Colin Sheridan: Harrowing memory of atrocity on our streets put in stark comparison to Gaza horror

The 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings took place this week, with survivors and witnesses describing the still harrowing aftermath of the explosions. Now just consider that the people of Gaza are going through five-times the equivalent of the Dublin bombing every day for the last 224 days.

Talbot St in Dublin city centre in the aftermath of the three car bombs that exploded killing 23 people and seriously injuring 83 others on May 18, 1974.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings on May 17, 1974, Joe Duffy took a series of callers on his Liveline programme on RTÉ Radio One. The callers were predominantly survivors of the day, recalling the trauma of ordinary lives being extraordinarily interrupted in the most violent, devastating way. Three bombs exploded in Dublin during the evening rush hour and a fourth exploded in Monaghan almost 90 minutes later. The bombs, later claimed by the Ulster Volunteer Force, killed 34 civilians, including an unborn child, and injured almost 300. The attacks were among the deadliest of the Troubles, and by far the most devastating in the 26 counties during the period. Most of the victims were young women, although the ages of the dead ranged from 19 up to 80 years.

A memorial to those who died in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings stands in Dublin city centre.