Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Innocent lives snuffed out for no reason...
Service pays tribute to victims
HUNDREDS of people from across the community came together yesterday for a church service to mark the 25th anniversary of the Shankill bomb.
The normally busy road in Belfast was silent and closed to traffic as people gathered to remember the nine victims, including two young girls, who were killed when an IRA bomb detonated on October 23, 1993.
IRA bomber Thomas Begley also died while fellow Provo Sean Kelly was seriously injured.
Relatives, including Gina Murray, whose daughter Leanne was killed in the blast, embraced before the service.
Victims from other atrocities during Northern Ireland’s past, including the Ballymurphy massacre, attended in a show of solidarity with the Shankill families.
DUP leader Arlene Foster, North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds, Alliance leader Naomi Long, TUV leader Jim Allister and Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler attended.
Joe Hendron, who was the SDLP MP for West Belfast at the time of the bomb, was also at the service, along with party colleague, councillor Tim Attwood.
West Kirk Presbyterian Church was filled to capacity and lines of people gathered along the road outside to hear the service which was relayed outside by speakers.
Shops closed as a mark of respect during the service.
Rev David Clawson said he had been overwhelmed by the number of messages of support for the families and communities.
Zoe Mcbride, who was just two when her mother Sharon was killed in the bombing, gave a Bible reading.
Speaking before the service, her father Alan spoke of his pride in his daughter.
He said: “It is the first time she has done anything public so I suspect she will be nervous. She is a wonderful girl, she has done really well at school. Her mum would be so proud of her today, and I know I am so proud of her.”
The exact time the bomb exploded – 1.06pm – was marked midway through the service.
School children from schools which the two youngest victims attended, seven-year-old Michelle Baird and 13-year-old Leanne Murray, laid flowers at the site of the blast at 1.06pm to mark the moment of devastation.
Flowers were also laid at a nearby memorial garden.
Mrs Foster spoke to Mrs Murray following the service.
The DUP leader said: “The message of hope is one that will resonate very well with the families. I know it’s been a great comfort to them.
“I think it was wonderful to have a cross-community presence here today, people showing solidarity with victims, innocent people who were out shopping on a Saturday afternoon and whose lives were snuffed out, for no reason.
“It’s been very humbling to be here today with the families to stand in solidarity with them.”
Mrs Foster later visited an exhibition about the attack.