The victims of the worst single atrocity in Northern Ireland have been remembered at a poignant memorial service.
Families of the 29 people killed in the 1998 dissident republican bombing of Omagh and British and Irish government ministers were among those who gathered in the Co Tyrone town on Sunday ahead of the 25th anniversary.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan, 21, was among those killed in the blast, described the crowds at the service as a “powerful testimony to community spirit and cohesion 25 years after our small town was ripped apart”.
The dissident attack in 1998 devastated the town. The toll included a woman pregnant with twins, and hundreds of others were injured.
It came just months after the historic Good Friday agreement and was the greatest loss of life in a single incident in the Northern Irish Troubles.
The service at the memorial garden, organised by the Omagh Churches Forum, took place on the closest Sunday to the date of the 25th anniversary, 15 August.
There were hymns sung and readings, and the Lord’s Prayer was read out in three languages, Irish, Spanish and English, in respect of the nationalities of those killed, including children from Co Donegal in the Republic of Ireland and victims from Spain.
The names of all the victims were also read out. At the end of the service, flowers were laid at a memorial stone bearing the names of the 29 victims.
No one has ever been criminally convicted of the attack.
In 2009, following a landmark civil case brought by families of some of the victims, a judge ruled that five people were all liable for the bomb and ordered them to pay damages. In February, the government granted an independent statutory inquiry into the atrocity.
after newsletter promotion
Northern Ireland Office minister Lord Caine said it was important to reflect on an “absolutely appalling hideous” attack on an entire community. “I think it’s right that we do come together to mark the 25th anniversary today,” he said.
“It does highlight the evil of terrorism and the devastation it can bring to communities, but occasions like today can also highlight the fact that in Northern Ireland a future will only ever be decided by democracy and consent.”
Lord Caine said the government was working on the terms of reference for the Omagh inquiry, and hoped to get it up and running “as quickly as possible”. “I hope that will be very soon,” he added.
The Irish minister of state for European affairs and defence, Peter Burke, said it was important to acknowledge 25 years on the significance of the Omagh bomb, its impact and the huge loss of life.
“It’s very important that we, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday agreement, acknowledge and stand here with the families who lost so many loved ones in this atrocity, and it’s very hard to believe it was only a few months on from referenda which happened on this island endorsing the Good Friday agreement,” he said.
