Plans to mark the 20 anniversary of the Omagh bomb have been released. The annual remembrance service will be held in the Garden of Light at Drumragh Avenue on Sunday 12th August 2018 at 3.00 pm. The inter-denominational service will be accompanied by Omagh Community Youth Choir, local singer Leslie Matthews and St Eugene’s Brass Band.
Three days later a Quiet and Reflective Gathering will take place on Wednesday 15th August at 2.55 pm, at Market Street, Omagh to mark the precise moment 20 years on from the atrocity itself. This will mark the event through a vigil of public remembrance and hope. This short service, which will be led by Omagh Churches’ Forum will include the ringing of a bell 32 times to reflect the 31 lives lost in Omagh and an additional ring in remembrance of all those who have and continue to lose their lives through conflict the world over.
Throughout the anniversary week in August quiet spaces for reflection will be open to the public in a range of locations in town, including several Churches and the WAVE Trauma Centre, where counselling staff will be available, OXFAM charity shop and in the library headquarters where the Omagh Bomb Archive, which holds the original books of condolence and messages of sympathy, will be open to the public. In the run up to the Anniversary week public art workshops have been taking place and a new art installation will be unveiled culminating in visual art tokens which can be taken away on Sunday 12th.
These events are being organised by a 20th Anniversary group including Omagh Support & Self Help Group, Families Moving On, Omagh Churches’ Forum, Omagh Community Choir and is being facilitated by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council. The projects have been supported by Victims and Survivors Service, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and FODC.
Information on the events can be obtained from Omagh Support & Self Help Group, Families Moving On, Omagh Churches’ Forum or by contacting Christine Rodgers, Good Relations Officer, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.