The bells of Omagh's churches tolled gently yesterday as some 10,000 people packed the town for a moving memorial ceremony on the first anniversary of the bomb which caused the biggest loss of life of any single incident in the North during the Troubles.
Some of the injured and bereaved, as well as clergy and politicians, gathered in the sunshine outside the steps of the courthouse on High Street, the building the RUC had cleared people away from last August in the mistaken belief that the "Real IRA" car-bomb was planted near it.
The crowd stood for a minute's silence, some with bowed heads, others sobbing, as the hands of a large clock on the courthouse's stone facade reached 3.10 p.m., the time when the 500 lb fertiliser bomb exploded exactly one year ago, killing 29 people and injuring more than 300.
Una McGurk (15), who still wears a facial mask over her shrapnel wounds, wiped tears from her eyes and stared at the clock as the anniversary of the minute which she and many others are still struggling to recover from slowly passed.
In front of her sat Ms Donna Marie McGillion, who also wears a mask over her scarred face, and her husband, Gary. As she joined the other survivors and relatives at the front of the crowd before 3 p.m., Ms McGillion had briefly paused and turned to Gary with tears in her eyes, seemingly overwhelmed by the size of the crowd which stretched about 500 yards down the High Street.
The column of people tapered out just metres short of the site of the blast on Market Street where white hoarding now covers the bomb site and a temporary garden of remembrance has been planted and covered in bunches of flowers. Mothers and fathers held babies, children too young to experience the suffering which has engulfed this quiet market town.
Before the minute's silence, the tolling of church bells was followed by a rattle of drums and then a brief, soulful lament on the uileann pipes.
Representatives of the people of Omagh, Buncrana and Spain, where the bomb's victims came from, read greetings in English, Spanish and Irish from a red- and purple-curtained podium on the steps of the courthouse. These were followed by brief readings by clergy from the Presbyterian, Catholic and Church of Ireland churches who have comforted bereaved and injured families over the past year.
The focal point of the 55-minute service was a short ceremony in which symbolic tears from eight victims of the Troubles were poured into a large green bowl by their relatives.
Among those who took part in this ritual were the parents of Steven Restorick, the British soldier killed in Bessbrook, Co Armagh, in February 1997; Ms Noreen Hill, the wife of Mr Ronnie Hill who was killed in the 1987 Enniskillen bomb; Ms Ann Trainor, a relative of Mr Damian Trainor who was shot alongside his friend, Mr Philip Allen, in Poyntzpass, Co Armagh, in March 1998; and Ms Margaret McKinney, the mother of Mr Brian McKinney, one of the disappeared IRA victims whose body was found in Co Monaghan last June.
Five teenagers from schools in Omagh, Strabane and Carrick more then read a series of "questions in our hearts" in their soft Northern accents. "Why, Lord, is it so hard, at times, to see mercy or meaning in life?" said Julie Campbell from Strabane Grammar School. Steven Coyle, who was injured in the bomb asked: "Why do the innocent suffer, Lord, and the unjust so often seem to prosper and escape?"
Medical crew from St John's Ambulance and the British Red Cross handed out cups of water to the crowd and helped a brass band member who fainted shortly after 3 p.m.
The ceremony was attended by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, the Secretary of State for Northern of Ireland, Dr Mo Mowlam, the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, Northern Ireland Office Minister, Mr Adam Ingram, the Church of Ireland Bishop James Mehaffey and the former Northern Secretary, Lord Mayhew.
Sinn Fein's chairman, Mr Pat Doherty, Mr Barry McElduff, a local Sinn Fein Assembly member and Mr Alan Rainey, the UUP chairman of Omagh District Council, also attended.
Among the relatives of those killed in the explosion to attend were the family of Ms Esther Gibson, who was due to have been married this summer; Mr Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son, Adrian, was killed; and Mr Stanley McCombe whose wife, Anne (49), was also killed. Ms Claire Gallagher, the young pianist who was blinded by the blast and played for President Clinton last year, also attended the ceremony. Many others stayed away, saying the occasion was too hard to face.
The ceremony closed with a prayer read by the chairman of Omagh District Council, Mr Alan Rainey, asking God to grant politicians "wisdom and sensitivity in their efforts to help us live with one another. May they, like we, be instruments of your peace and channels of your blessing."
Speaking after the ceremony, Mr Hume said the day sent "a powerful and moving message to the whole country that people want lasting peace and stability".
At a private commemoration in the town on Saturday, shops closed while people gathered in the small remembrance garden where floral tributes had been placed by relatives as well as representatives of the Spanish embassy, the emergency services and local businesses.
The floral tributes continued to arrive yesterday while people milled around the garden reading poems and dedications pinned to wooden trellises. One bunch of flowers came from the Brethren of Omagh Loyal Orange Lodge whose two members, Fred and Bryan White, were killed in the bomb.
One dedication read: "Let us not forget the innocent who died when the paramilitaries and politicians told us there was peace. Why is the community shielding those brutal murderers? They owe it to the dead to come forward."