Taking a walk on the Wilde side

Stephen Walker
BBC NI's Let's Talk

The Let's Talk programme went on the road this month when the November edition was broadcast from Enniskillen. The show was recorded on the day that marked the 20th anniversary of the Poppy Day bomb which claimed the lives of 11 people.

The explosion killed 11 people in the town on 8 November 1987

To get the best view of Enniskillen you have to follow in Oscar Wilde's footsteps.

Take a stroll along the Derrygonnelly Road and then walk through the gates of Portora Royal School.

When you reach the top of the drive and meet the impressive stone building that sits on Portora Hill, simply turn around.

Then you can take in everything that Fermanagh's county town has to offer.

This week, as Enniskillen remembered the terrible events of 1987, a studio audience drawn from the area made their way to Wilde's alma mater.

Among them was Neil Thornton.

The teenager wasn't even born when the IRA detonated a bomb some two decades earlier - yet the events of that November day were on his mind.

Alasdair McDonnell said there would be no immediate deal with Fianna Fail

He wanted to know if the Poppy Day bombers would ever be brought to justice.

The Culture, Arts and Leisure Minister Edwin Poots said he thought those responsible would not face justice in this life and said even if they were caught, they would not receive jail sentences.

There seemed little prospect of legal proceedings according to Edwin Poots's fellow panellist Peter Quinn.

The Fermanagh businessman said what had struck him most about the past 20 years was how the unionist community had suffered the "greatest agony and the greatest hurt," yet had contributed most to the healing that followed the bombing.

The events of 1987 were not the only issues to interest the invited audience.

The ongoing row over the need for an Irish language act prompted questions as did the FIFA ruling that footballers born in Northern Ireland could continue to play for the Republic's soccer team.

However, with Fianna Fail TD Mary O'Rourke and SDLP MP Alasdair McDonnell in attendance, the prospect of a future political deal emerged.

Asked if an SDLP/Fianna Fail merger was on the cards, Alasdair McDonnell dismissed talk of an immediate partnership.

It would not be a "shotgun wedding" nor was his party interested in some "grubby deal for an election or two".

Similarly, Mary O'Rourke said there was no need for haste from people in her party and no one was about to "get on their bike and come roaring up" to contest elections.

Her position was clear.

The veteran Fianna Fail TD had enjoyed travelling north, taking in the view from Portora Hill and following in Oscar Wilde's footsteps - but for the moment, it was for one night only.