Sir, - The people of Omagh have restored our hope. Standing in the midst of that vast reverent crowd gathered to commemorate the first anniversary of the bomb that devastated their community, one could sense not only the deep sadness and the yearning for peace, but also the firm determination that somehow evil could not and would not be allowed to prevail. What a contrast to the violent and hate-filled scenes from Derry and the Ormeau Road!
As politicians and governments prepare for the crucial review of the Good Friday agreement in September, they must keep before them the message that has gone out from Omagh and Buncrana (and from the whole of Ireland), the deep yearning for peace and the call for courageous leadership - and they must refuse to be led by the intransigent elements on both sides who ignore the pain and the tears and seek only to destroy.
Those parties who signed up to the Good Friday Agreement must decide now whether they are prepared to make it work - whether they are prepared to obey the mandate given them by the people, to take the difficult but necessary steps that will lead us from the destructive violence, intolerance, injustice and hatred of the past, and allow our children to find the way to live together in peace and mutual respect. They must stop blaming each other, filling the airwaves with their insults and sound-bites.
Unionists and republicans must recognise that they each have genuine problems and that there are genuine differences of interpretation over the mode of implementation of the Agreement. Somehow they must work to help build trust and help each other to find accommodation. That is the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement which they negotiated, which they commended to us "in a spirit of concord" and in which they firmly dedicated themselves to the "achievement of reconciliation, tolerance and mutual trust". - Yours, etc.,
Julitta Clancy, Meath Peace Group, Parsonstown, Batterstown, Co Meath.