Sir, - After the massacre of Bloody Sunday (1972) and the Dublin/Monaghan Bombings (1974), the Irish Government called for a national day of mourning. This was an appropriate response, allowing ordinary people throughout the land to express their abhorrence of the terrible deeds and their sympathy for the injured and bereaved.
In the context of the magnitude of the Omagh massacre, clearly aimed at derailing the Good Friday Agreement, the Irish Government should call for a national day of mourning to coincide with the funerals.
The Irish people must be provided with an opportunity to express their sorrow for the bereaved and injured of Omagh in the next few days. They must also be provided with the opportunity to express their absolute determination to oppose the tiny minority of political fundamentalists on our island who think it legitimate to massacre innocent children, women and men (Protestant, Catholic and foreign) as a pathway to uniting Ireland.
At a time like this, it is appropriate we recall the concluding words of Thomas J. Clarke, Sean MacDiarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, Padraig Pearse, Eamonn Ceannt, James Connolly and Joseph Plunkett in their 1916 Proclamation to the People of Ireland.:
". . .we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine.' - Yours, etc., Don Mullan,
(Author, Eyewitness Bloody Sunday), Dublin 12.