Si è svolta nel pomeriggio la cerimonia commemorativa per il membro dell’IRA ucciso mentre piazzava una bomba a Shankill Road 20 anni fa
Thomas “Bootsey” Begley morì il 23 ottobre 1993, quando l’ordigno che aveva portato all’interno della pescheria Frizzell esplose prematuramente, uccidendo lui e altre nove persone.
L’attentato, avvenuto di sabato pomeriggio in una trafficatissima Shankill Road, provocò una profonda devastazione.
Oggi il padre di Thomas Begley ha inaugurato una targa durante una cerimonia in Flax Street ad Ardoyne.
Sulla targa una frase di Seamus Twomey, due volte Chief of Staff dei Provisional IRA:
“Ci vogliono coraggio e devozione per il vostro popolo, per prendere la difficile strada verso la libertà”
(It takes courage and devotion to your people to take the hard road to freedom)
Durante la cerimonia ha parlato anche Sean Kelly, il membro dell’IRA che accompagnava Begley all’interno del negozio.
Kelly sopravvisse all’esplosione e fu estratto dalle macerie dai soccorritori giunti sul posto.
Ha detto agli intervenuti alla commemorazione di essere “sinceramente dispiaciuto per la perdita di vite e le ferite provocate” dall’attacco esplosivo.
L’evento, organizzato per segnare il 20° anniversario dalla strage, è stato aspramente criticato dai membri delle famiglie delle vittime e dagli attivisti.
Gina Murray, la cui figlia Leanne fu uccisa dalla bomba dellìIRA, ha detto a Utv che la commemorazione e la deposizione di una targa erano “sbagliate”.
Proteste lealiste si sono svolte a Crumlin Road durante la cerimonia.
La bomba di Shankill fu uno dei più noti attacchi dell’intero conflitto nordirlandese.
Secondo i Provisional IRA l’obiettivo era l’incontro dell’Army Council dei rivali lealisti dell’Ulster Defence Association che si sarebbe dovuto tenere sopra al negozio.
Sean Kelly tells Begley commemoration that Shankill bomb was an "IRA operation that went tragically wrong with innocent civilians killed."
— Marc Mallett (@MarcMallett_UTV) October 20, 2013
Tratto da Utv
Memorial held for Shankill bomber
A ceremony commemorating an IRA man who planted the Shankill bomb 20 years ago, killing nine people and himself, has been held in north Belfast.
Thomas Begley died on 23 October 1993, when the device he carried into a fish shop exploded prematurely.
The Saturday afternoon blast caused devastation in the area.
Among those killed in the attack were two children aged seven and 13.
On Sunday, Thomas Begley’s father unveiled a plaque during a ceremony in Flax Street, Ardoyne.
The crowd was also addressed by the man who accompanied Thomas Begley to the shop, Sean Kelly.
Kelly survived the bomb and was pulled from the rubble of the collapsed building.
He told those assembled for the commemoration he was “truly sorry for loss of life and injuries caused” in the bomb attack.
The event, which was organised ahead of the 20th anniversary of the bombing, has been criticised by the family members of those who died and victims’ campaigners.
Gina Murray, whose daughter Leanne was killed in Shankill bombing, told UTV the plaque commemoration for Thomas Begley was “wrong”.
And a loyalist protest was held on the Crumlin Road during the ceremony.
The Shankill bombing was one of the most notorious atrocities of the Troubles.
The IRA claimed the target was a UDA meeting which was supposed to be held above the shop.
Sean Kelly tells Begley commemoration that Shankill bomb was an "IRA operation that went tragically wrong with innocent civilians killed."
— Marc Mallett (@MarcMallett_UTV) October 20, 2013