Official Report Tuesday 15 September 1998
Contents
Assembly Chamber (Sound System)
The sitting begun on Monday 14 September 1998 was resumed at 10.30 am.
Assembly Chamber (Sound System)
The Initial Presiding Officer:
At the end of yesterday’s proceedings Mrs Robinson, very helpfully, drew to my attention some problems with the sound amplification in the Strangers’ and Press Galleries and in some parts of the Chamber proper. I have had this matter investigated and it may be that we will need to improve the speaker capacity in the Galleries. As our staff become more familiar with balancing the amplification system, we may be able to overcome some of the other difficulties ourselves.
As far as the Chamber itself is concerned, may I draw the attention of those on the Back Benches to the small recessed speakers, in the carved rail at the top of the Back Benches. For those at the desks, please note the recessed speakers there. Yesterday, some of the staff noticed that Members’ notes were obstructing the desk speakers, and that is why there was difficulty hearing from them. That also reduced the amount of amplification in the Chamber as a whole. Our staff will try to improve the balancing, but if Members are unable to hear clearly, they should check that their papers are not obstructing the speakers and then incline their ears towards them — either on the Back Benches or at the desks. I hope we can overcome this problem.
I am grateful to Mrs Robinson for drawing this matter to my attention. If there are any other teething troubles either inside or outside the Chamber, I would be very grateful if Members would draw them to my attention as well.
Motion made:
That this Assembly do now adjourn to a date and place to be determined by the Secretary of State. — [The Initial Presiding Officer]
Omagh Bombing
The Initial Presiding Officer:
With the agreement of the party Whips, it has been decided that this debate should last for three hours. Speeches will, of course, be limited to 10 minutes. As I have a very long list of Members who wish to speak, it would be helpful if the speeches were kept as short as is reasonably practicable.
Mr Hussey:
To echo the words of one of those injured by the Omagh bomb, let me say "The devil visited Omagh."
On Saturday 15 August at 3.10 pm the deadliest tragedy ever witnessed in our long 30 years of conflict was inflicted upon the innocents in Omagh’s Market Street. I ask that the names of the dead be inserted in Hansard.
[Following are the names: Brenda Mary Logue (17 years) (Omagh), Gareth Conway (18 years) (Carrickmore), Mary Grimes (65 years) (Beragh), Avril Monaghan (30 years) (Augher), Maria Teresa Monaghan (18 months) (Augher), Alan Radford (16 years) (Omagh), Lorrayne Ann Wilson (15 years) (Omagh), Elizabeth Amelda Rush (57 years) (Omagh), Anne McCombe (49 years) (Omagh), Rocio Abad Ramos (23 years) (Madrid), Fernando Blasco Baselga (12 years) (Madrid), Philomena Skelton (49 years) (Drumquin), Fred White (60 years) (Omagh), Brian White (26 years) (Omagh), Adrian Gallagher (21 years) (Omagh), Jolene Briege Marlow (17 years) (Omagh), Esther Nora Gibson (36 years) (Beragh), Debra Anne Cartwright (20 years) (Omagh), Julia Victoria Hughes (21 years) (Omagh), Sean McLoughlin (12 years) (Buncrana), James Victor Barker (12 years) (Buncrana), Oran Michael Doherty (8 years) (Buncrana), Samantha McFarland (17 years) (Omagh), Breda Catherine Devine (20 months) (Donemana), Vide Elizabeth Short (56 years) (Omagh), Geraldine Agnew Breslin (43 years) (Omagh), Olive Hawkes (60 years) (Omagh), Brian McCrory (54 years) (Omagh) and Sean McGrath (61 years) (Omagh), who died on 5 September.]
We hope and pray that that list will not get any longer.
We have all expressed our sympathies many times over, but I am certain that other Members will wish to join with me at the beginning of this debate to record sincere sympathy and condolences to all those families who have been devastated by this atrocity, and especially to those who have lost loved ones. We also think of those who are still recovering from their injuries, and we think too of our fellow Assembly Member, Mr Gibson, whose family also suffered directly.
Omagh is one of the two main towns in my West Tyrone constituency. It was my home for the first half of my life; it is where I grew up, went to school and socialised. Most of my family still live there. Omagh is one of those towns where everyone knows everyone else and where people get on well together. That is not to say that it has not had its share of bombings and murders over the past 30 years. In spite of this, good relations have generally prevailed in Omagh.
But bombs do not discriminate. The explosion has left 29 people dead — and let us not forget the unborn either — and hundreds injured, regardless of age, creed, class or, indeed, country. This evil and indiscriminate act has left so many homes, throughout Tyrone and beyond, shrouded in sorrow and despair. There is the heartache of those grieving for lost family members and friends; there is the pain of those sitting by the bedsides of the injured, praying for the best; and there is the trauma of those involved in the rescue attempts. The pain of Omagh has been felt by many thousands of people who were not directly affected.
Tribute must be paid to all those who became involved in the rescue operation after the explosion. The Royal Ulster Constabulary, firemen, ambulance personnel, doctors, nurses, bus drivers, the Army, the Royal Air Force, council workers, and the man and woman in the street. They all deserve the very highest praise possible. All involved did the very best they could, and no one could have asked for more. I have nothing but the highest admiration for all involved.
Many hospitals throughout Northern Ireland swung into action to receive victims. The Erne, Altnagelvin, South Tyrone, Musgrave Park, the Ulster, the City and the Royal Victoria are all deserving of praise. In particular, the task undertaken by Omagh’s own Tyrone County Hospital must be highlighted. The skill and expertise of its staff, and the performance of emergency operations to stabilise the injured prior to their transfer to acute hospitals undoubtedly saved lives. The value of such local hospital services cannot be overstressed and must not be forgotten in any future health board plans.
The excellent and speedy co-ordination of an incident centre, and the subsequent counselling services undertaken by Omagh District Council, the social services and the local clergy are all deserving of commendation. Indeed, I welcome the fact that a task force has been brought together to deal with the tremendous trauma felt by survivors. The ramifications of this atrocity will be with us all for a long time to come. It is vital that everything possible is done to cushion the ongoing difficulties that have to be faced by so many.
I have no doubt, given the nature of their warning and the geography of Omagh’s main shopping area, that it was the intention of the so-called Real IRA to kill and maim as many ordinary citizens as possible. To plant a bomb in such an area on a busy shopping day, during school holidays, and to have timed it to explode just prior to a community event speaks for itself.
How can anyone understand the mind that can contemplate, much less carry out, such an action? Such people are beyond the comprehension of a normal, civilised society and they do not deserve to be part of it. They have claimed that their so-called warnings were not properly passed on. Such a despicable attempt to transfer blame adds insult to the pain and misery they have already created. I trust that the entire House will join with me in expressing our disgust and unequivocal condemnation of those responsible for this outrage.
I must add that there are those in the House who know who these people are. They should be sharing such knowledge with the authorities, North or South, so as to assist in their apprehension. I quote the Adams statement:
"Sinn Fein believe the violence we have seen must be for all of us now a thing of the past, over, done with and gone."
Is it so?
The Confederation of British Industry has said that the Omagh bombing focused attention on the issue of explosives and weapons. Its director, Nigel Smyth, said
"The existence of significant amounts of explosives and weapons and the capacity to use them with such horrific impact is deeply worrying and highly dangerous."
It calls on all of those who have influence over such arsenals to do everything possible to secure their early decommissioning. That would be a crucial step forward which would also provide an important, confidence-building measure.
While we consider Omagh, let us not forget the many other tragedies, murders and atrocities which have resulted in multiple deaths that have plagued our land for so long.
If violence is now to be a thing of the past, why the need to maintain these arsenals? The leader of the Real IRA, a former Provo quartermaster, surely knows where supplies are held. He therefore had, and still has, access to such materials as were used to make the Omagh bomb and the others as well over the past few months. The potential for another Omagh must be removed. That is the overwhelming public expectation, and, further, it is a political imperative, if we are to advance the return of right and proper powers to Northern Ireland’s elected representatives.
I welcome the anti-terrorism legislation, North and South, that has been passed in the wake of the Omagh bomb. However, I must also point out that the security Minister was warned in no uncertain terms in the aftermath of Banbridge of the probability of an even more devastating attack. I am also disappointed by our Government’s failure to match the South’s internment capacity, thus rendering that option virtually unworkable for the Southern Government. We now wait to see if the new legal options available will be used to apprehend and bring to justice those who carried out the attack on Omagh and those who give succour to such actions.
The security response is one thing, but our Government must commit all the resources necessary to assist Omagh to resurrect itself physically and mentally. The after-effects of this act of depravity on that dark August afternoon will remain with everyone for a long time to come and will require a long-term commitment from medical and trauma care experts.
The Initial Presiding Officer:
May I ask you to bring your remarks to a close.
Mr Hussey:
Every assistance has been promised by the Secretary of State, but I understand that extra medical staff need to be committed to the Omagh area to help ease the tremendous burdens still being carried by doctors and nurses.
The wishes of the people of Omagh must also be fully considered by those responsible for restructuring the lower market area, and funds must be made available to assist with that. Let us not see officialdom frustrating this progress. The Government must ensure that everything possible is done to help Omagh and the area around it to return to some sort of normal life.
We have witnessed the great, the good, and the mighty visiting Omagh and those affected. Certain scepticism may have been expressed about some of these visitors, but, in general, the visiting dignitaries gave welcome support to the bereaved and injured, and their visits were, and are, aiding the healing process. All must be thanked for their time and concern.
The Initial Presiding Officer:
I must ask you to bring your remarks to a close.
Mr Hussey:
I will finish in a moment.
One could not fail to see the genuine effect which the courageous and dignified people of Omagh had on all their visitors. The truth is that the real impact of terrorism on our community was at last, perhaps, being understood by outsiders.
It would be wrong to conclude without referring to the cruel phone calls and letters being received by some of the families who have lost loved ones and to the recent spate of hoax bomb warnings that have been perpetrated on the people of Omagh. Such actions are to be abhorred, and I call for an immediate cessation of such activities which are causing intense extra pain, concern and worry to people who have already suffered more trauma than anyone should ever have to endure. Surely it is the wish of us all that the Omagh bomb is the last bomb and that we will have to endure such things no more. Therein would be a fitting memorial to the death, heartache, pain and trauma created by evil in Omagh, this day last month.
10.45 am
The Initial Presiding Officer:
I appreciate that, particularly for those who represent the area and its surroundings, this debate is a deeply painful and emotional one. I also appreciate that many Members will have a good deal to say — and rightly so. However, I want to prevail upon all those who wish to speak to try to keep within the 10-minute allocation. Many Members wish to contribute, and the more who are able to do so, the better. I understand that there is a lot of pain, especially for those of you who were directly affected or who represent those who were directly affected.
Mr Byrne:
The Omagh bombing on 15 August came as a horrific shock to everyone in Omagh and beyond, especially at a time when most people felt that a more peaceful climate had been developing here. I believe that the Omagh bomb was a defining moment in our political development, principally because so many civilian people were killed and injured — people from throughout Tyrone, Donegal and Spain. The people of Ireland were shocked and saddened that at this time in our history, Irish Republicans could be so off beam and act in a way so alien to the wishes of the people. The enormity of the casualties caused by the Omagh bomb sickened everyone, as did the fact that some people were still pursuing political objectives by using deadly physical force.
