Chai Brady
Catholic Church officials have quelled speculation that the placement of a memorial for the 1987 Enniskillen bombing on Church ground was blocked because there was a poppy in the design.
Monsignor Joseph McGuinness from the Diocese of Clogher said the memorial was a way to provide comfort and solace and bring the community together in “remembrance and solidarity”, and that the Church has “no objection whatsoever to a permanent memorial being erected to the victims of the Enniskillen bombing”.
Memorial
A temporary monument was unveiled on the 30th anniversary of the bomb that killed 12 people and injured 68 more. Family members connected to the attack have asked that a permanent memorial be erected at the site of the blast, on land owned by St Michael’s Diocesan Trust – a part of the Diocese of Clogher.
However Fr McGuinness has said that the proposal to build the memorial, which would be sited at the Clinton Centre, was brought to their attention in September this year, and that the Diocesan Trust had made clear they would not have made the necessary arrangements before November 8.
Fr McGuinness said that despite the “ill-informed” media coverage, “…the Diocesan Trust is not trying to be in any way obstructive, but rather has had to begin to address complex issues which have only recently been posed to it. In doing so, the Trust is being conscientious in discharging its obligations, both as a church body and a charitable trust”.