People asked to respect arcade where Omagh bomb victims placed

A LOCAL support organisation for families bereaved by the Omagh bomb has urged people to show more respect around the alleyway where the remains of the dead were placed in the aftermath of the 1998 atrocity.

WAVE Trauma has contacted Fermanagh and Omagh District Council about placing a memorial plaque at the Market Street Arcade, but has now expressed its ‘disappointment and sadness’ that the council has decided against the move.

The entry is just yards from where the car bomb exploded on August 15, 1998.

“Unfortunately, the Market Street Arcade is often used as an area for people to urinate while on a night out in the town,” said Natasha Galbraith, interim project manager with WAVE.

“We had hoped that a plaque would act as a reminder of the significant part played by this area immediately after the bomb, and perhaps remind people to be mindful of that, rather than urinating there as often happens.

“Those who were killed in the Omagh bomb were laid in the arcade as a mark of respect and to protect their privacy.”

She added, “The testimony by those in the emergency services at the Bombing Inquiry brought home to us here at WAVE the important role of the Market Street Arcade.”

Earlier this year, the Omagh Bombing Inquiry heard from members of the PSNI and emergency services who had moved the bodies of those killed from Market Street to the arcade. The remains were later brought to a temporary mortuary at the then Lisanelly Army Camp for identification.

Ms Galbraith said WAVE made the request for a memorial at the arcade following informal discussions between various members of their team in the days and weeks after the inquiry, which is due to resume on June 23.

“We were not fully aware about the very significant role played by the Market Street Arcade until the Commemorative Hearings were held,” she said.

“It is sad that the council is not going to erect a memorial there, but we understand their reasons for that.”

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s director of community and wellbeing, John Boyle, confirmed that the council had met with representatives from WAVE following the hearings.

However, declining their request for a plaque at Market Street Arcade, he told them in a letter, “Members have requested that I write to you to advise that the council’s agreed corporate position is that the Memorial Garden at Drumragh Avenue is the formal memorial in respect of the Omagh Bomb.”

In addition, to the Memorial Garden, the large glass obelisk incorporates a ‘heart’ motif within the glass and was placed at the spot where the bomb exploded.

Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena was among the 31 people, placed a plaque on the obelisk in 2019 which referred to dissident republicans. The plaque remains in place today.