Irish Examiner View: Two decades of terror since Bali bombing

October 12, 2002, was the moment terrorists decided that young pleasure-seekers and tourists were regarded as target

A police officer stands guard at the area of the ruins of The Sari Club after a bomb blast destroyed the club, killing more than 180 people and injuring hundreds others in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, in 2002. Picture: Itsuo Inouye/AP

Twenty years ago next week, an event took place on the other side of the world which had profound effects on the lives of thousands and the economies of dozens of countries.

It is marked by poignant memorials along the beaches and mountains of Australia’s eastern, southern, and western coasts; opposite London’s St James’s Park; at Singapore Cricket Club, and in a garden of remembrance in Ho Chi Minh City, still better known by many as Saigon.