims and their grieving relatives.
It is a symbol of what all of us North and South on this small island can expect if we allow hate and extremism to replace rational democratic politics.
Our human rights, our right to vote and our right to do simple ordinary things like raise our families, work, shop, socialise, worship, play sport, make love etc. without living in fear are so very precious and taken for granted.
We are very lucky to live on our peaceful corner of this planet.
Remembering can be therapeutic, and it can also help to keep old antagonisms alive. But if we choose to remember then we must be consistent. The bombing in Omagh was horrific, but it was not the largest atrocity during the 1969-2000 period. The Dublin/Monaghan Bombings on 17th May 1974 was the largest massacre of the "Troubles", yet it is generally never mentioned in "polite company", presumably because it might "stir up the natives", while Omagh is trotted out as often as possible allowing our political overseers to wag their fingers at us and warn us of the "evils" of republicanism.
I don't warm to this atrocity comparison business: Side A's atrocities weren't as bad as Side B's etc. Various groupings in society choose to remember emphatically the atrocities that least disturb their political agendas.
As each year passes the mass media seem to be making a bigger and bigger deal of Omagh, which some of the relatives have chosen not to take part in, as what occurred in Omagh was not as straight forward as depicted, with a lot of covert activities going on, security force collusion and negligence.
Thankfully the author chose to jolt our memory (if it needed it ) without the need of graphic images .
I was in Omagh a day after the bombing and believe me cameras were not welcome.
We laid flowers at the scene and left
.Any sane person realizes the horror of such events which can never be justified
I believe that the victims of war and atrocities deserve their dignity whether in Ireland, Iraq or elsewhere.
Nice poem Mark.
I hate how all the politicians jump on board the Omagh Remembrance. This should be a time for the relatives and people of Omagh. Anything to get there pictures in the newspapers.
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