Sir, - I wish to add my name to the condemnation of the Omagh bombing last Saturday, and to make a few points:
Firstly, that every Irish Government, including the present one, is jointly responsible with the "Real IRA" for this bombing. The Government is now finally moving to legislate to try and stop this carnage. One asks: why now? Every person who has been to bits or lost limbs since the Troubles began is as important as those who sadly lost their lives in Omagh.
I remember the Abercorn Restaurant in Belfast early in the Troubles, when unbelievable loss of life and injuries were caused. We had people shot to death at graveyards, watching football on television, the Enniskillen bombing and the Warrington bombing - which we all thought was a catalyst for the Irish people finally to make a stand against terrorism where successive Irish Governments had failed.
Rebel songs hailing men of violence were heard regularly at nights out in pubs around this country. I walked out of these pubs, and was looked upon as strange by most people. Over the years I have written to the papers, but no-one took any notice. Maybe now the people will choose the type of Ireland they want, and ostracise these people of violence.
I would like to pay a tribute to William Thomson, the Ulster Unionist MP, who spoke with such sincerity and sadness after the bombing. The real tribute to the man was that on this one occasion I didn't know he was a politician, but a caring man, very moved by the tragedy.
Finally, I would like to make a comparison with Veronica Guerin's tragic murder. She had information that the Garda and the Government didn't act on. Only when she died did anybody do anything, with the result that many criminals are now in jail. She had to die before anyone took notice. Tragically, now these poor men, women and children have had to lose their lives because of the continual apathy of Irish governments, who had meetings in Belfast, London and Dublin, but did nothing about the real problem of the men and women of violence. - Yours etc., Catherine Porter,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.