There are people in Ireland who know who these bombers are. They are fathers, mothers, uncles, or friends. Perhaps they may like to take a close look at the carnage that prevails today. What have they achieved today? The have made parents into childless couples, they have made children into orphans. They have rooted bitterness in these people for years to come. If Ireland is to ever become a civil and peaceful country these people must be rounded up, put in jail, and never released. This must end.

Rob Guyatt. Croydon, UK.

I am in tears.

Carol Pearson

Having just left N.I to marry in the USA I would like to thank the BBC for their comprehensive and sensitive coverage of this tragic event through their website. Its not a time to wonder at technology, but your application of it which allows me to watch the news and live reports has allowed me to feel close to my people. My reaction to the event is anger and sadness. May the people responsible for this rot in guilt and shame. My love goes out to those who have lost friends and family. I think of my own family living in a similar market town and how it could so easily have been me mourning today. Best regards Keith Hunniford

Keith Hunniford

I can only say, and I am not given to knee jerk reactions, that these people when caught should be publicly hanged. They deserve no sympathy and should not be allowed to share the same air as the relatives of their victims.

KJ Bradbury

It's high time that the SAS are allowed to do what they are trained for. Find the terrorists and terminate with extreme prejudice.

M.D.H., USA

"Ireland unfree shall never be at peace......." Padraic Pearse, c1916. The Republican dream is the Northern Ireland nightmare. The Belfast Agreement means nothing to those who so dream. Others who called it a peace agreement do not understand Republican perceptions of Irish history. Those who teach history are handling some very vile poisons indeed.

Nevin Taggart Co Antrim Northern Ireland UK

A totally senseless act, One cannot conceive what is in the minds of the individuals that do this sort of madness. One can only hope that the sane people of the province will stand up and not allow this to alter the peace process. It must go on there is no other way out. The alternative is years and years more of this senselesss killing. Our hearts as ex-patriates go out to all those that lost loved ones and those that where injured.

Robin Marshall USA.

My name is Eric Walker and I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Last Sunday Gerry Adams stood outside Belfast City Hall and said the war is not over until I say its over so today his cohorts in death and destruction set out to make their point that the war is still going to go on. Thank you Gerry! The rally that Adams was spouting at was the 27th anniversary of internment. Well, I just wonder if he will be holding a rally for these poor innocent souls who will be interned permanently in the next few days. Does this sound like a bitter letter? Well I am! I actually made the trip home to vote YES! for the peace process. Now I am listening to you interviewing Martin Maginess whom, along with Adams, has condoned the provos over this last 28 yrs. God give the relatives of the dead and injured the strength to go on ,I'm afraid I personally would neither be able to forgive or forget if it was my loved ones who were the victims. Thank you.

Eric Walker.

Presumably, if the perpetuators are an IRA splinter group, we have high hopes that the "newly converted to peace IRA" will inform on their former friends?

Paul Wakeford UK

As an emigrant from the Irish Republic, I feel absolute despair tonight over the prospects for peace in Northern Ireland in my lifetime. As much as the majority want peace, it seems that a handful of evil people and their shelterers and apologists will ruin everything. We must have hope, but it is so hard to feel any on this day.

Finbarr Donovan, West Virginia, U.S.A.

I now firmly believe that the only course of action in N.Ireland is for the provisional IRA to go after these so called "Real IRA" and remove them from society. No court cases no internment just shoot them as one would do with any other kind of vermin.The provisional IRA know who they are and where to locate them . Now is the time for them to take a stand for all the Irish peoples and show thier commitment to the peace process.

J.Corrigan

An Ulster Womans' Prayer Oft through the dusk in the quiet of the night
I jump from my bed in a dreadful fright
To hear a banging on my door
To open a wound once amore
His face is still alive in my dreams
As my mind recalls his final screams
His eyes afire, alive with life
His arms around a pregnant wife
Hair so brown, eyes of blue
Now they are moistened by the dew
With his body tanned so brown
To think its moulding in the ground
Will the gunmen come once more
Knocking, knocking at my door
Will they take a widow's child
In revenge so senseless styled
Women of Ulster pray with me
To see our country finally free
Of the gunmen who bring death
Who rob our children of lifes breath.

