Petals Of Hope

In the immediate aftermath of the Omagh bomb, flowers began to arrive in Omagh from all over the world. These flowers were a symbol of sympathy, solidarity and hope for all the people of Omagh, who were absolutely devastated by the barbarity of the attack. The flowers became a very potent mode of support and comfort to the people of the town in the process of trying to come to terms with the impact of the bomb.

In deciding what to do with the flowers, Omagh District Council was lucky to have the intervention of Portrush based artist, Carole Kane. Following discussions with staff in the Council's Arts and Tourism Department, the idea was developed to organise a series of workshops involving local people to make pieces of hand made paper incorporating the flowers.

The outcome of this process resulted in over thirty individual framed pieces of hand made art which were exhibited in Omagh, Buncrana, Dublin and Belfast during 1999. Each bereaved family was then presented with a piece of this art work symbolising, through the flowers, the thoughts, prayers, love and friendship which emerged world wide as a result of the atrocity.

To obtain a copy of the catalogue of this exhibition entitled 'Petals of Hope' you can order on-line or alternatively you can contact Omagh Tourist Information Centre, 1 Market Street, Omagh. Telephone: 028 8224 7831 or e-mail omaghtic@btconnect.com