Teenagers from Buncrana and Omagh have been selected to take part in this year's Euroscola programme in Strasbourg in recognition of the tragedy both towns suffered as a result of the Omagh bombing.
Three of the 29 victims of the bombing were Buncrana schoolboys, Oran Doherty (8), Shaun McLoughlin (12) and James Barker (12). They had gone to Omagh on a day-trip with a group of Spanish students who were studying in the Co Donegal town. A Spanish student, Fernando Brasco Bacelga (11) and a group leader, Ms Rocia Abad Ramos (23), were also killed in the atrocity.
A total of 32 pupils from Crana College and Scoil Mhuire in Buncrana are to join students from Omagh, Spain and other EU member-states for the one-day event in Strasbourg.
The principal of the Buncrana language school the Spanish pupils were attending at the time of the bombing, Ms Sinead McLoughlin, will accompany the pupils on the trip. Spanish children have been attending the Buncrana summer school for the past 10 years, and even after the bombing, many of them opted to stay on for the remainder of their course rather than go home.
About 500 students from second-level schools all over Europe will take part in the Euroscola programme on May 9th. As well as visiting the European Parliament, the students will debate issues such as human rights, democracy, economic and social affairs and Europe's future and its role in the world. They are also encouraged to make use of their linguistic skills in working with students from other countries. The European Parliament pays for most of the cost of the trip and the participants get to spend a number of days in Europe.
Mr Pat `the Cope' Gallagher, the Fianna Fail MEP for Connacht/Ulster, said he was delighted that children from Buncrana had been selected to go to Strasbourg. He said they and the Omagh children were chosen "in light of the tragedy which brought so much grief and suffering to the people of Omagh, Buncrana and Spain".