The Omagh Community Youth Choir was formed in October 1998 in the wake of the Omagh Bomb atrocity of August 15th 1998. This devastating act left a town of shattered dreams and a community in need of comfort, healing and solace. Local music student Daryl Simpson together with other local musicians and youth leaders set up the choir. His vision was to bring together young people from various backgrounds and traditions, to raise a positive awareness of a community working together for peace and reconciliation, and to provide some comfort in those dark days.

“I decided that, soon after this atrocity, that I would try and bring people closer together, and my main thought was to work with young people, specifically. Because they're the leaders of tomorrow, they're the people who can actually make change. So I set up a youth choir to bring both Protestant and Catholic kids together, to share music and to learn about each other, and just to raise a positive awareness of the great feeling that music can give to people. It's a great source of healing … the one thing we can kind of relate to is what music can do for us. And it's interesting that nearly all religions [have] used music to help uplift people, and I think that really that's what music can do.” ~ Daryl J. Simpson, Choir Director and Founder

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