Seumas O'Neill (alias James C Clements II in Canada)

Look into the face of a young boy as he sees , not his father but a corpse. People know about these tragedies , for god's sake do something that will give another child many happy years of family life and not just the memory of a wooden box.

David Bell MONTREAL, CANADA

I cannot believe that the horror can get worse. My heart is with the families affected by this outrage. The gunmen cannot be allowed to win.

Mike Griffin, England

Two friends, British and living in Germany have this to say: We are appalled by the events in Ireland today. It' difficult to describe our reaction except to say that we are gutted and that our sympathy lies unreservedly with the families and friends of the dead and injured. We call on the Labour government to suspend all other considerations in the apprehension of the culprits and all Britons, regardless of political or religious persuasion to condemn unreservedly the outrage against our fellow Europeans. If Westminster is incapable of managing the situation, possibly it is time we called on our European and/or UN allies to assist in the resolution of this conflict to ensure that no further barbarism is inflicted on our countrymen.

Phil Pitel and Andrew Goodwin

This bomb was nothing to do with politics. It was cold-blooded murder by a disgruntled bunch of Republicans who now see their raison d'etre rapidly disappearing as a result of the democracy they hate so much. These murderers must be brought to immediate justice if the peace process is to survive beyond its present infancy; and If the will is there, then this could happen within a matter of days.   The security forces will already know who these killers are; and so will Sinn Fein. The former's hands are tied by convention and the law; but the IRA's are not. So I would suggest to Gerry Adams that he arranges for these murderers to be rounded up and delivered to the security forces with maximum publicity. This would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Sinn Fein are genuinely committed to the peace process and would also prove as much to the Loyalists and the people of Northern Ireland.  

If Sinn Fein do not have the will and commitment to do this, then it must be up to the military to take up the role of state executioner as they did in Gibraltar.

  There can be no more mass murder in Northern Ireland. The will of the people is at stake.  

Simon Cochrane, Padbury, England

Call the bombers,any bombers, cowards.Cowards do these acts.

Christopher Igleheart, Vermont,U.S.A.

The bomb incident in Omagh is outrageous and the death penalty should be re-enacted for the people who done this horrendous crime. I read your paper every day, keep up the good work.

Helen McIntosh Veal, Texas, USA, formerly from Cambuslang, Scotland

I have been watching the reports all day with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. I am from N. Ireland and my family and friends live there, my heart aches for the people of N.Ireland.

The people of Norther Ireland are good people and they deserve better.

Margaret K

I am a Northern Irish, person, currently residing in Perth, Australia. Words failed me this morning as I heard the horrific news. My wife and I awoke to the news on the radio and we just looked at each other in total disbelief! Please pass on our sincere sympathies to all those families so tragically touched by the evil minority. These people will never succeed!!

Dr Iain Watson, Perth, Australia

The only way to stop these people is to stop their funding. If you have ever given to a collection for the "cause", your money bought the explosives that killed those people today. Most of that money comes from the USA. I am Irish living in London. There are a lot of things that have happened in the past that were wrong. Killing people never helps.

Brendan, London

Once again we hear the rhetoric of the righteous. The men who did this hide behind others who speak in half-truths and answer questions with questions. Right now we don't have a clear indication of who committed this terrible crime (not an act of war) but the men who stand in front of the TV cameras know who the leaders of these organisations are. It's time to suspend constitutional rights for terrorists and round-up all those who could possibly be involved (Loyalist and Republican alike) and disarm all the terrorists once and for all. Enough is enough!

Fred, Victoria, Australia The thin veneer of civilization has once again been torn apart in Northern Ireland. Our hearts go out to the people of Omagh. We can only hope that the terrorists responsible for this atrocity are soon caught and punished.

All Republican and Loyalist ambitions are not worth the life of one of the more than 3,000 people who have died in thirty years of political violence.

