Omagh visit a sign of the times

The bomb site visit was not originally scheduled

By Annita McVeigh Ireland correspondent

The Queen's Jubilee trip to Omagh will probably be best remembered for something which was not on her original itinerary.

Time was scheduled for a visit to the town's library and meeting people outside.

There was no plan, however, to stop at the spot where in August 1998 a bomb left by dissident republicans the Real IRA exploded, killing 29 people and unborn twins as well as injuring hundreds.

But when suggestions were made that this should have been on the royal itinerary, officials from Buckingham Palace and the Northern Ireland Office were quick to respond.

Crowds greeted the Queen's arrival

So the Queen and Prince Philip made the short journey to Market Street, to the appreciative applause of the crowd.

Northern Ireland Secretary of State John Reid walked with them, showing them exactly where the bomb had exploded.

The Queen's car also paused a short distance away at the garden which commemorates the dead.

In hindsight it is surprising this was not included in the first place, but the speed with which officials added it to the visit is a sign of the times - of a Royal Family more attuned to the feelings of the public.

Building a future

If these symbolic moments were about Omagh's recent past, then the visit to the library was all about Omagh moving forward.

Inside the Royal couple met representatives from two groups who are trying to build a better future for the town.

The Queen visited the largely Protestant village of Ballinamallard

The New Opportunities Fund distributes National Lottery money to educational, health and environmental and other projects.

The Queen met a number of young mothers who are benefiting from this by learning about computers, and said she was pleased to see them doing something which allowed them to get out of the home.

The mission statement of the Omagh 2010 Task Force, meanwhile, is to make the town "a vibrant and enterprising place with opportunities for all members of the community."

Outside, about 2,000 people were waiting, among them Sarah Anderson who said she was so excited about the opportunity to see the Queen that she hardly slept the previous night.

Relaxed

Dorothy Armstrong from Omagh said local people shared the Queen's sense of bereavement and understood how she was feeling about the loss of her sister and mother.

Mary Bradley recalled how Prince Charles had visited Omagh in the aftermath of the bomb, and said she was pleased that once again the town had not been forgotten by the Royal Family.

Prince Philip visited Fisher Engineering

Five-year-old Jake Johnston who was there with his sister Amy, declared that the Queen "is very important for this country".

There was tight security for this visit, with police marksmen taking up positions on the roof of the library.

Before the Queen arrived, members of the bomb squad carried out checks, and on the roads around Omagh there were numerous police and army patrols.

As the Queen left, she looked relaxed and was smiling broadly as she spoke to people and accepted flowers.

Earlier she had started her Jubilee tour of Northern Ireland with a trip to the tiny County Fermanagh village of Ballinamallard.

She visited a children's playschool, joined Prince Philip at one of Northern Ireland's most successful engineering firms and planted a tree to mark her visit.