We all know that dissident Republicans wanted a so-called spectacular, at this time, in order to wreck the current peace process and prevent the new political structures, including this Assembly, from functioning. The timing was right and the town of Omagh ideal, in their view, to provoke a derailment of the entire peace process.
It is, however, a sad fact that it took the deaths of 28 people (now 29) and over 200 injuries — many of them very serious — to bring everyone, including most senior politicians, to their senses. Public opinion throughout Ireland was clearly one of revulsion. No one could justify such an atrocity. The Social Democratic and Labour Party Members want to extend their sincere sympathy to all the bereaved families and to those who are still suffering from injuries.
The two Governments have had to act in unison, as never before, in order to reflect public anger. Omagh is a unique town, as my fellow Member from West Tyrone, Mr Hussey, said earlier. It has always been a model of tolerance and accommodation. People who live, work or shop in Omagh have always been comfortable with each other. Omagh is the county town of Tyrone. It is a good, well-integrated provincial town where community relations have always been good. People feel very angry, therefore, that a terrorist group should decide to bring a bomb into the heart of the town on a busy Saturday afternoon, intent on causing maximum damage and destruction to people and property.
As a public representative of the people of Omagh, I have to ask "What kind of patriotism is this? What kind of humanity allows the bombing of a crowded civilian shopping scene, such as Market Street, Omagh?" Quite simply, nothing in the wide world could justify the killing of people in such an inhuman and callous way.
One key fact has emerged. The Omagh bomb has, I hope, at long last done away with ambivalence about political violence in Ireland, as we approach the end of this millennium. Many people who have been reluctant in recent times to speak out about bombings and killings have been shaken to their moral and political foundations. The so-called brave people who plan and plant bombs are not so brave when it comes to helping those who have been injured as a result of their evil deeds — to say nothing of those killed.
The ambulancemen and women, the firemen, the police officers, the voluntary-care groups, the St John’s Ambulance Brigade, the clergy and the ordinary people who help others at the scenes of bombs like the one in Omagh are much braver people than those who plan and plant such bombs.
It is a terrible shame on our land and on our society that some people can inflict such inhumanity on other human beings — fellow Irish people. It has been quite apparent to most observers that the people of Omagh, in the aftermath of this terrible massacre, have behaved in a very civilised and restrained way, displaying great humanity and Christian feeling. The collective grief and sorrow of the people has been quite remarkable at this very trying time.
I want to address the way in which the town of Omagh and, in particular, the Tyrone County Hospital responded to the bomb. It is remarkable how the medical and nursing staff at the hospital in Omagh responded to this large-scale emergency. The Tyrone County Hospital is only a small-scale hospital, which, sadly, has been steadily run down over recent years. I can tell Members that the families of the injured, and the injured themselves, deeply appreciate the care and attention they received at this hospital. Many patients had to be treated quickly before being transferred to other hospitals throughout Northern Ireland. Mr Pinto, our senior consultant, his entire medical team and all the other staff at the Tyrone County Hospital deserve the highest praise and appreciation for their dedicated and highly professional efforts in the midst of such terrible injuries and trauma.
Many patients were transferred to the Erne Hospital in Enniskillen, Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry, South Tyrone Hospital in Dungannon and, by helicopter, to the hospitals in Belfast. Omagh is a garrison town, and many patients were very glad of the helicopter lifts to the hospitals in Belfast. Many patients were also taken to hospital in private cars and buses. Everyone did what he could to help. Many other groups of people and individuals did remarkable work in helping people after the bomb, and that was deeply appreciated by Omagh District Council and the community in general.
Omagh District Council, under the leadership of its chief executive, John McKinney, quickly set up an emergency disaster centre. This was very important for the families who were looking for those who were lost. Omagh was put on the world media’s map because of the bomb, and many journalists and reporters came to our town to relay the horror story and its aftermath of funerals to the world. The coverage of the many important people who visited Omagh in the days after the tragedy was, on the whole, covered sensitively. Coping with this tragedy has been both difficult and trying for the bereaved families, the relatives of the maimed and injured and the owners and workers of the shops and businesses affected. It will take Omagh a long time to recover.
I want to say a special word of thanks to the clergy from all the churches in Omagh who did a magnificent job consoling and dealing with the many families that suffered death and injury. It was the local clergy who organised for the victims the very moving and solemn memorial service which was shown throughout the world the following Saturday.
It is my earnest hope that the Government and their agencies recognise what Omagh represents. Sadly, in recent years, we have only witnessed minimal Government help and support.
It is sorely felt that the central Administration has not dealt Omagh a fair hand. In particular, it has been obvious to local people that Tyrone County Hospital has been gradually and steadily run down by those who simply do not listen to the concerns of those in the west. Quite simply the people of Omagh want an assurance from the relevant Government authorities that their hospital will be sustained with proper resourcing to provide a viable level of acute medical services in the future.
It is to be hoped that now that we have had visits from senior Government Ministers and heads of state, we will be listened to with regard to some of our social and economic problems. I welcome the fact that yesterday Mr Ingram, the industry Minister, announced plans to build an advance factory in Omagh. Young people in particular need reassurance that they will have better access to higher education locally and that jobs can be created in their area.
The people of Omagh are still in a traumatised state. Many families of the bereaved and injured are suffering terrible grief and pain. Many business people are trying to come to terms with damage to buildings, but some of them have also been affected deeply by the loss of colleagues and workers who were killed or badly injured.
We welcome the fact that the Secretary of State has appointed a senior civil servant to liaise with the local agencies involved in the reconstruction of Omagh. I want to place on record the deep gratitude of the Omagh people to all who have visited us or sent messages of support since the bombing. Many Members of the Assembly came to Omagh and expressed their solidarity with us. We are very thankful for that. In particular, the First Minister (Designate) and the Deputy First Minister (Designate) came a number of times and attended funerals. This was appreciated by all concerned.
We have been deeply touched by all the messages of support from Ireland, Britain and around the world. We can only hope that there will be no more Omagh bombs, and we should all work for that. Surely the public revulsion throughout these islands to the Omagh bomb must mark a new beginning in political relations here. The victims and their families have paid a terrible price for the political stagnation which has existed here for such a long time. Indeed, all of the victims of violence over the last 30 years have borne the same enormous pain and grief that Omagh experienced so tragically just weeks ago.
The path is very clear for all of us in the Assembly. Certainly the people of Omagh wish to see the new political structure working, so that there will be no more of these atrocities.
Rev Dr Ian Paisley:
I deeply regret that the Assembly was not recalled immediately after the bomb. It is wrong that this elected body was refused the right to meet at that time. Other bodies were able to do so but, because of the influence of the First Minister (Designate), his deputy and the Secretary of State, the Assembly was not. I regret that it has taken so long for us to have the opportunity to express our views here.
I am glad to associate myself with all the tributes that have been paid by those Members who have already spoken. The terrible crimes of those responsible for that bomb in Omagh and those killings and murders throughout the province should not be allowed to be forgotten.
I utterly deplore the fact that the President of the United States of America came to Omagh and unveiled a carefully worded plaque which contained no indictment of the so-called Real IRA. We had the same thing in Enniskillen as well.
11.00 am
Why are we constantly reminded by politicians of the crimes perpetrated by those on the Loyalist side? This should go on the record fairly and squarely: there is no difference between the villainy, the hellishness and the hideousness of what took place in Omagh and all the killings of the past. Do the parents and loved ones of the 299 murdered policemen, put to death by the Provisional IRA, feel any differently than the people in Omagh who mourn their loved ones?
The people of Northern Ireland, who have opposed what is happening in this province have a right to say something today. We were promised tranquillity, but instead we got terror. We were promised peace, but instead we got war. We were promised quiet, but instead we got grief. We were promised the end of killing, but instead killings have multiplied.
Since this so-called Belfast Agreement was signed 37 people have been murdered by terrorists. Every paramilitary group supposedly on ceasefire has breached that ceasefire and the terms of the Mitchell principles of non-violence. There have been 691 people injured by paramilitary inspired violence; 75 separate bombing incidents, including the atrocities in Omagh, Banbridge and Moira; a growing list of largely unreported incendiary devices, many of which have destroyed businesses; six car bombs; 49 separate punishment shootings and 55 serious assaults carried out by all the paramilitary groups; and there are more persons detained in custody this year than during the mid-1970s, when the troubles were at their height. Some peace process.
The Government claim to be doing everything possible to counter these violent acts, but there is little evidence to prove that. The Government are neither tough on terrorism nor on the causes of terrorism today, and the time has come when people have to face up to reality. This was not the first bombing or the first killing in Omagh. The whole mid-Ulster area has been a killing field, an area of IRA activity. One has only to see the graves of gallant men of the Ulster Defence Regiment to know how serious the killings have been.
The Prime Minister keeps saying that the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein are closely identified with one another. One side is the IRA and the other side is Sinn Fein. These people, whose representatives sit here in this House, were responsible for all the violence that led up to what happened.
We are told by the security forces that the detonator for this bomb was purchased along with other detonators by the Provisional IRA in Phoenix, Arizona. The time has come to face up to reality. We are being asked to take representatives of this organization to our bosom and put them on the Executive to have a part in the Government.
There is no difference between the killings of the past, on both sides of the religious and political divide, and this killing in Omagh. The only thing that happened this time was that the Governments had a vested interest in their so-called peace process, so that is why they had such a quick and swift answer to this matter. I would say that this matter is not over. I would like to think that no more bombs will follow.
All my political life I have been hearing about the day when the gun will be out of Irish politics. But the gun will never be taken out of Irish politics until those people realise that the majority of the people of Northern Ireland are not going to accept a united Ireland, are not going under Dublin rule and are not going to be pushed around by either a British Government or anyone else on that issue. Until they learn that, they will never cease from their violence. The violence will continue: there will be more sorrow and more deaths. To say that the speeches made by the IRA/Sinn Fein Leader is some sort of going back on what they have always stood for, is to fly in the face of the evidence.
I do not see any repentance. I do not see a turning. The best way for them to demonstrate a turnaround would be to hand in the remainder of their arms, give up the murder weaponry and dismantle their arsenal. That is the only proof of their having turned from their wickedness and their lies that we can accept.
It behoves all of us to understand the real issues that are involved. An attempt is being made by concession and concession and concession to buy off the bombing of the mainland. That is what it is all about. Mr Blair is prepared to keep making concessions to ensure that no more bombs go off on the mainland. But when those who control the arsenal find that things are not going completely their way, they will return. As one of their members — now a Member of this Assembly — said during the talks, they will return to that which they do best. So what can we do but heed what they are saying?
This is a sad and a bitter day. I have spoken to many of the victims’ loved ones. What was reported by Mr Clinton and Mr Blair about their attitude was untrue. They spoke to both the President and the Prime Minister, but their feelings were not portrayed by both these gentlemen when they addressed public meetings.
The sorrows are deep, and the wounds go to the very quick. There is only one healing, and that is to see every murder weapon surrendered and complete and final decommissioning and destruction of the arms used to murder people.
