In Omagh, A Year Of Tears

More than 10,000 Protestants and Catholics filled the streets of Omagh, Ireland on Sunday to pray for peace and remember the victims of Northern Ireland's worst terrorist attack.

It was one year ago that a car bomb tore apart a crowd of weekend shoppers, killing 29 and wounding hundreds.

On Sunday, at the exact moment of the bombing, the crown observed a minute's silence.

Prayers were offered in English, Gaelic and Spanish, in memory of the victims who included a Spanish teacher and exchange student.

But 30 miles north in Londonderry, authorities spent the day clearing away the charred debris of vehicles and businesses destroyed overnight by a Catholic mob.
It was the most serious rioting in Northern Ireland since the Omagh attack.

In the early hours of Sunday, Catholic youths hurled petrol bombs and attacked shops in Londonderry, venting the anger sparked by Protestant parades held in the province on Saturday.

The main parade had brought about 10,000 Protestant "apprentice boys" to Londonderry, known as Derry to its Catholic majority.

Masked youths in Londonderry moved from target to target, setting cars alight, smashing windows at a postal sorting office and petrol-bombing banks and businesses. Nine people were arrested.

The disturbance continued until around 5 a.m., though the crowd of youths had dwindled to a few dozen.

In Omagh, Father John Gilmore said he was saddened by the night of violence in Derry.

"You would have to ask the question, 'What was it for?' and were they thinking of the people of Omagh and the suffering that they have gone through," Gilmore said.

"I think of the people I attended to that terrible day and I see the dignity and courage that they have shown this past 12 months as they try to rebuild their lives together. It has been an inspiration to all of us."

Omagh's loss was accentuated by the fact that it came four months after a landmark peace deal signed in Easter 1998 to global acclaim.

The bomb was planted by a group of defectors from the Irish Republican Army (IRA) opposed to its two-year-old cease-fire and who saw the participation in the peace process of the IRA's political ally, Sinn Fein, as a sell-out.

Sinn Fein has thrown its weight behind the peace process but Protestant politicians, fearing a fresh campaign of violence by the IRA if the political initiatives falter, want to keep the party out of government until its guerrilla allies start disarming.

U.S. mediator George Mitchell hopes to break the stalemate when he returns to the province to chair new talks next month.