ATROCITY RELIVED 20 YEARS ON

Blast inspired me to pen song close to my heart Four people tell how deadly attack changed their lives

THE daughter of a pair seriously injured in the bomb has penned a song about the atrocity.

Cara Mcgillion, 17, said she was inspired to write Empty Promises because it was about a subject so close to her heart.

Her mum Donna Marie was one of the worst injured and was given a 20% chance of survival.

Cara’s father Garry also suffered severe burns in the blast which came a week before they had been due to wed.

She said: “I wanted to write about something close to my heart. I listened to the stories from my mummy and daddy and the other families.”

The teenager told how she has been overwhelmed by the response to her song online.

It is set to feature in a UTV documentary about the atrocity that is to be broadcast next Wednesday at 10.40pm.

Cara will also sing at a memorial event on Sunday as part of the Omagh Community Youth Choir.

Donna Marie, 42, said her song is “very poignant”.

She added: “She wasn’t born when the bomb happened but she has lived with it in terms of her mummy and her daddy.

“She would have got a hard time the odd time about, ‘Why does your mummy look like that’, and when you don’t fully understand it, it is hard.

“Writing that song was very therapeutic for her. But they have coped very well. I am very proud of both my children.”

She said the anniversary of the bomb was always difficult, adding she sometimes felt guilty because she survived.

She explained: “I feel extremely lucky I am here and we have been able to have a life.

“It’s very hard because at the same time you feel slightly guilty because you know the people that were in town with you, shared that street with you, shared that lovely sunshine – there was a buzz about the town – they are not here anymore.” The couple had been in Omagh with friends when a sign fell on Donna Marie which Garry struggled to lift off to save her.

When the pair wed in Omagh in March 1999 they were greeted with crowds applauding.

Donna Marie said: “It was a really, really special day.

“It was really surreal when I got out at a chapel, there were loads of people there, I got a big round of applause.

“It was a lovely day for the family but even that day we still remembered all the people [that died] but that is something we are always going to do.”