Mr P Doherty:
One month ago the atrocity of the Omagh bomb was visited on the people of Tyrone, on the people of my own county — Buncrana, Donegal — and on people from Madrid. I would like to reiterate my condolences and sympathies and those of my party to all who were bereaved and injured. The dignity with which the family members, relatives and friends of those who were bereaved conducted themselves was a humbling experience for any of us who were around Omagh in the days after the bomb went off. The courage of the emergency services, the doctors and the nurses was also exemplary.
In the weeks and months ahead when accountants’ figures and management reports about hospitals appear, let them fade into insignificance against that courage.
We have been reminded by other Members of the awful summer that we have come through: the three children murdered in Ballymoney; Nationalists driven from their homes; and Drumcree and the Garvaghy Road. When we reflect on these things there is an onus and an awful responsibility on us as politicians to move forward and resolve them.
The attack on Omagh was also an attack on the peace process. There is therefore a great responsibility on us to sustain that process and bring it to fruition. We also have a responsibility to build a memorial of lasting peace to all those who have died, not only in Omagh but throughout the troubles. The foundation stones of that memorial should be not only the resolution of the conflict but the resolution of the issues that lead to the conflict in the first place.
Exactly a year ago today we were invited, on the basis of our electoral mandate, to start the process of negotiations. After months of negotiations we produced what has become known as the Good Friday Agreement. It is our duty as politicians to implement that Agreement. We did our best. We brought forward our concerns, our aspirations, and we matched them against the concerns and aspirations of the other political parties. We now must build on that and implement the Agreement with as much speed as we can muster. Omagh will renew itself, and I hope that we can move beyond renewal to rebuilding all that has been lost.
We all have our memories of the event and of the days after. I had just landed in Portugal for a week’s holiday with my wife, and I had to return immediately. My clear and undying memory is of lists — lists of funerals, lists of those in hospital (and the length and the indignity of those lists) — and of so many people killed and so many people in hospital.
My other clear memory is of two men — one an Ulster Unionist councillor and vice-chairman of Omagh District Council, the other a Sinn Fein councillor and chairman of Omagh District Council — and of the way in which they worked together. They performed their civic duties in a way which matched and mirrored the dignity and the courage of all who had been bereaved, of all who had suffered and of all who had worked to save the people caught up in the bomb. They have shown us how we might move forward. There is an onus, a deep and heavy responsibility, on us to do so.
We must ensure that Omagh is the last atrocity. We must put all of that behind us. We can, as politicians, recriminate. We all have memories of suffering, of loss and of indignities, but we must match the courage of the people of Omagh, move forward, find a solution and make the Omagh atrocity the last.
11.15 am
Mr Neeson:
On behalf of the Alliance Party, I wish to express deep sympathy to the families of all the 31 people (including the unborn twins) who were killed at Omagh and to those who were injured. Sadly, some will have desperate injuries for the rest of their lives. Again, I would like to express our sympathy to Assembly Member, Mr Gibson, whose family was touched by the atrocity as well.
This probably was the darkest summer in the history of Northern Ireland. But Omagh was a tragedy waiting to happen. It could have happened in Banbridge or Moira. The sad thing is that Omagh has always had excellent community relations. Omagh was the unfortunate victim of the Real IRA.
I heard about the tragedy on the second day of my holiday with my family. You remembered where you were when John F Kennedy and Princess Diana were killed, and Omagh is rather like that. The enormity of the tragedy did not come all at once. It unravelled gradually: 10 were dead, then 20, then, eventually, 28, and hundreds injured.
I visited the hospital in Omagh on the Monday afterwards, accompanied by Seamus Close, David Ford and Cllr Ann Gormley. I wanted to say my thanks to the staff, but I also wanted to speak to some of the injured. I was struck by the large number of young people who had been injured, and I could identify with them because some of them, like my own children, were waiting for the GCSE and A-level results due the following week. Suddenly the results seemed irrelevant.
I went to the leisure centre, which had been the incident centre, and I must pay tribute to the staff who took on a very difficult job, informing loved-ones that it was their father, mother, daughter or son who had been killed. Never have I seen police officers so touched by the savagery of the bomb that had been planted.
I met Mr Byrne, Mr Hussey and some councillors in the high street, and there was an eerie silence. I met people like Tom Watterson, who lost three members of the staff of his shop. Those images are for ever etched on my mind.
On the Saturday I went back again with Seamus Close to the service, and I was struck by the dignity of the occasion.
I would like to put on record my thanks to John McKinney and all his staff at Omagh Council. He showed true leadership at a very tragic and difficult time.
The Governments, North and South, reacted quickly, and it was proper that both the Dáil and Westminster were recalled to deal with the issue — that was what everybody wanted — and I was impressed by the way in which both Governments worked in tandem on it. Both Parliaments passed draconian legislation which must be kept under review.
If the culprits are known — and we hear that the dogs in the street know who the members of the Real IRA are — it is important that surveillance be kept on these people morning, noon and night so that evidence can be collected to convict them in the courts — I would rather see convictions than internment dealing with this.
We are told that the Real IRA is on ceasefire. I am somewhat sceptical of that. The Continuity IRA has not yet called a ceasefire, so there is always a fear that these misguided morons will commit another atrocity.
However, despite what happened in Omagh we see daily the poison of naked sectarianism on our streets, particularly in Portadown. It is a poison that we must not allow to spread throughout Northern Ireland; and there is a danger of this poison spreading. It can kill: we have only to look at Ballymoney and the murder of the three Quinn children to see that. It can injure: only a week ago a policeman, doing his duty, was severely and savagely injured by a pipe bomb. And it can destroy. There are many people who want to destroy the Assembly and the peace process, and they must not be allowed to succeed.
I am calling today for all those involved in the conflict at Drumcree and Portadown to get round a table and talk. Dialogue can work. We saw it happen in Derry with the leadership of the Apprentice Boys and all the other groups involved in the conflict there. Dialogue can work — that is why we are here today. The Assembly provides a new chance and a new opportunity for Northern Ireland. It is therefore important that the situation at Drumcree should not be allowed to drift; it must be dealt with now.
The enormity of the tragedy at Omagh united the entire community in Northern Ireland. The following Saturday hundreds of thousands of people right across the province — Catholic, Protestant, people of every religion — came onto the streets to show their solidarity and sympathy with the people of Omagh.
Surely that must inspire us all to want to create a society in Northern Ireland where, at long last, we can truly live in peace and reconciliation.
Mr McCartney:
I join with everyone here in paying tribute to the medical and emergency services who did so much to lessen, insofar as it could ever be lessened, the tragedy of Omagh. No words can adequately describe the horror of Omagh, and ordinary people cannot comprehend the mindset of those who were responsible for that outrage. Yet except in terms of its scale, that outrage was little different from others in Oxford Street, McGurk’s Bar, Enniskillen, La Mon, Teebane or the Shankill. All of these outrages, including the one in Omagh, were committed in the belief that they would accelerate progress towards achieving the political goals of those who committed them or prevent others from reaching or maintaining their goals.
At this moment, the Provisional IRA retains all the armaments necessary to perpetrate a hundred Omaghs. The Real IRA was almost certainly making use of explosives and detonators which had formerly been part of the Provisional IRA arsenal. What distinction or difference, if any, is there between the Real IRA and the Provisional IRA? The Provisional IRA is acknowledged everywhere as being inextricably linked with Sinn Fein. The word "inextricably" means that it cannot be separated from Sinn Fein — Sinn Fein, 18 of whose members have seats in this Assembly, two of whom may shortly be placed in government over the people of Northern Ireland.
The Real IRA and the Provisional IRA share the same political goals; both have as their political objective a united, socialist Irish Republic. Both believe that terror and violence, murder and mayhem may be justified in the pursuit of their objectives. There are no moral or ethical differences between the Real IRA and the Provisional IRA. They differ only in their tactical views as to when violence may be most efficiently and effectively used for attaining their political goals.
The statement of Mr Adams, the Assembly Member for West Belfast, that the violence was over and done with was, of course, qualified: it will be over if the present process continues to deliver the political aims and visions of Sinn Fein. But should Unionists — or anyone else — obstruct what it considers to be the inevitable progress towards those goals and ambitions, violence may once again have to be resorted to, and for that reason it is absolutely necessary that armaments, explosives, guns and detonators be retained in order to exert, when necessary, the appropriate leverage in negotiations or discussions which are ostensibly part of the democratic process.
After Omagh many people had a sense of déjà vu. Those who remember Enniskillen will recognise remarkable similarities: then, as now, the Provisional IRA, like the Real IRA, had not just committed indescribable murder and destruction, it had occasioned a public-relations disaster. Then, as now, Ireland was aghast. Fifty thousand people signed a book of condolence in Dublin. The Catholic Church apologised — in my view quite unnecessarily — on behalf of those who had committed the atrocity. Mrs Thatcher visited Northern Ireland. The great and the good shed their tears and gnashed their teeth. But such emotional outpourings did not prevent the renewal of violence by the groups that had committed such atrocities as those in Enniskillen, La Mon, Oxford Street, Teebane and Whitecross when, once again, it became politically necessary to resort to violence. And they will do the same again.
11.30 am
Mr Doherty, the Member for West Tyrone, well appreciates that Omagh was once again — even if one step removed — a public-relations disaster for the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein who have been struggling ineffectively with the condemnation of their former associates. The Real IRA has done and is doing nothing which is contrary to the ideology of Sinn Fein/IRA.
In the recent debate in the House of Commons on the new anti-terrorist legislation it was pointed out that since 10 April some 38 people had been murdered in Northern Ireland, 11 of whom were not involved in Omagh, including people murdered by "good terrorists". By "good terrorists" I mean terrorists whose organisations and the political parties fronting them are ostensibly within this process.
More than 37 punishment shootings, some of them fatal, have been committed in an effort by these parties and organisations to maintain control over those areas which they dominate. There have been over 59 brutal punishment beatings, inflicting injuries which are orthopaedically and physically very often more grave than shootings, all of which were sanctioned by organisations fronted by political parties in this Assembly. That is why I referred yesterday to the need to have democratic, non-violent principles as the touchstone for participation in the Assembly or its Executive.
Let me close with this anecdote. When Parliament was recalled to debate the anti-terrorist legislation I spoke to a former member of the Shadow Northern Ireland Labour team and pointed out this distinction between "wicked" terrorists outside the process and "good" terrorists within it. I pointed out that the "good" terrorists had committed nine murders and umpteen beatings and shootings. I said "Is it not immoral for any Government, and particularly for the Mother of Parliaments, to be sanctioning such a distinction?" His reaction was "I do not consider it immoral, because the peace process must go on." The peace process must, therefore, sanction murders of the kind to which I have referred as long as they are perpetrated by people who, ostensibly, support the process and can offer us their hypocritical expressions of grief about what happens.
It is not sufficient for Omagh to be the occasion for an emotional outpouring of grief, necessary though that may be. There must be a rational, cold analysis of the underlying factors, principles and ideologies which permitted it to occur, and it is the duty of the Assembly, as it is the duty of the House of Commons, to purge itself of those who think otherwise.
Mr Ervine:
I do not think that I, or any Member here, fully understands the immeasurable pain and suffering of the people of Omagh. Many have pointed out that the size of the atrocity in Omagh sets it apart from the many other atrocities that we have had to live with over the last 30 years. Maybe we will never fully understand the grief and suffering and pain that is abroad in our society. But Omagh will not go away; Omagh will not be forgotten.