John Frazer, USA

I live near London, my parents come from Pre WWII central Europe as refugees. That war was fought for something, freedom. I truly believe that the bombers and assassins in N.I. have either lost their way and do not know what they kill for or are just criminals that kill for Gain, power and twisted pleasure.   Bob Neumann

I am an ex pat from Northern Ireland that left the UK to live in New York earlier this year. Before todays barbaric act I looked back over the last couple of years and was glad to see how far we as Northern Irish people had come. Only a couple of months ago the vast majority of Irish people voted for PEACE - something we all long for and deserve. Today we saw people murdered, families destroyed and communities torn apart - WHY ...? So we can have more of the same ... ? No! There can be no cause in a democracy that can claim legitimacy for violence. My thoughts are with the families who have suffered in the most unspeakable way today - you deserve our support NOT those savages that destroy Ireland in its own name. They will not succeed.

Roger Edgar, New York City, USA

The people who murdered these innocent civilians, are not Irishmen: They are anti-Irish irishmen.God please help us find these vermin and bring back the noose into use.

Mike Murphy, New Jersey, USA

I accessed your online news service form here in Australia where I'm working for a year. I am utterly horrified and devastated at the bombing in Omagh. I'm from Newry in Co. Down and beleived that we were well on the road to peace. It makes me wonder what is there for me to come home to? In 30 years on violence what has been acheived? Nothing. How can anyone justify the taking of another human being's life?

Owen Kennedy

I believe that -- for once and unlike in the Middle East -- the forces for peace are strong enough to conitnue the movenment to a lasting peace in Northern Ireland. BUt this shows the carnage a few determined people can creat -- a la Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

Adam McIntosh, South Bned, USA

My name is Robert Walsh. I am a Canadian male of Irish Catholic ancestry. I don't know how to say what's in my heart tonight after hearing of the tragic bloodshed in Omagh. The cowards responsible for this carnage are not great soldiers fighting for the cause. They are cold blooded murderers. If Gerry Adams is to have any credibility at all he must surrender all of the IRA's weapons. My heart goes out to the families of the victims and to all of the people of Northern Ireland. My prayers are with you. God bless you all.

Robert F. Walsh

I'm a resident of the USA.  I previously studied in the UK and came to love your country and its people.   My only remark about the Northern Ireland situation is "How much more do the innocent have to suffer?"  There is no justification for this carnage.   My heartfelt sympathy is with the families of the victims.

Bennie R. Crockett, Jr

I am at present working on a construction project in China where news may take days to filter through. My wife and her family all come from the Omagh area and some of them were in the town when this bomb went of. The shock was horrific and comprehension came only slowly. I have been reading through the reactions from others on the net and it interesting to see the few (fortunately very few) who still regard this form of outrage as a vehicle for political point scoring. Let everyone have no doubt it is this attitude that gives credence to the perpetrators of this type of outrage, they will draw solace from the apparent justification of their position whilst being able to ignore the majority who rightly condemn it. Equally so the other extreme of condemning the Adams's and McGuiness's of this world can only ferment a backlash attitude. There are may people of extremes over home on both sides of the political (not religious) divide, the Paisley's and Robinson's of this world are equally to blame for these types of acts and all their political posturing will do nothing to lessen their personal responsibility to the vast majority of peace loving people of N.ireland. Americans and others that in the past have contributed to so called IRA widows funds that helped lead up to this situation, it includes the British Governments past and present whose prevarication has resulted in unbelievable frustrations to all and sundry. To all these people I have nothing but contempt, but thank god I still believe in democracy which others obviously do not. To the people of Omagh all I can say is part of an old irish blessing, "may god hold you in the palm of his hand" and I would bet he doesn't give a damn if your Catholic, Protestant or come from the dark side of the moon.

Pat Limacher Jaingjin Mainland China

This is so horrible! My prayers are with you all. The peace process MUST continue!

