City unbowed - Manchester’s greatness and grit

A NATION’s strength lies not in its armed forces but in the capacity of its citizens to overcome the horror of barbaric acts through togetherness, compassion and even humour.

That resolve was evident yesterday on TV news and on social media as Manchester and its proud people exhibited the unquenchable spirit of what they like to call their Dirty Old Town, after the song written by Ewan MacColl.

On Twitter, the hashtag #RoomsforManchester was trending as locals offered refuge to those affected by Monday night’s terror attack while chatrooms proved a rallying point for British humour, with one tweet declaring: “We’re British. You can’t scare us until you raise the threat level to ‘I’m sorry, but there’s only continental breakfast left’”.

That spirit was also evident in Stockholm where Manchester United put grief aside to play in the Europa League final. There were some supporters who remembered the Munich Air Disaster of 1958 when United lost eight players.

Like its famous soccer team, Manchester has greatness and grit and no atrocity or disaster can alter that.