The physical and mental legacies are two reasons for that. It will be seen in those who were disfigured, left limbless or blind or had other serious injuries. Some of us are not in Omagh very often, and every time we drive through, we may see someone on crutches, or someone with a guide dog. We will be being reminded for a very long time to come, more especially because of the ages of some of the victims.
I share in the tributes to the carers, those heroes and heroines who saw and dealt with that which no human being should ever have to deal with. Yet I heard the voices coming from Omagh — soft, determined and dignified, wanting Omagh to be the last. Whether they were on the "Yes" side or the "No" side, they certainly wanted Omagh to be the last, and I hope that it was the last. I am not clairvoyant, and predictions have been made here today, but I sense that Omagh was a watershed. There was the strong attitude of the Government, determined — some would say for the first time — to be the moral guardian of democracy.
Politicians, in the main, are coming to their senses and realising the level of brutality and pain there, and we are sensing that it has to be different. Then there has been the attitude, more especially, of the ordinary people. From wherever it came, there was absolute condemnation, revulsion and anger that more bodies and last breaths had been taken away from us on a vehicle of ideology, inflicting again that which has already been inflicted — against their will.
I have heard talk about ambivalence, and in the past there has indeed been ambivalence from all sides. Prior to the Omagh bombing, I heard the leader of Sinn Fein being accused of ambivalence towards the bombing of Banbridge and Moira. But was it ambivalence, or was it fear on his part? All groups have three sets of people: the thin band that is the leadership, the thin band that are the moralists, and the vast swathe of people in between who wish that the leader, or leaders, could say the things that would get the moralists off their backs. We are experts about that, are we not? The predictors, the prophets, who tell us what we really do not want to hear — even though they have no concept of how they are going to take us beyond the brutal subculture of violence, they condemn all and sundry. I can say this because I have stood and taken such condemnation.
I accept my complicity; I accept my responsibility; and I expect others to do the same. The moralists never do anything wrong. They are better people than everybody else; they are more honourable than everybody else; they are better Unionists or Nationalists than everybody else, but they do not take us anywhere. They take themselves to nice places. They do well for themselves, but they do not offer my society very much.
I heard a journalist say that we had to consider the cock-up theory for Omagh, that young men, not experienced in paramilitary ways, panicked. I do not accept that, but there is a historical reason for my not accepting it. I can remember bombs going off in Northern Ireland. I can remember no-warning car bombs. And I can remember worse — car bombs when the warning gave the wrong location of the bomb. That was around the time when two IRAs were created: the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA. Can some parallel be drawn between that and the present-day split between Real IRA and the Provisional IRA? Perhaps the leaders of the organization that is associated with the Provisional IRA have learnt lessons from the very acts that they themselves committed when they succeeded in taking over that organization.
The one big difference that exists now is the will of the people. That is the new dynamic in the politics of Northern Ireland — 71.12% of the people supported the Agreement. I listened yesterday to those who vociferously, and quite brutally, attacked the Leader of Unionism. They accused everyone else of not being democrats, and then by their very actions, language and attitude, challenged the single, most important democratic decision that has ever been taken in Northern Ireland.
They have the right to challenge political opinions. They have the right to ensure that their voices are heard. They have the right to share in the government of this society and begin a process of healing and building and delivering of services. But they do not have the right to rerun the referendum — not at any time. Those who have described me as "pathetic" need seriously to look at our future.
I have heard the decommissioning issue being dealt with along with Omagh. I understand that there may be a bit of brinkmanship here, but if Mr McGuinness cannot deliver — and I emphasize "cannot" — what happens next?
And in returning to the issue of Omagh, I hope and pray that the caring, the sympathy and the outpouring of love that have been directed towards Omagh will continue, because many people in our society who have been hurt and wounded have not been the recipients of such love, and that makes me feel that we may have only a short attention span in circumstances like these. Omagh happened to us, to our people, and it must not be forgotten.
11.45 am
Ms Morrice:
The tragedy in Omagh has had a profound effect on all of us. Never in my life have I experienced such shock and sadness throughout the community. It has been said that none of us will ever forget 15 August 1998. We will remember the men, women, and children who lost their lives. We will remember those who were maimed and those who were injured — indeed, some are still in hospital just along the road from here. We will remember their families in Omagh, in Buncrana, in Madrid, so cruelly torn apart by this terrible and horrific tragedy.
When we speak of man’s inhumanity to man we will remember Omagh. We will also remember the Quinn family, and Teebane, and Oxford Street, and the Shankill Road and all the other atrocities. I have been able to visit Omagh, and above all I will remember the tremendous grief and the dignity in the words and the deeds of the families of the victims and those directly affected by the bombing in the days and weeks that followed.
We in the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition want to add our names to the long list of people from near and far who have sent their heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the families of the dead and injured. We also want to convey our sincere appreciation to the medical services, the emergency services, the security services, the health and social services, the volunteers and all those who responded so swiftly to the call for help. There is no doubt that they played a hugely important role in the immediate aftermath of the bombing. But we must also remember that they are still playing a vital role now and will continue to do so in the weeks, months and years to come.
We pay tribute to the determination, courage and strength of spirit shown by all those who have been touched by this outrage. We stand in their shadow. The people of Omagh and all who have suffered have shown us what real greatness is. Their determination to rebuild their lives and the life of their community is a lesson to us all. Every step we take in this Chamber towards the creation of a peaceful society will be taken in the shadow of their suffering and of all those who suffered before them.
It is inadequate merely to condemn the actions of a minority who are bent on destroying the peace process. We must go further and show our determination to stand firm against all acts of violence. We pledge ourselves — and I hope everyone else in the Chamber can pledge themselves — to work for a better, peaceful, stable, democratic, non-violent society, in which every man, woman and child has a sense of belonging and a feeling of security.
I would like to take a moment to pay tribute to the work of the First Minister (Designate) and the Deputy First Minister (Designate). Both have shown real leadership throughout these dark days. By their actions, they have shown their determination to move forward towards a better future. Together, they are guiding the Assembly with a combination of strength and sensitivity, and we know that that will be the hallmark of their leadership. They have our full support.
There are Members who will criticise their efforts. Some will say that they are going far too slowly; others will say that they are going far too fast. The Women’s Coalition wants to see the Agreement implemented as fully and as swiftly as possible, but we will caution against any knee-jerk reaction. We cautioned against the introduction of new emergency legislation in the aftermath of the Omagh bombing. We agree with what Mr Neeson has said, that the perpetrators must be brought to justice, and the sooner the better, but we are concerned that any possible miscarriage of justice could be counter-productive. The Omagh bombers are isolated in our society, and they must continue to be starved of the oxygen of support. Never, never, never can the use of violence be justified as a means to an end — political or otherwise.
The Women’s Coalition welcomes all statements saying that violence must end, and we also welcome the recent ceasefire announcements. We commend the courage and determination of the people who have held firm to their commitment of non-violence. We continue to call for an end to all acts of violence, and we call on all those with influence to work for a future in which every weapon of war is removed from society for ever. The Women’s Coalition is working towards this end, and we will continue to do that in the Assembly and by building a culture of tolerance in society.
Much has been said about the cost of this violence in monetary terms, but not enough has been said about the cost in human terms. Much greater priority should be given to the victims, to those who are condemned to live with the legacy of war. Even after the guns are silenced, and more than anyone else, the victims of violence deserve our support. The Women’s Coalition recognises this in the Good Friday Agreement, and today we reiterate the demand more forcibly than ever that no door should ever be closed to a victim of violence.
Children who have lost their parents and grandparents or who have witnessed events on their doorsteps that would be X-rated in our cinemas must be guaranteed our unflinching support. The Assembly must not be found lacking in its support for such victims, and until we have the power to provide that assistance, we call on the Government to introduce sensitive measures quickly to ensure help for the people of Omagh, the Quinn family and all the others who have suffered so terribly over the last 30 years or so on their journey towards emotional and physical recovery.
Omagh must be the last atrocity, and the greatest memorial that the Members of the Assembly could give to the victims of Omagh and to the others who have suffered so tragically would be a re-doubling of their efforts to work for peace.
Mr Foster:
Many words of sympathy have been expressed in the Assembly this morning. I am sure that they were all well meant and said with feeling. Let me quote some that express the agony of Omagh:
"I left him down to the bus and he was so excited that he jumped out of the car before saying goodbye. But he did look at me and smiled in the way he normally did. He had a beautiful smile and was such a happy, gifted child.
To see him lying there with half his head gone and those most beautiful green eyes looking out as if he was waiting for me was devastation. I never realised how green his eyes were. That image will stay will with me for the rest of my life. They have taken away my baby; they have robbed him of his future, and for what? I will never forgive the evil men who carried out this deed."
Such are the poignant words of a broken-hearted mother.
How could they? The heartache, the heartbreak, torn and rent bodies, the bloodlust, the absolute horror of Omagh are all so inconceivable. How anyone could plot, plan, co-ordinate and then activate such horror on any community is beyond comprehension. Our hearts bleed for the victims of the Omagh carnage. Only they will understand the real trauma of such evil. Our prayers are for them at this very sad time.
In my home town of Enniskillen almost 11 years ago 11 people died in similar circumstances. Two people died in my hands as I tried to console them. My neighbour lay dead behind me. I assisted in pulling a survivor, Mr Jim Dixon, who still suffers from the injuries sustained, out of the rubble where he would have perished. I think of Mr Ronnie Hill who has lain in a comatose state since that fateful day. I became the social worker to the Enniskillen Fund, completing 130 visits to the victims and the bereaved. I refer to all of this, not out of bravado, but to emphasise that Omagh suffered, to an extreme degree, what others throughout Northern Ireland have also suffered.
It is in the event of such carnage that it is realised just how much outlying areas of the province value the acute hospital services. They are vital. What would have happened to the victims of Omagh if the Tyrone County had not been an acute hospital and if the Erne Hospital in Enniskillen and the South Tyrone Hospital in Dungannon had not been available to render invaluable medical support? Access to a hospital when life or death issues are presented is absolutely vital. The death toll could have been so much greater without the availability of those hospitals.
I cannot pay tribute enough to all the hospitals throughout the province for the services they provide, to the agencies which offer help and to all who showed such tremendous bravery and courage in the face of horrific scenes of bloodletting. Thank God for the compassion of all who serve this afflicted community.
However, the obvious question is this: have Mr Adams and his Sinn Fein associates taken any steps to discourage such heinous crimes over the years? It has already been said that they and the IRA are inextricably linked. Both Governments have stated so many times. The IRA said some time ago that IRA members who are also members of Sinn Fein may sit in British institutions. This dispensation is also verification of the inextricable link made manifestly clear. This Assembly is a British institution accepted by all who pledged themselves to the Agreement on Good Friday, and Sinn Fein is telling us that it has permission from a terrorist grouping to be here.
We trust that never again will such evil present its ugly face and that those who have been involved in any kind of terrorist activity over the years, or who presently lie through their teeth, will, if not caught by the temporal law, one day suffer the wrath and indignation of Almighty God. Such recompense is inescapable. The need is therefore for repentance and disarmament on the parts of unlawful groups. This is essential.
