A man whose wife died in the Omagh bombing has described a new board game about the Troubles as a “slap in the face to any decent person”.
In 1998, the Real IRA detonated a bomb in the County Tyrone town, killing 29 people and injuring a further 220.
Among the dead was Philomena Skelton, who was a 39 year old mother of four children.
RUC Police officers stand on Market Street, the scene of a car bombing in the centre of Omagh. Picture by: AP Photo / Paul McErlane.On the day of the bomb, she and her family had driven into the town to go shopping for school uniforms.
While Ms Skelton died, her husband and children escaped unharmed.
On Lunchtime Live, Kevin Skelton said he had been saddened to learn that Northern Ireland’s three decades of conflict has been turned into a boardgame.
“The people who were victims, they're not being asked at all,” he said.
“They've been totally ignored and this, it's an insult.
“It's a slap in the face to any decent person and I can't see what good it's going to do.
“But again, probably they'll do it anyway.”
The Omagh bomb. Picture by: PA Wire/PA Images.The Troubles: Shadow War in Northern Ireland 1964-1998 is designed by an American company and comes with a dice, a deck of cards and tokens.
Players are allowed to plant bombs and make political deals in order to win.
It is, Mr Skelton argued, a distasteful thing to package up as entertainment.
“We talk about history, they're changing history,” he said.
“There's no board games for the victims.
“It's only for the terrorists or whatever you like to call them on both sides - and the security forces.
“It's all about them, but it's not about the people who suffered.
“And that makes you sick. Just being honest.”
British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott walking through the debris of bombed shops in the town centre of Omagh. Picture by: Alamy.com.Mr Skelton added that people interested in the Troubles should focus on those who lost loved ones - not perpetrators.
“They're not telling the story of the victim,” he said.
“We need to talk to victims; we need to do this for victims.
“We need to do that for victims - but they don't.”
Main image: Kevin Skelton and a person playing with dice. Picture by: Alamy.com.
