“Window of Hope” unveiled in Buncrana

A stained glass window in memory of the three Inishowen school boys and two Spanish visitors killed in the Omagh bomb was unveiled in a moving ceremony in Buncrana on Saturday last – exactly 11 years after the atrcocity. The commemorative “Window of Hope” was the first of four stained glass windows designed by the families of the victims of the Omagh and Claudy bombs to be unveiled. An identical window was unveiled in the Central Library in Omagh on Sunday last and further windows are be unveiled later this year in Claudy and Madrid. The Buncrana “Window of Hope” is located in the reception area of Scoil Iosagain National School in Buncrana, the school attended by Oran Doherty (8) and Sean McLaughlin (12) who died in the Real IRA bombing of the Co. Tyrone town on August 15, 1998. Local schoolboy James Barker (12), Fernando Blasco Baselga (12) and Rocio Abad Ramos, a Spanish student and group leader who were staying with local families in Buncrana at the time, also died. Bernie Doherty, mother of Oran, said she was “delighted” with the window as she still had children and grandchildren attending Scoil Iosagain. Speaking to the “Inish Times” after the unveiling, she said: “It is lovely because the boys were pupils at the school at the time. It is a nice way to remember them as I still have children and grandchildren at the school.” Project coordiatnor Jeanette Warke, said she was “deeply privileged” to have worked with the families. She said: “The ‘Windows of Hope’ project gave the families the chance to express their grief in a positive way and create something that is beautiful and permanent to be shared by others. “It has been a humbling experience for me to work with the families who have endured so much and it is important to allow them to express their grief.” She described the design process as “emotional.” She added: “The families designed the windows in a caring and tender way and they symbolise hope for the future and I would like to pay tribute to each and everyone of them.” In a letter read out by Buncrana Mayor, Cllr. Lee Tedstone, Victor Barker (who returned to live in the Surrey area of England), father of James, sent “best wishes” to the Doherty and McLaughlin families. He added: “I am sure their pain is no less as real today as it was on August 15, 1998, a day which will be forever in my memory. I shall be saying a special prayer for Sean and Oran and for the other families, as I do every year.”