IRA victims go from fury to forgiveness
Victims of violence speak out about the legacy of the former IRA commander
As the news of Martin McGuinness’s death was reported yesterday, family members of the victims of IRA violence spoke out about his role as both an IRA leader and as a peacemaker. In the case of former UK minister Norman Tebbit, it is clear the anger of the attack he and his wife suffered remains at the fore. The message in most cases, however, is that Mr McGuinness ought to be judged by the ‘totality of his legacy’. Here the Irish Daily Mail brings you, in their own words, the views of those affected most directly by IRA violence .
COLIN Parry, whose 12 year old son Tim was killed in an IRA bomb attack in Warrington in north-west England in 1993, said: ‘I FIRST met Martin in 2002 when he came across to Warrington as minister of education, I think he was at the time, to attend the Christmas carol concert of children from Omagh and Warrington.
‘Much to my surprise his office rang before he came and said if it was all right with myself and my wife to come to Warrington that he would come, otherwise he would decline the invitation.
‘I said, yes, we would like you to come provided we get to meet you personally, and we set aside some time to do so and he said he was happy to do that.
‘Obviously at that time, this is going back to 2002 now, we talked to him about why would the IRA have chosen Warrington to bomb.
‘Needless to say he said he didn’t know and I got the same answers as Gerry Adams when I met Gerry so that was kind of a pointless conversation in the end, because clearly he either didn’t know or wasn’t prepared to say so we moved on and talked about other matters.
‘It was a slightly awkward conversation.
‘The conversation was a bit stilted.
‘But then I met him again some years later and found the conversation easier and, more recently in 2013, I invited Martin to give our annual peace lecture and he agreed to do that and I would say he was very well received for his honestly and his frankness about his past and his present life.
‘Yes, that is true enough [that it was difficult to reconcile the two Martin McGuinnesses].
‘There was a lot of activity going on on a clandestine basis between the UK government and Sinn Féin leaders and rightly so.
‘Despite Warrington those talks carried on and I know that from John Major that I have come to know very well.
‘I think strong leadership was needed from both unionist and republican communities.
‘Martin was the obvious spokesman for the Republican movement, as was Ian Paisley for the unionists.
‘The very fact that they sat together, laughed together, were nicknamed the Chuckle Brothers, was mindblowing at the time.
‘It was a sign that business could be done between both parties.
‘I applaud both members; it wasn’t easy for them either.’