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Remembering Omagh 10 years on
14.08.08
ON August 15, 1998,
Bernie Doherty from Buncrana lost her son Oran in
the Omagh bomb. On the eve of the 10th anniversary
of the atrocity, she spoke to the Inishowen
Independent about the death of her second eldest son
and tomorrow's commemorations.
by Simon McGeady, Inishowen
Independent
BERNIE and her husband Mickey along with some of
their children will travel to Tyrone this Friday
afternoon for Omagh District Council’s service,
before returning to Buncrana that evening for an
outdoor mass at the Knockalla Drive shrine to Oran
and fellow Omagh victim Shaun McLaughlin. On Sunday
she will return south for a service organised by the Omagh Support Group.
Of the Mass Bernie says, “we have the vigil rosary
every year on the 15th but we wanted to have
something special for the 10th anniversary. Fr Eddie
McGuinness will say Mass 8:30pm at the memorial.” |
The Buncrana woman
insists that the ceremonies of the 10th anniversary
will not affect the way she grieves for Oran and she
thinks that the media attention that has accompanied
the families of the bereaved will drop off after
this year’s anniversary.
Bernie, unlike some of the other family members of
he Omagh |
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dead is accommodating
with the press.
“I don’t mind all the attention, it would be worse
if no one was interested. I want people to remember
Oran and how he died.”
The focus on Omagh has stirred up old emotions with
some family members staying away from the official
commemoration. Bernie believes it’s important to
retain a sense of anger over what happened.
“I think it is important for people to remember how
they felt at the time of Omagh. I don’t mind telling
my story because I want people to remember what was
done to Oran. People haven’t seen some of the photos
of bodies we’ve seen. I do feel angry at times, like
when Oran would have turned 18, or when he should
have been getting his Leaving Cert results last
summer. You would feel angry, surely.”
“Sitting and thinking about how he was killed, how
soon after the bomb did he die? what did he hear?
What did he see? Those thoughts are hard.”
As time has gone on Bernie doesn’t care any more
about why the bombers did what they did, so much as
the could have found it in their hearts to carry out
the attack.
“I don’t sit and think about those people now,
hardly ever. When the trial of Sean Hoey was on and
then at Christmas, when he got off, I remember
thinking I don’t know if he did it, but he knows. I
would love for those people who killed Oran to hear
the bereaved tell their stories, to see if that
would change them, but I doubt it because ones that
claimed to have killed Oran are still active.”
She doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to forgive
the perpetrators.
“I still couldn’t say I’ll forgive Oran’s killers.
Maybe I could someday if those people came and told
me they were really sorry for what they’d done – not
just because they given up whatever cause they
believe in, but because they were truly sorry – then
maybe I could forgive.
“I think people should be brought to justice for the
attack, but I know [the authorities] say they don’t
have the evidence so I can’t really see it happening
and that does make me sad.
“Some people say, what would it do, if there were
people brought to justice, what would it change? It
wouldn’t bring Oran back. But it’s because of them
that Oran is not coming back. If anyone does
anything to your child, you want them to pay.”
Oran would have turned 18 on the 2nd of May. Last
year, on the 9th anniversary of his death was the
day his Leaving Cert results would have been out.
“That was very hard to take. Emmet, his own cousin
that was with him in Omagh did his Leaving Cert and
I knew Oran should have been getting his results the
same day.
You keep thinking as the years go on what would Oran
look like now, would he have long hair? What kind of
clothes would he be into? Some of his friends have
long hair and baggy jeans, others wear tracksuits. I
wouldn’t see his friends that much but whenever I do
there is this longing in me to see him with them.
It’s as if everything went on without him. All you
can do is wonder.”
Oran’s death has affected how Bernie relates to her
other children. Her youngest, Killian, is the same
age as Oran was when he was killed.
“It’s weird to see Killian at the age Oran was when
he died. To me he wouldn’t have been as streetwise
as Oran. Maybe it’s because he is the youngest. Oran
was very funny and had people laughing and Killian
is much the same, he’s very comical.”
Because of what happened to Oran, it’s hard for
Bernie to let her younger children go on school
trips and other excursions.
“I have let them go on trips and then worried sick.
Now whenever any of my kids go anywhere I think
‘what if they never come back? It’s a horrible
feeling, but I do let them go if they really want
to.
“Killian would not go on his school trip this year.
People would say to me ‘you should make him go’, but
I just couldn’t. I wouldn’t talk him into it because
if something happened to him after me doing that I
couldn’t bear it. I was relieved in a way that he
didn’t want to go.”
It’s at times like this that she is grateful for the
support of other mothers in the area that have lost
children. These bereaved mothers have met regularly
over the past nine years.
“We’d meet at one of our houses and place a photo of
our child out on table, light candles and place then
in front of the photograph. [Shaun McLaughlin’s
mother] Patricia came to one of the meetings, but it
wasn’t for her and that’s fine. Everyone has their
own way of dealing with the loss.
“I’m usually able to cope in front of other people.
When I am on my own I could cry and cry. The days
leading up to the anniversary I find are harder than
the day itself. I would be more down then.”
Bernie still has the jar of brandy balls and the two
pieces of honeycomb that he had bought at the folk
park, one partially eaten.
These items are precious to her.
“Maybe he bought them for one of us,” she says. |
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