Me in Mid-Ulster

We were heading in to the library this morning and were intending to call at Asda for a few things, but the Sweep road was completely closed off. You could see lots of Police presence and there was the sound of sirens in the air too. This was all new to my little boy, but of course, it wasn’t new to me. It’s funny how you’re instantly transported back to childhood and incidences that are long forgotten just by the sound of sirens and the feeling of tension. Who else remembers the countless times we were all shooed out of the Richmond centre on a busy Saturday because of bomb alerts!?

Anyway, I met my friend who had been in the town since 6 this morning and she said she had been a bit worried by the sirens she heard but she had no idea what was happening. We assumed it was a bomb alert and being Northern Irish we both headed about our normal mornings not worrying too much- after all, if it hadn’t exploded and no one was hurt then hopefully things would be ok. Frightening, but O.K.

Then it dawned on me, there is a nursery of small children in the area. Imagine those poor wee critters being ushered out of the road at 7:30 this morning. Or even worse, imagine what could have happened to those innocent children, had the device not been noticed. It makes me absolutely sick when I sit down and realise the magnitude of what could have happened in the town today.