McGuinness to meet parents of IRA bomb victims

Parents of IRA bomb victims Tim Parry and Johnathan Ball are to meet with Martin McGuinness.

Colin and Wendy Parry and Wilf and Marie Ball will meet the former IRA commander in Warrington.

Two bombs killed their sons and injured 56 others in Warrington in 1993.

The group will have a private meeting at the Tim Parry and Johnathan Ball Young People's Centre.

The memorial centre was opened last year.

After the meeting Mr McGuinness, the four parents and other families affected by the bomb will attend an advent concert.

The concert was organised to promote peace and build bridges between Ireland and the UK.

Mr Parry, 55, says he has mixed feelings about his first-ever meeting with an IRA member-turned-politician.

He said: "I expect I will have mixed emotions.

“I totally disapprove of his past.

“The fact is he is now an elected politician and a prominent individual

in the future of Northern Ireland so it is important to meet him.

"I will not go into specific details of what we will be talking about.

“We will be covering personal matters as well as political issues.

"I have met several active IRA members before.

“I met the Brighton bomber, Patrick Magee, last weekend.

“This is the first time I have met one who has become a politician.

“I imagine this will be a one-off opportunity to speak to him so it is

vital that we have the chance to meet."

The advent concert, called A Bridge To Peace, takes place at Parr Hall in

Warrington.

It will feature youth choirs from the town and also from Omagh.

It was organised by The Bridge, a Warrington-based group which works to

forge closer ties to all parts of Ireland.

Tim Parry was 12 and Johnathan Ball was three when they were killed on

the day before Mothering Sunday in 1993.