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It was right that it rained
19.08.08
by Liam Porter, Inishowen Independent
IT WAS probably fitting that there was rain in
Buncrana’s Knockalla Drive on Friday night. After
all, even though the 15th day of August 1998 had
been one of the brightest and sunniest of that
month, the terrible bomb that exploded on the
streets of Omagh, sucked away the brightness for
many and left them to face into dark, dark days.
Ten years later it rained. Not a driving horrible
rain that soaked everything and caused cold and
discomfort, but soft raindrops falling like tears on
the hundreds who had gathered to remember the three
boys from Buncrana and their two Spanish visitors
who had lost their lives on that awful day in Omagh.
Gentle raindrops, as gentle as the innocent victims
the people had come to remember. The soft
pitter-patter of that gentle rain on the hundreds of
open umbrellas was like a muffled round of applause
for the wonderful way in which so many had come to
remember those who had died that awful day. |
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It fitted so well with
the responsorial hymn and, as the choir beautifully
sang “I will never forget you…” it was clear that
those who had lined the estate where Oran Doherty
and Sean McLaughlin had once so innocently and
freely played, never would.
Their very presence, as an emotional Fr. McGuinness
pointed out, was testimony to the fact that, not
only have the people not forgotten, but was also a
firm affirmation that those who have died are still
living largely in their minds. |
Family members and
neighbours, friends and fellow townspeople, Spanish
visitors and people who had just been touched by the
sadness of this terrible tragedy and wanted to show
solidarity in some way even a decade later, showed
they would strive always to remember those whose
lives were ended so cruelly and abruptly.
Those who had planned the ceremony could hardly have
choreographed the timing as the raindrops began to
stop falling and umbrellas closed just as the choir
progressed through a moving rendition of the REM hit
‘Everybody Hurts.’
As they sang out the words “Sometimes everything is
wrong. Now it’s time to sing along
When your day is night alone, (hold on, hold on),”
the teary raindrops eased off almost as if to ring
out a message of hope.
And the song continued “If you feel like letting go,
(hold on), when you think you've had too much of
this life, well hang on, cause everybody hurts. Take
comfort in your friends…”
If comfort could be found then those who ached
following these sudden and senseless losses
certainly had friends to lean upon.
The candles later carried to the altar showed
flickers of light amidst the darkness but it was
when PJ Hallinan began reading the words “Rainbows
appear only on dreary, rainy days, they beautify the
world for a few brief moments.” that the
significance of this dull and dreary night hit home.
Reverently silent, the congregation stood almost
breathless as he continued a moving tribute that
finished – “Rainbows, however brief, make the world
a brighter, lovelier place. How grateful we are that
we had you boys. Oran and Sean, our brief rainbows.”
Had the ceremony been during the day, it would not
have been a surprise to have seen a rainbow appear
in the sky at that very moment.
As it was though, it was probably fitting that there
was rain in Buncrana’s Knockalla Drive on Friday
night… |
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