Reaching out heals wounds

WHEN we marked the 25th anniversary of the Shankill bomb, there were displays containing letters from right across our society, expressing horror at what had happened and sympathy for the people affected.

I have no doubt that similar messages were sent again after the brutal murders and injuries inflicted at the Sean Graham bookmakers on the lower Ormeau Road.

One should never underestimate the importance of small gestures. These communications remind us that, throughout our history of conflict, while some were intent on causing death and destruction, there were always those urging restraint and trying to build relationships. They showed genuine concern for all our people.

To take one example, the Peace people worked so hard to counter the divisions that flow from violence.

The future can be different. To the people of the Shankill, the lower or me au and elsewhere, we owe hard work to ensure that the hat reds that fuelled violence are not passed on to future generations.

Next year will be the 30th anniversary of the Sean Graham bookmakers atrocity.

Police officers and ambulance personnel attended the scene, and what they experienced will be forever etched in their memories.

When we think about events like these, we should share the grief and remember them together, as a society.

By doing so, we improve the chances that they will never be repeated again.

We show that, while many small communities were devastated by brutality, they are not alone and they have not been forgotten.

Those people who wrote the letters, and others of like mind, are still around them. They remember the emotions that led them to put pen to paper all those years ago. They remember why it was important to show they cared.

TREVOR RINGLAND Holywood, Co Down