Republican elements and others must now activate decommissioning to evidence good faith, honesty and intent and, as the Agreement dictates, commitment to non-violence and exclusively peaceful and democratic means. Never should our people ever again have to experience the pain, the deaths, the carnage of another Omagh, La Mon, Greysteel, Loughinisland, Shankill Road, Enniskillen, Teebane and such like.
In my constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone we have suffered over the years along the border with the murder of so many good citizens - ethnic removal indeed.
12.00
These days peace is the word on many people's lips, and peace, therefore, is the key. When illegal weapons and materials of war are no longer available to illegal forces who bring about terror and destruction, peace will prevail. There must be evidence of decommissioning by such people now; there must be no more stunts with weapons and explosives; now is the hour; there cannot be any equivocation on this matter.
If people talk peace, they should take action to ensure peace. A provincial newspaper stated recently
"Let our entire community unite against evil. Let us commit ourselves to peace and peace alone. Let us back the forces of law and order. Let us resolve to build a new future, Unionist and Nationalist alike. Let this be our sincere and lasting tribute to the victims of Omagh."
We must now have reached a watershed, but considering all the innocent victims during the past 28 years, what a price we have had to pay.
A lasting memorial would be permanent peace. Never again would Northern Ireland become a rubble heap, a charnel house, a breeding ground for pestilence and hate. Let me quote from the local newspaper again:
"They have taken away my baby. They have robbed him of his future - and for what? I will never forgive the evil men who carried out this deed."
The onus is on terrorists and their associates; they can make or break what is good for us all.
Mr McMenamin:
It is with a sincere sense of service that I speak to the House today. The topic of my maiden address to this august body fills me with great sadness. I have worked and played in Omagh and, several times in the past weeks, I have prayed in Omagh.
The entire civilised world now equates the name Omagh with atrocity - the vileness of man's inhumanity to man. In the annals of our tragic history, Omagh will symbolise the levels of inhuman barbarity into which our little land has been plunged time and again.
Fortunately, we have witnessed the magnificent response of the good people of Northern Ireland to the emergency in Omagh. Doctors, nurses, police, emergency services, social workers and the entire community reacted with great love, care and compassion to help the dying, the wounded, and the broken-hearted. We have all suffered from this tragic wrath. Let me reiterate our deepest sympathy to the bereaved, the maimed and the young minds which have been blighted and disillusioned by the absence of peace in Northern Ireland.
Let me say to fellow Members that surely this is not the legacy that we wish to bequeath to our sons and daughters. There is an old African saying which is used at funeral ceremonies:
"Death is not the extinguishing of the light, rather the dousing of a candle because a new day has dawned."
The Assembly should ensure that a new day has indeed dawned. Let us work together in a spirit of co-operation and mutual respect to guarantee that that new day will bring peace, prosperity and the joy of living to our young people. Let us smooth the path for them that our forefathers were unable to do for us.
Rev William McCrea:
For 14 years I had the privilege of representing the people of Omagh in another place. They are a courageous people. The dignity with which they have borne their grief ought to have touched the heart of every decent citizen.
Omagh was a tragedy of immense proportions. Twenty-nine innocent victims were blown apart by a bomb designed, coldly planned and detonated by evil men. As a member of a family that has endured similar barbarity, I unreservedly condemn the IRA action in Omagh. I have heard it said that no one can fully understand the pain people suffer except he has been there. That is true. No one can understand the darkness of the night the families pass through unless he has been afflicted in like manner. The atrocity of Omagh cannot be fully described in words.
The heartache and the grief that were experienced by so many families have rent the hearts of so many others over the past 30 years. The genuine expressions of sympathy by those from every walk of life were admirable, but many families have suffered throughout the province over the years. It must take a brass neck for certain people to sit in this elected body and not blush when they think of the atrocities of the past. The pain of Omagh was not the commencement of heartache. Over the past 30 years other families have endured similar tragedies. When we talk about 29 families we talk about 29 individual families. But think of the countless hundreds of individual families who to this very day grieve for loved ones who were brutally done to death.
I stood on the bridge in Omagh with my back to the awful carnage and wreckage in the town. I looked to my right down the Ballygawley Road, where 13 young soldiers were brutally done to death. And then there is Teebane. I looked down the Cookstown Road and remembered the innocent workmen that got into the van in Omagh to make their way home to Cookstown and Magherafelt - men who had done a hard, honest day's work, trying to make a living for their families. As they made their way home that night they were watched until their van came to the place where the bomb was detonated right on time. Those men were blown to bits. I stood amidst the broken bodies and helped the security forces and members of the other services pick up the pieces.
No words of condemnation or regret have been uttered concerning those bombings. And when I hear Members in this Chamber condemn the Real IRA, I ask myself if this is the day when we are going to hear Mr Adams condemn the Provisional IRA. Is this the day when we are going to hear Mr McGuinness condemn the Provisional IRA? It is interesting that they have condemned this atrocity because it was the work of the Real IRA, even though the Real IRA was using the weaponry of the past. It is a different organisation; it is not the Provos. That is why they could say "We condemn this action" because it made them blush. They did not blush when the bodies were being picked up at Teebane.
They did not come on to the television and condemn Warrenpoint, La Mon, Ballygawley, the Droppin' Well Inn or Oxford Street. Perhaps some Members could tell us all the sordid details. And, of course, we have the two young corporals who were so brutally done to death. The persons who did that deed were certainly not squeaky clean.
But words are cheap. It is totally insincere to condemn the Real IRA without condemning the Provisional IRA and every other grouping, irrespective of which side of the community it comes from, because every other paramilitary grouping has carried out acts of terrorism. I think of the tragedies that have happened throughout Mid Ulster. We went to Government after Government and begged for action. We went to security chief after security chief and begged for action. But nothing was done. Today, however, political manoeuvrings demanded that something had to be done, and so anti-terrorism legislation was rushed through the House of Commons.
Let us have decommissioning of all the weapons that are in the hands of terrorists and paramilitary organisations. I salute the security forces that have protected the people of this province. It is interesting to note that over the years even Sinn Fein/IRA has been very happy to lift the phone and ring when help was needed.
I have heard today in this Chamber that Omagh will not go away and that Omagh is different. What is the difference between Omagh and Teebane? I know a woman whose husband was murdered at Teebane. She asked me if everyone had forgotten her husband, if anyone cared about her child, who is being brought up without a father and who cries himself to sleep even to this day. He is begging for a father who will never come home again. Then I think about those who condemned the incident.
What is the difference between Omagh and what happened to my family? Fifty bullets were fired at my home from an AK-47 in an attempt to kill my wife and children. But there will be no words of condemnation because those words are selective. This province has endured the nightmare of terrorism, and the terrorists must be defeated.
La Mon and Enniskillen may be forgotten, but it is said that Omagh is different. I say to the people of Omagh that their grief is genuine and their hurt such that no one can ever imagine or understand its depths. But I also want to say to the people of Omagh that if the Government do not bring to justice those who were responsible for all those deeds, whose hands are stained with blood, that if they think that they have escaped into the darkness of the night and got away with their evil deeds, and that if they think that they will get political gain through the power of a gun, there is a day to come that God has ordained.
That is the day when men shall stand before God and every deed will be brought before Him. The Bible says
"The wicked shall be cast into hell, as shall all the Nations that forget God."
There is forgiveness with God, and there is pardon with God, but there is only one pathway to that pardon and forgiveness and that is repentance. The Scriptures say
"except you repent, you shall all likewise perish".
Those are solemn words, said not by anyone in this Chamber but by the Saviour Himself.
12.15 pm
Mr McElduff:
A Cheann Comhairle, Mr Initial Presiding Officer, ar mo shon féin, ar son Sinn Féin agus ar son muintir Iarthar Thír Eoghain go háirithe, seolaim ón áit seo comhbhrón ón chroí dóibh siúd a d'fhulaing ar an Ómaigh ar na mallaibh. Bhí aithne agam go pearsanta ar chuid mhór acu agus tá sé deacair coinneáil suas leis an tragóid, tórramh i ndiaidh tórraimh.
I want to reiterate many of the sentiments expressed by other Members. All those who have suffered through injury or bereavement still have our sympathy. A great sadness has been visited upon the Omagh district, Co Tyrone, Co Donegal, Spain and the length and breadth of this island. A community is sharing tragedy, and I do not pretend to understand what those worst affected are going through. Horror, pain and grief have affected many people in many communities. It is heartbreaking. All of the adjectives that could be used have been used. I acknowledge and recognise the hurt that Unionists have felt, and I ask for similar recognition and acknowledgement of our hurt. We have suffered as well.
I regret - I say this mildly and not stridently - that some Members cannot resist political point scoring even when we are all united by the horror at what happened in Omagh.
I heard the news of Omagh on the radio at 7 o'clock as I was driving home from Dublin. I just heard enough to know that something very serious had happened in our county town. I began to think about my daughter Niamh, my wife Paula, my parents, my brothers and sisters and everyone else who might be affected by the tragedy. I went directly to the Omagh leisure centre where recently I had had a political debate with Mr Maginnis, Mr Durkan, Ms McWilliams and Mr Ervine.
Mr Byrne chaired those proceedings, and the leisure centre will be familiar to some Members from outside Co Tyrone. We stayed in the leisure centre for more than 20 hours. It was my birthday, and I recalled the seven happy years that I had spent at the Christian Brothers Grammar School and my walks through the streets now affected by the bomb. I had made many friends, socialised and shopped in Omagh. What happened next was a seemingly never-ending succession of wakes and funerals.
Those present will never forget what happened at the leisure centre: people were queuing up to go to the morgue and identify their loved ones.
Then the funerals began. The first were those of Mrs Grimes, her daughter, Avril Monaghan with her unborn twin girls and her daughter, Moira. The most recent funeral, was that of Sean McGrath. Few people know that Libby Rushe's mother, Mrs Eileen McCulla, has subsequently died at the age of 96, heartbroken to the end.
A dignified candlelight vigil was held at the Drumraw Avenue/Ulsterbus car park in Omagh. Many prayers have been said in Ireland and abroad, including Donegal and Tyrone and places like Fintona, Dromore and Castlederg. The dead and injured were young and old, an amazingly diverse grouping who happened to be in the one place, at the one time. There was parity of suffering: boys and girls; men and women; Irish people and Spanish people; people from Tyrone and people from Donegal; and Nationalists and Unionists. From one family a father and son died, and from another a grandmother and her daughter and granddaughters. Many were close friends and good neighbours. It is hugely devastating for everybody.
All who helped deserve commendation. The professionalism of the Tyrone County Hospital staff stands out for me. Voluntary helpers answered the call. Having been born in Tyrone County Hospital, I shudder to think of the consequences had plans gone ahead to remove the acute services from the hospital before 15 August. The total of 32 deaths - if the accident victim from Co Antrim is included - would have been more.
I am reluctant to make a political point, however, I have no doubt that the death toll would have been significantly higher but for the existence of the Tyrone County Hospital. That is a compelling argument for ensuring that the Tyrone County Hospital is retained as a first-class acute services hospital. Indeed, it should be upgraded and expanded. It would be terrible if it were not retained - that whole swathe of rural territory west of the River Bann would be disadvantaged.
