Enniskillen was subdued on Saturday. People wandered the town, constantly checking their watches. Some held their children close, and as 3 p.m. approached, hundreds gathered in the Diamond to pay their respects to Omagh's dead and maimed. Enniskillen understood very well Omagh's agony. In 1987 an IRA bomb exploded during a Remembrance Day service, killing 11 people and injuring 63. Yesterday people bowed their heads in silence as clergy read out the names of the 28 people killed.
As bells tolled 28 times in memory of the men, women and children killed, some wept. Five minutes of silence followed.
People had travelled from outside the town to attend the service, many of them filing into the town hall afterwards to sign the books of condolences.
Mrs Nora Price from Enniskillen said: "I'm really nervous standing here today. It was on a day just like today when the bomb exploded in Omagh. People were just out shopping in the town. A bomb could go off right now and we are all standing here, but despite my fears I had to be here." Her fear was obvious as she stroked the head of her daughter. The little girl knew why there was a gathering in the town. "People were blown to bits," she said.
Mrs Jennifer Corkin, from Portadown, Co Armagh, told The Irish Times her children had asked her since the Omagh attack where they should run if there was a bomb scare. "You just wonder what makes a person do that to another human being."
Ms Emma Fisher (23), from Ballinamallard, Co Fermanagh, said Omagh revived memories of the Enniskillen bombing. "I don't see any sense in it," she said. But Mrs June Kenny said people in Northern Ireland wanted peace, but "not at any price. All we want is peace. Anyone can see that today, but not at any price. Not one prisoner should be released after what happened in Omagh."