Conflict - Omagh Bombings

Conflict, they say, is unavoidable. When conflict arises there are always multiple sides to be taken and our innate conscience may cause us to be drawn to one particular side. However there are many circumstances where we wish not intervene in others battles but to remain neutral. However conflict can be unpredictable and many bystanders can find them drawn into it, despite their original intentions.

World War II continues to be a defining period in Western Society, inciting reactions from people sixty years after its end, At the time, total war ensured that few remained unaffected by the conflict. This, combined with innate human response to feel outraged when we witness suffering and violence that people must have fund it challenging to not take a side as the Nazis ravaged Europe,

Some individuals in particular be it through resistance movement or individually minded vigilantes actively participated in opposition to Hitler – despite it being a possible death sentence. Oskar Schindler is one such person, who found it impossible to remain uninvolved. A German businessman an initial Nazi sympathizer, Schindler could easily have travelled through the war unscathed. Instead, Schindler decided not only to employ and protect over 1200 Jews in his munitions factory but also produce faulty munitions – ensuring many more lives were saved. In doing this Schindler shows us that the right thing in times of conflict, isn’t necessarily the easy thing, that taking sides, whilst often involuntary can be dangerous.

Divergence of two groups within a population is a main cause of large-scale conflict. The 1997 Omagh bombings were not an isolated event. They were a build of many years of tension. Ireland was a unified country prior to the British invasion in the 12th Century.  Anger and resistance towards the protestant British grew and this led to the development of the Irish Republican Army. This ignition of conflict lasted for many years and eventually in 1921 the mass amount of conflict between the two groups caused Ireland to officially divide into the mostly Protestant, Northern Ireland and the dominantly Catholic Republic of Ireland.

While the country was split in half, the many terrorism acts that followed caused heavy impact on communities, families and individuals. Prior to the Omagh Bombings the Gallagher family had no real stance on the issue of the nationalism of Ireland. However these innocent people along with the community of Omagh where thrown into the conflict once the bomb exploded. While Michele Gallagher, father of Omagh bombings victim, Adrian Gallagher, made the choice to become involved in the Omagh bombings investigation and wider issue of the IRA, his wife Patsy Gallagher wanted to maintain a relatively normal life and deal with the grief of loosing her son privately. It was this conflict of values that caused Michele to be seen as neglecting his daughters and wife during their times on need. The family grew in distance as Michele placed his newfound leadership role of the chairman of the Omagh Bombing Victims Self Help group ahead of his role as a father.