Association’s shock at Wurzburg attack

One lady who was previously the director of the twinning association is now heading up a refugee centre in Wurzburg and said there are about 1,300 refugees in the town.

‘ The events of Monday night are very shocking, particularly when it is so close to home. Many people in Bray and Wicklow know the area of Wurzburg so well and know a lot of people there. It really brings the message home that things are so fragile in the world and there is so much trouble.

‘Attacks like this add to the insecurity of people in all of Europe especially in the wake of the attack in Paris and Nice. It shows that it doesn’t have to be four or five guys armed with a bomb to cause an attack. It can be anyone.

‘We (the twinning association) had 44 people over in Wurzburg two weeks ago at a festival and it was all very peaceful there. But there is a certain fragility about Germany and the amount of refugees. However there was no sign of trouble when we were there and I’ve been there twice in the last month.

‘ The only real noticeable difference in the 15 years since Bray and Wurzburg twinned is there is an increased police presence on the streets but you can see that in every European city.

‘It’s very shocking to think that people we know could have been caught up in the attack and on Tuesday I was speaking with the Mayor of Wurzburg and sent him our good wishes and said we were praying for a speedy recovery for everyone who was injured,’ Mr Jones added. A week home from holidays and the suitcases are still in the hall, half emptied. I gave up after dumping the tenth load into the washing machine. I told them they can wear whatever they want for the rest of the holidays because I’m not spending the next six weeks washing and ironing.

The Youngest has been wearing a pair of denim shorts for the past five days that are covered in dodgy brown stains. ‘Chocolate?’ Himself inquired. I shrugged. ‘Possibly. Possibly not.’

It doesn’t really matter what the Teenager wears because he never comes out of his bedroom! I shout through the door to open a window and make his bed but I’m not sure that ever happens. Sometimes he appears for meals, other times not. I’m not worried though. He has a stash of Pringles in there that will keep him going.

I may have a case of the post holiday blues. Not sure. But the news of the atrocities in Nice just days after we returned home has knocked me for six. I keep looking at our half emptied suitcases thinking of the people who will never get a chance to empty theirs.

I keep seeing images of those buggies turned over on the promenade emptied of their precious cargo, those heartbroken loved ones who sat beside the deceased, refusing to leave them overnight.

What makes it even harder to comprehend is Nice is such a beautiful, beautiful place where you could never imagine something like this happening. One deranged man targeting innocent vulnerable people celebrating a national holiday. Killing over 80, ten of them children. They were the ones who couldn’t run to get out of the way–the elderly and the young. Islamic State have claimed responsibility. Part of me thinks if it wasn’t the work of IS, it is even more frightening in some respects because then who do we blame?

I read over the weekend that the primary purpose of terrorism is to instil fear. Well whoever is responsible, they’ve certainly achieved that. I am fearful. Fearful of travelling anywhere now, fearful of where and when the next terrorist attack will be. Fearful of trying to give my children a balanced explanation of what terrorism is and who is at fault.

We visited Paris shortly after the Bataclan attack. The city was subdued but not defeated. But every time we got on the Metro I felt anxious, edgy, slightly sick, watching other people who I felt were suspicious looking. Nobody wants to live their life like that. I don’t want my children to grow up in a world where they are suspicious of everyone. I don’t want them to be fearful.

Right now all we can do is think of the families who have been devastated by this horrific atrocity. Prayers seem inappropriate. Maybe all we can do is hope that they find some answers.