Sondra Hopkins, USA

When I first heard about the bombing it was in the cnn highlights, and it didn't mention the city it was in. Foolishly, I assumed it was Belfast, or Derry, or some other larger city, because I could have never thought a little innocent town could be wrought by this sort of terror. However, when I found out it was Omagh, I cried, and between me and several other host teens, we finally discovered that everyone in our group was safe and accounted for. I was so relieved that everyone was safe, but ehn I realized how selfish I was being -each one of them knows someone close to them that has been hurt by this terrible crime. I never realized how sheltered I could be in a town of almost a million compared to how much reality these kids have to face with only 25, 000 people in their town. I wish the best to all he families that have been affected by this tragedy, and I want them to know that they will all be in my prayers.

Brigid Mooney, Tucson, AZ

So much for a "peace process" which involves allowing IRA terrorists free to return to their activities. Who knows - maybe the ones they let out in the last couple of weeks are at work now!! What a disgrace! More innocent victims. I left Northern Ireland many years ago but still have relatives there. In fact, my young neice was here for 2 months and just arrived back to Belfast airport a couple of hours before this blast. She didn't want to go back - can anyone blame her? My heart goes out to all of you affected by this latest tragedy.

Miriam Gallagher, Ontario, Canada

It is terribly important that all those politicians who have stood in favour of the peace process, present a united front in the face of actions like this horrific bombing. There has been violence on both sides of the religious divide and there are para military groups on both sides. For the Unionists to start pointing fingers at Sinn Fein is small minded in the extreme and will only play into the hands of those dedicated to derailing the peace process. If this act was committed by a republican splinter group - it could just as easily have been a loyalist group. The facts are not known. I pray that people will stand firm and continue to pursue a peaceful and all inclusive way out of the mess the rest of the world knows as "the Irish problem". Margaret Sinclair, British Columbia, Canada

I am saddened by the recent events and the fools who have conducted this act should be punished for its horrid actions. The crime demonstrates the ignorance and weakness of those who do not desire peace. Hopefully, once some of the wounds have healed and the dust has settled that the process of peace will resume and ALL sides, both Protestant and Catholic paramilitary groups, will down their arms and hatreds and learn from the past and build a better future for themselves. I extend sympathies to the families of the injured and the dead.

Sarah Adams United States

As ex-pats from Northern Ireland living in America the news is even more shocking from a distance. What the situation demands now is sympathy and empathy for the bereaved and wounded and not any political point scoring by our political leaders.

Andrew and Helen Lotery

we feel really sorry for the victims and pray for their souls and wish speedy recovery for the injured we did have the sad experience last week ,the people who do this to their fellow humanbeings need to treated in mental institutions so that it would save us lot of pain and horror. I cant understand these sick people who for their cause can be so inhuman to hurt so many innocent  victims 

Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania  Yasin Raja

Dumb! Dumb! For God's sakes let go of the past. The self centered idiots that think they know best are just that, Idiots. What a life they must lead, how much hate comsumes them. It must be terrrible to be so detached from humanity.

R. Don MartinOregon, USA

"Is there any point in talking to anyone who would do this?" These were the words of an old friend after his home was destroyed after a previous IRA bomb. Maybe more of us can now see his wisdom. I know Omagh and this was simply an attack on life, life must not be allowed to lose to the forces of death. Omagh has been hit by many other bomb, equal in deadly power, thanks to the security forces on those occasions no one was killed. Yet the intent was just as deadly and today we are busy releasing such terrorists with murderous hearts. Will we ever gain wisdom?

Roy Campbell, PA. USA.

Well now, what a fine job Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness are doing. Can anyone else see the game they are playing, all smoke and mirrors. They play the peace game on one hand while keeping their dirty fingers involved with the "cause". Sure would you not expect these two fine gentlemen who have been involved with the IRA all these years to have no clue who these animals are. I would tend to believe that they know who supports them and the Peace plan and who does not, especially thoes with the expertize and the connections to organize this type of madness.I put it to both of them that if they want real peace then its time they sat down with the RUC and hand over the names of these brainless animals so that there will be at least a chance for the Peace to take place.

Jimmy, Canada