The main street in Omagh bustled with shoppers yesterday, like Christmas time in any provincial town. Children pressed their noses to toy-laden shop windows. Charity cans jangled with coins. Carol singers sang in harmony about peace on earth.
Around the corner in Omagh's Drumragh Avenue, past the spot where a bomb claimed the lives of 29 people, one of who was expecting twins, the spirit of Christmas spoke in symbols. Blood-red berries flowered on the saplings planted in the middle of the memorial garden for the victims of the 1998 atrocity, the dew-soaked floral tributes glistening like expensive decorations in the winter sun.
Further down the road, in a hotel festooned with seasonal figurines and doves of peace, the families of those killed gathered to hear details of the Police Ombudsman's report. Mrs Nuala O'Loan, the Ombudsman, said they listened with great fortitude and even greater courage.
Leaving the meeting, Mr Kevin Skelton, whose wife was killed in the blast, didn't look very brave. Life without his wife Philomena - Mena, he gently corrected - had not been easy. It had split his family in two, he said, and five weeks ago his son went missing.
"Maybe I couldn't do things for him that a mother could," he mused out loud.
"I feel very annoyed and very disturbed after hearing the details of the report. We need to talk to Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern. These are the people who after the bomb said that there would be no stone unturned in trying to bring the guilty to justice. We see from the report that many stones were left unturned, and that is what hurts."
Like many at the meeting, he didn't believe that the bomb could have been prevented by information received by the police, but he was certain that the investigation was flawed.
"The full resources were not put in to catch the people who did this and that is what hurts the most. It is not going to be much of a Christmas," he said.
Mr Stanley McCombe lost his wife, Ann, in the blast. "There is anger and sadness. It is a sad time in any case, and this makes it more difficult. I have always said it could have been avoided."
Mr Lawrence Rush, whose wife, Elizabeth, was killed in the bombing, said he believed it could have been prevented.
"There's no reason why Omagh should have happened. The police have been in dereliction of their duty."
In Omagh yesterday there was sadness in the midst of the Christmas preparations. "I feel sad and disappointed hearing about the report," said a woman collecting money for famine relief.
"I have some relatives injured in the bomb and I just know that it makes them have to relive events again.
"We would be upset if we thought people who should be protecting us didn't do their job. But we know that the police on the ground that day did whatever they could. Everybody knows it."
Some local people were angry that the report was critical of the police investigation. "For so long they have managed to keep politics out of the Omagh bomb, but all of a sudden politics is being dragged into it," said Andy, a part-time member of the security forces.
"It's just another bonfire to throw the RUC on to, another opportunity to slate the police." His son tugged at his sleeve, pointing at a Santa display in a shop window, and his angry expression melted into a smile.
An elderly man called James walks past the former bomb site, where a shopping development is under construction.
"Coming up to this time of year it is devastating for the families. It brings the whole thing back again for everyone. Christmas will never be the same for these people. It is going to bring heartache. What kind of Christmas is that?"