A Chathaoirligh, tá muid uilig ag mothú na péine. Aithním go bhfuil go leor leor duine in Éirinn a thuig an brón agus atá ag iompar ualach an bhróin. Chonaic muid pictiúr ar an Ómaigh, áfach, a síleadh a bheith fágtha san aimsir chaite.
It is difficult to dwell on the political implications. If there is to be a political response, let it be the speedy implementation of the Good Friday Agreement; let everyone hold his nerve.
Many of those bereaved by the carnage in Omagh have pointed to the way forward for all of us. They have very earnestly said that they want to see the further development of the peace process. Even in the depths of personal despair they have communicated that message to us very clearly and coherently.
There is a long road ahead for the people of Omagh. Those in that area, district and county will need every conceivable help. We are all still coming to terms with what has happened, and we need to tread gently. Hearts will continue to bleed in Omagh for a long time to come. However, there is hope: hope that is represented by Sean Clarke and Alan Rainey at an official level, hope in the birth of baby Chloe Emery from the Campsie area who was born in the South Tyrone Hospital and is now about four weeks old.
For me, the hope and spirit of Omagh shone through when Niall McSorley took his place for Omagh St Enda's in the Tyrone County final against Ardboe O'Donavan Rossa's at Pomeroy St Plunkett's on Sunday afternoon.
I want to commend everybody - low profile and high profile - who came to Omagh. Let us all take our responsibilities seriously with a visible, speedy and real enactment of the Good Friday Agreement - that is the least we can do. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.
Mr McGimpsey:
I want to be associated with the expressions of sympathy and sorrow towards the people of Omagh - to those who died, to the injured and to their relatives who are trying to come to terms with what happened and with the pain, physical and mental, which they are suffering as a result of the trauma of a random bomb set off for a political end. I have close family in Omagh who had the good fortune on that Saturday to break their routine - they were not on that street when they normally would have been. It is the juxtaposition of that with the cruel fortune of those who were on that street then which is, I suppose, impossible to understand, to rationalise and to come to terms with.
The people of Omagh that I met in the aftermath had a simple message: they want the Agreement to work; they want peace. People in the province want security; they want to live in peace. As Fr Denis Faul would say, they want to live in peace; they want to die in peace; and they want to rest in peace. It seemed to me that that was the strong message coming from Omagh in the immediate aftermath of the bombing, and other Members have alluded to that.
The point was made to me by people living in the town that if Omagh was to mean anything at all - if anything good was to come of it - it must be that this process would somehow succeed, that the Agreement would be made to work, and that the will of the overwhelming majority of the people of Northern Ireland would be adhered to by the politicians in this political process. The people who set off that bomb did so deliberately, in a ratcheting up of their bombing campaign - Moira, Banbridge and then Omagh - to ensure that the political process that we are all engaged in was firmly knocked off course, or even destroyed.
If we fail in this process, the Real IRA will have succeeded. We do have problems with it. Indeed, the United Kingdom Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party spent most of yesterday talking about those problems and giving their opinion, for example, that decommissioning was not being treated as a sine qua non. That is a major hurdle, obviously, but we are trying to get over it, and we do need some progress on it.
We are currently acting under the part of the Agreement which sets out the transitional arrangements. Those transitional arrangements require an absolute commitment to democracy and non-violence. That is the principle underpinning everything that we are about, the basic building block of the process. That was the demand in Omagh in the aftermath of the bombing, and it was the demand of the overwhelming majority of our people. To me, it is self-evident that having a military wing is the antithesis of a commitment to democracy and non-violence. This is not a Unionist point of view, it is a tenet of civil society and the basis of a democratic society, and you cannot go forward claiming to have a commitment to democracy and non-violence and yet having armed military wings.
So how do we move forward? It seems to me that steps have to be taken. We have waited 20 years for what we have now, and the demand to rush forward has severe risks. What are a few weeks here or there after these 20 years with all the atrocities, hurt and pain that were mentioned this morning? It seems to me that on decommissioning, for example, we have Gen de Chastelain sitting with his commission and getting very little co-operation, as I understand it. It seems to me essential that we move forward and at least agree the mechanics of decommissioning, some form of stocktaking and a timescale.
I do not think that anyone on this side of the House believes that all the guns and ammunition can be delivered on day one in one fell swoop. But look, for example, at the negotiations between the Soviet Union and the United States on nuclear disarmament: the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties I, II and III - a step-by-step process. Taking one step at a time and making progress with an agreed programme is the very least that the people of Northern Ireland expect.
Mr Roche:
There is a difference between requiring terrorist organisations to surrender their arms to a lawful authority and international negotiations between states about reducing nuclear arsenals. However horrible nuclear arms are, the two are not analogous. To suggest that you can proceed in the same way with a terrorist organisation as with Governments is to legitimise the very people who are holding the terrorist arms.
12.30 pm
Mr McGimpsey:
May I thank Mr Roche for sharing that with me. It seems that he does not want any progress in this area. [Interruption] It appears to me that what we were listening to yesterday was justification for a situation in which there is no progress. All we heard yesterday was a particular interpretation of the Agreement. I do not care what the analogies are. All I am interested in is the end result, getting through this process, getting us into a situation where we can live in peace, die in peace and rest in peace. I am prepared to be pragmatic; I am prepared to take chances; and I am prepared to accept and be aware of the difficulties that the other side has with this.
In conclusion, if Omagh is to mean anything it must mean that we deliver somehow or other practical steps and in pragmatic form the Agreement for which the overwhelming majority of people voted. I am a democrat, and as a democratic politician that is the imperative that I will work to.
Mr Gallagher:
I rise from a side of the House which has never been ambivalent about violence. We have always confronted violence from every quarter - and it has come from many quarters - and we continue to confront and challenge the attacks on human rights and assaults on the human dignity of individuals in this community.
The bomb in Omagh did not discriminate on grounds of nationality, tradition, age or gender. We saw that in the trail of suffering from Barcelona to Buncrana to Omagh and beyond. It extended to my own constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone where we lost one of the youngest victims, Maura Monaghan, together with her mother Avril and her two unborn children and Philomena Skelton who lived with her husband Kevin in Ederney, County Fermanagh.
I wish to extend my sympathy to the families of the 29 people who were killed and to all of those who were injured, to those who witnessed the aftermath, to those who worked with the injured and to all of the people of Omagh.
The heads that planned the bombing, the hands that put the bomb together, those who delivered the deadly cargo and so callously walked away in the sunshine were all driven by some savage hatred which obliterated their humanity.
Mr Carrick:
Without deflecting from or taking away from the tragedy and the grief and the horror of the Omagh bombing, would the Member agree that but for the grace of Almighty God further human tragedies of similar proportions could have happened in Banbridge and Portadown, not to mention towns like Moira, Markethill and Newtownhamilton? Would the Member also agree that traders and residents who have suffered devastation of their property and livelihoods at the hands of the barbaric Irish Republican war machine are also deserving of our support at this time as they try to re-establish their lives, reconstruct their homes and reinstate their commercial businesses?
Mr Gallagher:
Coming as I do from Belleek, which in recent months has also suffered a terrorist attack, I am well aware of the difficulties that flow from such an attack, and I understand what my colleague is referring to.
When I gave way I was making the point that a great deal goes into putting hatred into the hearts of individuals who are capable of carrying out this kind of atrocity. Hate-filled words have had no small part to play in making minds capable of doing what was done in Omagh. Yesterday and today we have again heard hate-filled words, words of accusation and words of suspicion. As public representatives in the Assembly, we have a responsibility to use words wisely.
The people who voted for the majority of Members assembled here do not want to see this chance for an end to the conflict squandered. They want to see real efforts made to lay to rest and put behind us the bitterness, the hatred and the divisions. That is our task, and the building of that new society is the only fitting monument to the people of Omagh.
Mr Gibson:
I wish to thank, first of all, those who have sincerely brought condolences. On behalf of my immediate family, I want to say how much we appreciate the deluge of sympathy that has come from all over the world. We, and, I am sure, the other 28 families that are grieving, very much appreciate that massive outpouring of sympathy. It has certainly helped those families, and it has been a comfort and a balm at a time of deep agony and grief.
We in Omagh were overcome by that immense sympathy, and we feel we have to respond, in a reasonable way, to that genuine outpouring. We should recognise that we have terrible trauma yet to come because, while we have buried our dead, there are 30 people in hospital who are maimed, disfigured and physically and mentally scarred. They have to be welcomed back into our community, to be re-integrated, accommodated and assured of a quality of life that is the best that we can provide. That is one of the long-term demands that we will have to meet in future.
The Omagh atrocity was of an unprecedented nature. We have heard much this morning about the heroic efforts of those who came and made a contribution to the saving of life. It was immense, but perhaps one verse of a poem that was sent to me - 'The Bomb in Omagh Town'- in its simple words says it all:
"The many folk who rallied round and gave heroic aid -
The memory of their efforts from our minds will never fade.
They worked so hard for others, in a true, unselfish way.
What would we have done without them on such a dreadful day?"
The police, the Army, the doctors, the nurses, the bus drivers and the taxi men: they all helped - and even someone called Joe. I heard him say on the radio, in a very simple way,
"The house gave a terrible shake. I knew something desperate had happened. I put on me and went and done what I could."
An Omagh man, in his own way, understating the heroic efforts which every person in the community made.
I propose that, as well as the obvious people who will be truly and genuinely rewarded, everyone who helped in the aftermath of that atrocity should be given a special citation. They should all be brought together, as part of the process of mourning and healing, from humble Joe, who put on him and did what he could, to the skilled surgeons who saved many lives, and acknowledged in a noteworthy way by some royal personage.
It was very important that no one died in Omagh because he was unable to get to the emergency services and also that the special efforts made by staff trained to deal with catastrophes - and we have had many, unfortunately, in our area - were successful.
John McKinney's claim to fame - or notoriety - is now that he has probably turned out to be the best disaster manager. He has suddenly risen to fame because of the important contribution he made in successfully managing the catastrophe, where the number of deaths could otherwise have run to hundreds rather than tens. All those people are to be commended, be they helicopter pilots, the taxi men or whoever. Unfortunately, another tragedy occurred outside Knock Presbyterian Church when one of the ambulances which was dashing was involved in an accident. A family was enjoying its in-car entertainment and did not hear the screaming sirens.
We are mindful in Omagh, in the midst of our grief, that others are left behind. And I think particularly today of someone else whose world has fallen apart: Esther Gibson is dead and buried, but her boyfriend is left behind. That reality has yet to be dealt with.
I listened intently this morning to glean how people from outside the area view the atrocity. Of course the atrocity in Omagh was different, not just because of its scale, not just because of the horrific havoc that resulted and not just because the emergency services did such a brilliant job - it was different too because it internationalised terror.
The business of terrorists is terror, but what happened in Omagh was not like the Shankill bomb, which was equally horrific. People from Spain and from another jurisdiction on this island also suffered. Suddenly the grief and the agony that the people of my constituency have been suffering for 28 years, not all of them Unionists or Protestants, some of them Roman Catholics, was discovered.
And when I look down through this photograph album that has been given to me, I get some idea of the extent of that horror in previous times. These are the photographs of 24 tombstones in a little graveyard outside Castlederg - each one a memorial to the terror of the IRA. That is the reality of the pain and the suffering.
