FAMILIES from all parts of Tyrone were among those who attended a special Service of Christian Unity at St Columb’s Cathedral in Derry at the weekend, which aimed to bring victims and survivors of the Troubles together.
Fifty years on from what is often described as ‘the worst year of the Troubles’, the event was facilitated by the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), whose director of services, Kenny Donaldson, noted 1972 was “a truly brutal year” for the North with almost 500 deaths and more than 4,000 injured.
He said, “Last Friday’s event went some way to showing these victims’ loved ones they had not been forgotten.”
Mr Donaldson said that those who gathered in the Cathedral last Friday night were “innocents impacted by both republican and loyalist terror” from across Ireland.
Omagh woman, Rosemary McCullagh, who lost her mother Rose McLaughlin in the Claudy bombings, read one of the lessons at the service.
Meanwhile, a prayer was read by Ballymagorry woman, Mavis Clark, whose nephew Alan Jack was just five-months-old when he died in an IRA bomb blast.
Eugene McVeigh, brother of Donaghmore man Columba McVeigh, one of ‘The Disappeared’ who was abducted and murdered in 1975, provided a reflection.
He said, “Like many here tonight my family’s greatest pain over time has been the one of feeling helpless in the face of such an atrocity.
“We have been hurt and at times very angry too when reflecting of the injustice and brutality inflicted on Columba. Perhaps not unlike how we all feel today at the brutal events in Ukraine.
“But as individuals and as a community our strength lies in dealing with that pain and the personal tragedies of that past.
“That’s why I’m grateful to be present in this magnificent cathedral tonight and to stand with you who know what pain and hurt and loss is really about. This Lenten period is often referred to as the long walk towards Calvary. I take comfort in walking with all of you present this evening.”
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