New pub bombs memorial set to be unveiled

A NEW memorial to the victims of the Birmingham pub bombings will be unveiled next month, 44 years after the IRA atrocity.

The sculpture of trees will stand outside New Street Station, with the unveiling ceremony starting at 8.17pm on November 21 – the time and date when the first bomb went off in 1974.

In total, 21 people were killed and 182 were injured when the bombs went off in the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs.

The memorial will stand within sight of what was the Mulberry Bush, under the Rotunda.

The sculpture has been designed by local artist Anuradha Patel and will feature a grove of three sculptured metal trees, each with 5ft-long leaves, each one inscribed with the name of one of the 21 victims.

The £110,000 cost has been funded by Network Rail as part of its planning obligations with Birmingham City Council as part of the New Street Station upgrade. Underneath each tree will be benches.

Although there is already a memorial plaque for the victims in the grounds of St Philip’s Cathedral, the new one came after pressure from the leaders of Birmingham’s Irish communities.

It followed research into the after- effects of the bombings by Professor Gavin Scaffer and Dr Saima Nasar at the University of Birmingham which found that the Irish in Birmingham wanted a more prominent memorial.

The Birmingham Irish Association led the campaign and three years ago set up a committee to push for the project.

More than 80 relatives of the victims will attend the ceremony.