I would not want to forget in the middle of this atrocity those who are perhaps sitting, listening to this so-called debate. As far as I am concerned, this is not a proper debate. We are simply stating the facts of terrorist horror committed not just in the constituency that I represent, but in every constituency in Northern Ireland. So terrorism has been exposed on the international scene for what it really is.
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Yes, we will rebuild Omagh. This is the twenty-ninth time the town has been bombed, so almost every building in Omagh has been rebuilt, including the courthouse. In fact, the scene of the greatest devastation of all was all the new-build. The shops that are devastated now were rebuilt only recently.
We will rebuild Omagh. But first of all, we still need time to grieve, to mourn, to recover and to welcome home and reintegrate those who have suffered mental and physical scars. But we want to go further than that. As part of that rebuilding, we want to make sure that there is, somewhere in this province, a scene, a pastoral scene, an idyllic scene, where the people of Northern Ireland can come for those moments when they wish to reflect, mourn or grieve in privacy. We are country people, and we do not live with our nostrils in a microphone. We want to bury our dead with dignity and solemnity and mourn in private. Grief is not something that we wear on our sleeve.
We had many important visitors to Omagh. We had presidents, princes, party Leaders and all the rest. They brought one unfortunate thing to the scene. No sooner had they mouthed the words of condolence than they set about defending their political ideas. What is the relevance of the Belfast Agreement to a family in the midst of deep agony and grief? Is it relevant when a family is mourning?
We had to castigate the media from across the water for a despicable programme broadcast on Carlton Television. I have taken that up with the company, and I hope that it will compensate for that dreadful programme by helping us to make a video that will present a more positive picture of Omagh, nationally and internationally. But I must also pay tribute to the local media. They have been kind and sensitive to us all, and we should not brand all the media with the sins of one particular programme.
We met Mr Jim Lyons, special adviser to President Clinton, on the Tuesday before the President's visit, and I made one appeal to him. It was not for money. Some people were so crass as to say that we wanted the mighty American dollar. You can not measure the pains of the bereaved in financial terms. I asked him to use his influence, as a representative of the most powerful nation in the world, to persuade the South of Ireland to act as a mature political state and not to hide the terrorists that perpetrated those dreadful deeds, not to provide an operational headquarters, and not to give them training grounds or allow the arms dumps to exist.
The greatest tribute to the people of Omagh would be for the two Governments to take responsibility for ensuring that democracy can operate freely, and that means that we must have good order. We must remember that the business of terrorists is terror. The hoax bomb warnings that we have had in Omagh are also part of that terror. Last Saturday, we had two of them, which badly disrupted business in our town. We will not be able to rebuild our businesses if the terrorists continue to terrorize us.
Mr M McGuinness:
Go raibh maith agat a Chathaoirligh. As an elected representative from a neighbouring constituency, of Mid Ulster, I should like to express my condolences to Mr Gibson, to all the other people who have lost loved ones and, indeed, to all those who were so grievously injured in the bomb explosion in Omagh.
It was a terrible event. It was a shocking event. It was an event that had a very deep impact on every single Member of this Assembly - there is no question about that. It has been described as a watershed, and I believe that it was a watershed. There can be no doubt that the people who planted the bomb in Omagh and who described themselves as Republicans set out to destroy the peace process. All they have succeeded in doing is destroy themselves.
Within hours of the bomb exploding, Sinn Fein made its position clear through its party Leader. We condemned it - unequivocally - and we called on the bombers to stop. We called on the Republican and Nationalist people throughout the island of Ireland not to support them but to challenge them. And they did, and in doing that, they brought them into a position where they were compelled to call a cessation. It was the weight of Republican opinion which brought about this cessation; these people have enough intelligence to know that there is no way that they can hope to succeed without the support of the people.
The bomb explosion in Omagh - that sad event - strengthened the hand of the people who support the Agreement. My assertion of this fact in the debate yesterday was challenged by some members of the Democratic Unionist Party, who said that it may have increased support for the Agreement in the Nationalist community but that it did not increase support in the Unionist community. I dispute that. The support within the Nationalist community for the Nationalist politicians who supported the peace process was almost total anyway, and I am convinced that, in the aftermath of Omagh, more and more Unionists recognised that the only way forward was to move forward in agreement.
Sinn Fein is very conscious of the implications of the Agreement and what we have committed ourselves to. Indeed, there is a declaration of support at the beginning of the Agreement which says that the participants in the multi-party negotiations believe that the Agreement offers a truly historic opportunity for a new beginning.
Sinn Fein, the representatives of Irish Republicanism, have come to this Assembly for a new beginning. The tragedies of the past have left a deep and profoundly regrettable legacy of suffering. We must never forget those who have died or have been injured and their families, but we can honour them by making a fresh start whereby Members firmly dedicate themselves to the achievement of reconciliation, tolerance and mutual trust and to the protection and vindication of human rights for all. Sinn Fein want to be a part of this fresh start.
Listening to the debate this morning it is obvious - and it is also understandable - that people have a difficulty with Sinn Fein's assertion that we want a fresh start. I understand that. I know it is difficult for Unionists of all descriptions, for the Democratic Unionist Party, for Mr McCartney and for the Ulster Unionists. I understand that completely.
The people we represent have difficulties also. Unionists deeply suspect that we are not genuine and not for real. The people whom we represent are also suspicious of Unionists and the British Government. They have lived in a state for over 70 years in which, they believe, they were treated as second-class citizens, treated unjustly, with inequality, discrimination and domination.
I am not recriminating. We have to deal with these realities. Unionists point out my responsibilities to me and urge me to face the difficulties that Unionism has. I am prepared to do that. But I appeal to Unionists, including those in the Democratic Unionist Party, to face up to the reality that they too must look at us as the elected representatives of many tens of thousands of people living in this state who also want to see a new beginning. The question now is whether or not we can bring that new beginning about.
The decommissioning issue has been raised to assert that Sinn Fein is not serious. We have moved on that issue because our aim is to take all the guns - British and Irish - out of Irish politics. This morning we have heard speech after speech about the damage that IRA guns have done over the last 30 years, and the IRA has been named on countless occasions.
People have made sweeping references to Loughinisland and Greysteel. Nobody mentioned "bloody Sunday". Nobody talked about the damage caused by British guns. Nobody talked about the Dublin/Monaghan bombings. Nobody talked about the children killed by plastic bullets. I am not getting into the politics of "whataboutery". I just think that we need to have an honest debate.
There has been much injustice in the past. We can, if we wish, rake all of this up for the next five months, five years or 50 years. If we do that, we are not going to make a new beginning and we are going to fail the overwhelming majority of people on this island who have placed so much faith and trust in us, as their political leaders, to find a way out of the morass that we have all been in during the last 70-odd years.
I believe we can succeed. Yes, there are people out there who describe themselves as Republicans and who may attempt to continue to destroy the peace process. I believe they will fail miserably. I believe that many of them now know that. There are Unionists out there who will also try to destroy the process because - and we have to be very clear about this - it is not only guns and bombs that kill: words can kill also.
Our responsibility is to give political leadership, not just to the people of Omagh, but to the relatives of the "bloody Sunday" dead and to the relatives of those people who were killed on the Shankill Road, in Enniskillen and in other attacks right throughout the course of the last 30 years. People have lived through all of that because politics have failed.
We are here for a new beginning. We are deadly serious about the search for peace; we are deadly serious about the search for justice; we are deadly serious about the search for equality; and we are deadly serious about the search for freedom. Either we can rise to the challenge or we can fail. We in Sinn Fein are geared to succeed and to make the Agreement work - and that should be the bounden duty of every serious elected representative in this room.
1.00 pm
Mrs E Bell:
I am conscious that a number of things have been said that I do not want to repeat. However, I do want to join with others in extending my sympathy to Mr Gibson, his family and the people of Omagh.
Dr Paisley commented earlier that today's debate was too late. Perhaps I can give some words of comfort. My church and a lot of the people who were relatives and victims in Omagh will be celebrating what is known as a "month's mind". There will be services today in Omagh, and this debate should act as another show of respect, sympathy and remembrance for all the people, Catholic, Protestant and others, who lost their lives that day. So I find this debate timely.
There is not one Member who will have difficulty remembering, as with countless other tragedies, where and when he first heard of the Omagh bombing. Like Mr McElduff's, my birthday is on 15 August, and I was having a birthday meal in Tenerife when the news came out on CNN. My birthday will never be the same again.
Northern Ireland has suffered many tragedies: McGurk's Bar, the Shankill Road - and I make no apology for repetition because we should never forget even one - Darkley, La Mon, Loughinisland, et cetera, and there was the murder of the three Quinn brothers from Ballymoney as well.
My personal memory is of a narrow escape from the Abercorn explosion, where friends, whom I was supposed to meet, and their children were injured. One was a 10-year-old boy who now has a mental age of three because of what happened on that day. The horror and fear came back to me, and I thought then that it would never happen again - but I was wrong.
It is horrifyingly sad to have had so many such tragedies time and time again, and I can only repeat the hopes expressed by many of the grieving relatives and victims of Omagh that this must be the last. As has been mentioned in other debates, if relatives thought their tragedy would mean the end of all killings, they would be able to feel that their suffering was not in vain. We must always remember the victims of all tragedies and try to make sure that they are the last.
To achieve this, the people of Northern Ireland should consolidate their disgust by saying loud and clear to the people still engaged in violence that enough is really enough. The Assembly should support this by Members working together in a constructive way that would help to stabilise and create the conditions that would result in the reduction and eventual eradication of sectarianism and all its ramifications.
As a peace activist and community worker I have seen at first hand how beneficial attempts to encourage inter-community and cross-community contact in a generally beleaguered community can be. There can be direct improvement in mutual understanding and tolerance of diversity, and that could be another avenue of work for the Assembly.
It was clearly demonstrated at Omagh that the men and women of violence are no respecters of age, gender, religion or tradition. We must therefore build institutions and systems that will ensure that violence is met with severity from all sections of society - from the community to the Assembly. Words have never been enough. Language can be as violent as any actions, but our words of sympathy must be linked to constructive support, and support is urgently needed in Omagh today.
A proper representative Assembly could lead the way and show everyone that the only way to stop more Omaghs is by people working together in all aspects of government and daily life. In that way we could sustain a safe society for everyone. We were under no illusion on 10 April when we signed the Agreement that the violence would end.
We had only to look at places like South Africa and the Middle East, where violence actually escalated after such agreements. But that should make us more determined not to indulge in saying "Oh, it is never going to happen, peace is never going to happen." It should make us more determined that violence will stop and that we will have peace. We have a chance of a new beginning, and we must grab that chance and end the nightmares that have set us against each other for far too long.
The political process that we are now developing will, I hope, create conditions that will further and develop a real peace process. We owe that to all the victims and their relatives whom we have talked about this morning, to those victims of other tragedies and to future generations.
I finish by expressing my appreciation to every person who has given assistance in the aftermath of atrocities over the years - the hospitals, the ambulance services, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the Fire Authority and the many others.
Omagh brought all traditions together: people from the North and the South and from Spain were brought together in grief and friendship. True reconciliation was portrayed at every funeral. Let us hope that the war is really over for all of us and that we can go forward together having learnt from the past. The Alliance Party will certainly play its part in this process and hope that progress will be made. Let peace begin. Indeed, I would ask everyone to say to himself "Let peace begin with me."
