Omagh Bomb Digital Archive

Special prayer service Over 1,000 people-gathered in Omagh on the 1st November and walked behind a wooden cross along a route from the bomb site to the Tyrone County Hospital. Carrying the cross were the same people who helped ferry the injured on the day, bus drivers, taxi drivers, police, army, nurses and doctors. At different stages the cross changed hands until the final part of the journey, when relatives of the victims carried the cross up to the hospital door. The prayer service was organised by the Omagh Churches Forum in conjunction with a Prayer Group from Drogheda, where the service began.		Give a Day to Omagh Shoppers from all over the province were encouraged to visit Omagh to help local people to rebuild and reclaim the town. The concept of the campaign came from Belfast woman, Roisin Hall, who had contacted Rev Robert Herron after the bombing to ask if any help could be offered by the interdenominational friendship group she belonged to. Chamber of Commerce president Michael Gaine stressed that 'Give a Day to Omagh' was not a commercial initiative but was aimed at restoring confidence in the town. By coming to the town people could help restore moral and get the town back on its feet.
	Claire and Boyzone Claire Gallagher, a talented musician, who was blinded in the bomb, arrived at St Joseph's Hall with her family thinking that she was to make a recording for Noel Edmund's Christmas day show, totally unaware that she was to have a private audience with Boyzone. As Claire began to play the first notes of one of their songs the boys emerged singing from behind a curtain in the hall. They also presented her with a high tech computerised music system, aimed at helping Claire to fulfil her ambition of a career in music.