Those of us who were called upon to respond to the Omagh bombing will never forget that day and the days and years that followed.

I was in the garden when a colleague called to tell me about the early news reports and the appeal for medical and other staff to go to the Omagh County Hospital.

Immediately, I made my way to Omagh trying to get updates along the way, but telephone lines were overwhelmed and I could not get news bulletins on the radio. So I was stunned to hear the early details of deaths and injuries when I arrived at the hospital.

The scene was apocalyptic – frantic people searching for family and friends, seriously injured people lying outside the door of the Emergency Department awaiting attention, and the urgent and worried faces of helpers and health care professionals.

With colleagues we sought to console and reassure where we could, and to attend to the urgent concerns of those seeking help.

This took me to the wards, Emergency Department and mortuary, all of which were in turmoil.

Meanwhile, more people were arriving from the scene.

With colleagues we set up a missing relatives bureau which soon became overwhelmed, and in a short time we moved to the Leisure Centre.

Over the following 48 hours, we worked with the police and Council staff to identify the missing and to link those whom we located with anxious and distraught relatives.

Then the time came to reveal what we knew to the families of those who had died.

During that first night we accompanied them to the temporary mortuary at the army barracks – witnessing utter brokenness and feeling helpless in the dreadfulness of it all.

It was also during that night that conversations took place in the Leisure Centre which established that there was no longer a place for violence in our politics.

On the Monday morning we met with Dr. Mo Mowlam, who lent her support to our thoughts about how the community could be supported in the days and weeks to come.

In the days that followed, the community wrapped itself around the bereaved, injured and distressed, through countless acts of kindness and neighbourliness, and public expressions of support and outrage.

People went from funeral to funeral in Omagh and Buncrana. Memories of past killings and funerals were brought close to the surface again. Early in that week, with other agencies, we set up an emergency centre to support the community.

The Omagh Community Trauma and Recovery Team was formed within days and over the following two and a half years, 670 people sought its help with psychological problems resulting from the bombing.

An unknown number attended other support organisations and services.

Violence like this destroys the ordinariness and beauty of life. The goodness of people restores hope in better ways to live.

David Bolton

Mr. Bolton was a senior manager with the Sperrin Lakeland Health and Social Care Trust at the time of the bombing. He is the author of the book, ‘Conflict, Peace and Mental Health’, published in 2017.