Mr C Wilson:
What happened at Omagh was an atrocity and an obscenity by anyone's calculation. As reports started to filter through, one became aware of the enormity of the incident and the scale of the carnage - reports of men, women and children, grandmothers, an expectant mother and two unborn children. Graphic descriptions by eyewitnesses and harrowing scenes of dismembered pieces of bodies being washed down the High Street in Omagh as a result of a burst water main will remain with many of us for a long time, and undoubtedly with the people of Omagh for a lot longer.
In the aftermath, and given the anger and the sense of revulsion that swept across the entire United Kingdom, the Irish Republic and, indeed, the rest of the world, one would have thought that the window of opportunity - although opportunity is perhaps the wrong word to use on this occasion - would have been taken by the British and Irish Governments, undoubtedly with full world-wide support, to implement a new root-and-branch approach to security. The incident itself was obscene, but the response of the two Governments who are responsible for law and order on this island was also obscene and totally inappropriate. That window of opportunity was squandered.
Not for the first time was the aftermath of carnage and death, instead of uniting all believers in democracy and the rule of law and order, used in a very wrong manner. Not for the first time was it used to drive forward what is referred to as the peace process, a process that has been driven by terrorism and fuelled by concessions to terrorism.
I back that suggestion up by asking Members to remember that at every stage in this process, when those who have been engaged with Sinn Fein/IRA have dragged their feet or refused to pay the instalments required of them, there has been a terrorist incident.
One can go back to Canary Wharf, to the Baltic Exchange and, indeed, to the incident that brought the current negotiations into being - the murder of two community policemen in Lurgan. There is a history, a catalogue of events that demonstrate that what I am saying is right.
For 25 years the people of Northern Ireland resisted the suggestion that the way to peace was to pay the price required by the terrorists. Indeed, on the radio this morning a journalist asked why this Assembly could not have happened 25 years ago. Many watching the television reports of these proceedings see a veneer of democracy, but it is only that.
There is a belief that Members gathered here have a similar standing and legitimacy to be here today. The reality is that that is not the case. The reality is that we have a role to play. We have to hold the line and say that there is a difference in our values. There are those who come into this Chamber armed only with reasoned arguments and there are those who possess arsenals capable of replicating Omagh many times over.
It would be sad if Omagh were not to prove a turning point in the history of this province, a time when the days of the men of terror were gone for ever. The reality is that its legacy will be two-tier terrorism, and it is a disgrace that the British Government - my Government - have allowed this to happen.
There is now a belief in some circles, and indeed it is held by some in this Chamber, that as my Colleague, Mr McCartney, has said "If you are a good terrorist and support the peace process, any of these actions that are to be taken, all of this security that has been or will be implemented, will only be directed against the bad terrorists, against the Real IRA."
The truth is that the Real IRA's true description should be "disgruntled members of the IRA". The explosives that were used in the bomb and the detonating equipment came from arms dumps which members of the Ulster Unionist Party and others see as the subject of negotiation. Is it not a disgrace that there are parties in this Chamber who condone the notion that it is legitimate for IRA/Sinn Fein to retain those weapons? We, of course, are aware of the reason for this complicity - Mr Adams, Mr McGuinness and their colleagues are vital to the peace process.
The indictment today has to be against the security forces. Members will recall that after other atrocities and incidents at least we always had - even though it may have been insulting in some cases - the cosmetic announcement that a large quantity of explosives or guns had been found by the Gárda or the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
1.15 pm
To my knowledge it did not happen on this occasion because it would have upset the position of Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness in the peace process. So it was politically expedient not to allow the security forces to go and collect the weapons and explosives, even though they know where they are in most cases.
The people of Omagh have our heartfelt sympathy, and we are greatly indebted to all those who were involved in the security and emergency operations.
I have a view about the future, and it involves our contributing a three-point plan. First, we, as democrats, must continue to insist that the only people entitled to take part in governing this province are those who are solely and totally committed to the democratic process. We cannot see the process perverted any further. We must try to reclaim the ground. Secondly, the police and the authorities of law and order must have the shackles of political expediency removed from them. They must be allowed to deal with all terrorists, real or imaginary. And thirdly, the people of Omagh need the assistance and support of the Assembly to help rebuild their lives and their town - in this they will not find us wanting.
Sir John Gorman:
On yesterday's 'Thought for the Day' some Members may have heard Fr Michael Collins - quite a name - quoting from a poem by Kipling:
"The tumult and the shouting dies.
The captains and the kings depart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lest we forget."
I come from Omagh and was born in Mullaghmore. My father went there from the Royal Irish Constabulary in Dublin, and my first education from the age of five to seven - in those days we did not have pre-school education - was at the Loreto Convent, where I was taught by Mother de Sailes. It was she who taught me not only how to read but to love my religion and to have a feeling of self worth. It is that sort of spirit which is alive and well today in Omagh, a town with extremely fine people who live together in peace and who think well of each other.
At the beginning of my time in the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue - I called my first day "Capt Mainwaring's day" - I was interviewed by a lady from Dublin who asked me what I thought of Mr Gerry Adams. I told her that I admired Mr Gerry Adams, but she did not record what I went on to say. I said that I admired him particularly for his leadership and for the discipline which he exercises on Sinn Fein and its military outlet, the IRA. I have met Mr Adams only once before when he came to a youth forum chaired by me as part of my ideas for the Forum, and he behaved impeccably. He had every opportunity to make political points, but he did not do so, so I thanked him for that. Now is the chance for Mr Adams to show that leadership and discipline which I know he is capable of. Mr Adams brought the Semtex here. What about a big bang to get rid of as much of it as the Member can get hold of? It could make a huge difference.
As well as being an Assemblyman, I am the head of the Order of Malta in Northern Ireland. Three of our ambulances attended Omagh, one at great haste from Monaghan. They behaved impeccably. They did not want to be mentioned here today because the Order of St John, the Ambulance Service and all the other people involved in first aid activity did wonders, and thus did not want exceptions made. But I am so proud of them that I feel I must mention them.
One of our first-aiders, Donna-Marie Keys, is still lying in intensive care in the Royal Victoria Hospital with 60% burns. She was not there with the ambulances that day but with her fiancé and little flower girl. They took the full force of the bomb. Her fiancé was badly burned and she was desperately badly burned. She is still alive, just hanging on. Her parents, Malachy Keys and his wife, were there and they said to me "Please, for God's sake, keep this Assembly going; it is our only hope now."
Surely it should be possible for the wonderful co-operation shown by all parties at Omagh, and which has been so well and touchingly described today, to be kept going in other parts of the province. We have heard from people such as Joe Byrne, Derek Hussey and Oliver Gibson what the people of Omagh need to give them a sense of belonging and the respect which they deserve, so we should do something about it.
One such thing would be the commencement of disarming somewhere where it could be seen to have begun. Disarming has become the touchstone of our future. We have heard about the pike in the thatch. Rust brings trust and confidence-building measures such as the reconstitution of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
Each of the hurdles faced by the parties has been overcome. The Trimble/Adams meeting has taken place. Surely the last hurdle left is disarmament. Start now, not in 2000. What is the need for explosives, when we have embarked on a peace process? What defensive quality has a bomb got? Let us stop dismissing the plea for decommissioning with weasel words like "word games" and irrelevance.
We had a really good day yesterday. There was no shouting; there was courtesy; reason ruled. If we can get rid of the bomb, we can achieve the wonderful future of peace, prosperity and pluralism, as advocated by the First Minister (Designate) and Deputy First Minister (Designate) yesterday.
Dr Hendron:
I listened very carefully to Mr Gibson's speech, and I was very moved. I sympathise with him on the slaughter of his niece. He made an important political point - that the Agreement would mean nothing to some families that he had spoken to. I understand that and respect his opinion, but there are other families who lost loved ones in Omagh, and families right across the North of Ireland who have lost loved ones over the last 25 years who do very much support the Agreement.
I believe that the future peace of Northern Ireland depends on the Agreement. I associate myself, of course, with those who have condemned what happened in Omagh, and I fully appreciate the suffering of the families who have lost their loved ones or had loved ones very badly injured. I have good reason to do so.
In a medical capacity, I have visited many homes over the years of people who have lost loved ones. Their suffering is every day of the week and every week of the year. I very deeply resent that young children have had to grow up without a father or a mother, usually without a father.
When all the tears and the funerals are over and the great and the good have gone, the families have to pull themselves together. So often have I seen the young people of West Belfast - 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds from the Falls Road and the Shankill Road - who have had their father taken away from them getting into trouble with the law. But I will not elaborate on that point.
I visited the Royal Victoria Hospital within a few days of the explosion, and I was horrified at the injuries that I saw. One Member referred to Miss Keys, the lady who had received such terrible burns. I spoke to her family; I also spoke to other families, and I can only say that I greatly admired the dignity which these people were showing.
I want to thank the doctors, nurses and all of the staff of the Royal Victoria Hospital whose expertise helped to save lives. I was struck by their praise for the staff in Tyrone County Hospital. Those people, who were badly injured and who were transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital, could not have survived without the expertise of Mr Pinto and all of the people associated with the hospital in Omagh - and I am referring to doctors, nurses, paramedics, cleaners, porters and everybody who got in on the act of helping.
In the aftermath of Omagh, where are we now? What sort of a society are we in? There is still violence. There is still sectarian conflict. I believe that it is the responsibility of this Assembly, by its example, to make sure that the two great traditions can work together for all the people and especially for the disadvantaged.
The First Minister (Designate) and the Deputy First Minister (Designate) have shown great courage and leadership, and people like Mr Ervine and Mr Adams have shown great courage and leadership. But I want to put down a marker. We are all opposed to violence, but it is a fact that on the streets of Belfast, people are still having their knees smashed; young people are still being ordered out of the country, and paramilitary organisations are still deciding when they can come back. It is humiliating for a young person or his family to have to report to a quasi-political office.
In making these points I want to make it clear that I am not pointing the finger at any Member of the Assembly or at any party. I listened carefully to what Mr McCartney and Mr Ervine had to say. Mr McCartney talked about the wicked terrorists and the good terrorists. He talked about the fact that this Chamber must undertake a rational, cold analysis. I agree that there should be a rational, cold analysis, but I hope that it will be based on the Agreement.
Mr Ervine said that what happened at Omagh was a watershed. He talked about moralists - and I agree that some people do see themselves as being on some sort of higher moral ground. They have a right, as Mr Ervine said, to challenge political opinions, but they do not have the right to rerun the referendum.
Some people seem to be begrudgers; they seem to resent the fact that there is a peace movement. We want all the paramilitary organisations to disappear off the face of the earth, but I sometimes wonder what certain politicians would do if that were to happen.
There have been many attacks on Sinn Fein, and, having fought Mr Adams at four Westminster elections, I am not a spokesman for that party, but I believe - and I do not mean this in any condescending way - that he has shown great courage and leadership. Let all of us in the Assembly resolve to work together for all of the people of both traditions so that our children and our children's children can have a meaningful and worthwhile future.
The Initial Presiding Officer:
We have come to the end of our agreed time. Many Members from almost all of the parties wished to speak in this debate to express their sympathies but did not have the opportunity to do so. And people outside this Chamber should be aware of that.
Adjourned at 1.30 pm.
