Warrington bombing - Victims must never be forgotten

The gathering in Warrington on Wednesday night was another step in cementing the Northern peace process. It was a magnificent tribute to the tenacity and foresight of Colin Parry, whose 12-year-old son Tim was murdered in the Provisional IRA’s bombing 20 years ago. Another victim was Jonathan Ball, 3.

Mr Parry was instrumental in inviting Martin McGuinness, the North’s deputy first minister, to speak at the Tim Parry-Jonathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Mr Parry’s leadership and example in extending the invitation was highly commendable. There were about a dozen protesters outside. One was the sister of a young woman killed in the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974. She complained that Mr McGuinness talking about peace was like “asking Myra Hindley to give a talk on child protection”.

Mr McGuinness said he understood the attitude of the protesters. “My heart goes out to them because they too are people that have suffered as a result of the conflict in the north of Ireland,” he said. “I would be the last to criticise them.

“We need to be sorry for everything that happened with the people involved in the conflict,” he added. But he was not trying to cover up for the Warrington outrage. He stressed that it was “absolutely shameful that two young boys lost their lives”.

“Compromise is not a dirty word,” Mr McGuinness said. He is proud that he has compromised. There must be compromise on all sides.

Nobody ever suggested that Mr McGuinness was personally involved in the Warrington outrage. He says he only learned of it after the bombing. At the time, he was engaged in negotiations behind the scenes. He said the British government could have walked away at that stage, but he commends them for not doing so.

Mr Parry has not forgiven the Provisional IRA for the bombing, but he clearly desires that the agony which he and his family suffered should not be inflicted on any other families.

All too often, those most involved in war clam up afterwards. They recognise that there was pain on all sides, and they don’t wish to perpetuate the memories of the horrors. Unfortunately, their silence often opens the way for others to glamorise aspects of the conflict while the unspeakable obscenities are forgotten. As a result, war is often glorified.

It is therefore important that those involved should speak out in order to highlight the futility and heartbreak of violence. This is the most effective testimony against those who unwittingly glorify the killing and dying, without regard to the fact that most victims of war are innocent people who get caught up in the violence through no fault of their own.

Tim Parry and Jonathan Ball were just two of the innocent children whose lives were snuffed out. Other children on all sides of the divide were killed, maimed, or deprived of their childhood by mindless violence that society will forget at its own peril.