Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“Every year since the Madrid bombings in 2004 a Memorial Day to the victims of terrorist attacks has been observed across Europe. Since 2012 I have hosted an event to mark the day at Parliament Buildings. It has been highly successful with a large number of victims attending from across the Province. This year’s event sadly cannot take place in person due to the pandemic but we will be running an online event which can be accessed on Facebook via this link on 11th March 2021. Streaming will start shortly before 11 am. You will also be able to view it via my Facebook page.
“The event will take the form of a minute of silence in memory of murdered victims, followed by some victims telling their stories so that the wider community might hear some of the untold accounts of the consequences of terrorism, both republican and loyalist.
“I am thankful to the South East Fermanagh Foundation and Ulster Human Rights Watch for their help in assisting with the planning of this event.
“I believe that anyone who was in attendance on previous years will agree that this was a worthwhile event.
“Over the years Innocent Victims of Terrorism Day has grown to be the largest annual event to be held in Parliament Buildings, to the point where it has been difficult to find a room big enough for everyone. We started in the Senate Chamber and last year the only space large enough was the Great Hall which was filled to capacity.
“While online events can have many disadvantages when compared to in-person events, one advantage of doing things differently this year is that many more people will be able to view the event online and there will be no cap on numbers.
“While the victims cannot meet in Parliament Buildings it is my hope that the Assembly Commission will not repeat its mistake of last year by refusing to light Stormont red to mark a date which, given our history, is of particular significance in Northern Ireland. The request was submitted in good time but less than a week out the Commission, on which all of Stormont’s big parties is represented, is still dragging its heels on this issue.”
Details of this year’s speakers
Andrea Nelson
Paul and Dorothy Nelson were amongst the 12 people killed in the Peacock Room at La Mon on 17th February 1978. Andrea (aged 14) and Melanie (aged 13) waited for their parents to come back from the first night out they ever remember them attending, but they never came. The sisters were cared for by family and variously spent time with relatives in East Belfast, County Down, and Chester, as well as returning to School in East Belfast.
Both sisters moved to England to continue their studies after leaving School and remain very close. Andrea lives in Glasgow with her husband, where she is a nurse and university professor in Glasgow, with her work focussing on wound healing. Melanie lives and works in Yorkshire with her daughter. They live with the heartache of losing their parents at such a young age, and this continues to affect so many parts of their lives every day.
Edward O’Neill
Edward O’Neill, aged 51 is married to Sandra for the last 19 years and they have 2 sons, Edward Jnr ,22 years old and Evan, 17. Edward is currently employed in a national data centre in Dublin and at present completing a Postgraduate qualification in Applied Statistics also holding an undergraduate qualification in Business & Mathematics from Dublin City University.
On the 17th May 1974 he was exiting a barber shop with his father, also called Edward and his older brother Billy on Parnell Street, Dublin. A no warning car bomb had been parked by the UVF and exploded as all were passing. Edward’s father was killed instantly. Edward was blown across the road by the force of the blast. Debris from a building had collapsed on top of him burying him alive. Emergency services dug him out believing him to have been killed. Edward spent nearly 2 years in hospital suffering catastrophic injuries. His mother Martha was 8-month pregnant at the time. The trauma and shock of losing her husband and having 2 seriously injured children induced a miscarriage and baby Martha, as the child was named died. She is buried with her father in Glasnevin cemetery Dublin.
Edward, along with his sisters formed what is now the Justice for the Forgotten group only realising in the later part of their teenage years that no person was ever arrested, charged and convicted for the murder of their father and 33 other people that day and the injuries to nearly 300 people in Dublin & Monaghan. They successfully pressurised the then Irish Government to initiate the unsuccessful Barron Inquiry and later McEntee Inquiry. The O’Neill, O Brien and Massey families who all lost relatives ultimately took a different direction to the remainder of the group and initiated High Court proceedings to force the government to make the files archive from the McEntee Inquiry available. They were successful in this action and the state appealed the verdict to the Supreme Court where the case still sits. Meanwhile several of the various family members have since passed away.
Judith Jenkins-Young and Sarah Jayne-Young
My husband and my father Lance Corporal Jeffery V Young was murdered by the Provisional IRA at the Hyde Park bombing of 1982. The individual who was due to stand trial (John Downey) for Jeffrey’s murder and that of three of his colleagues received an On the Run letter. I was left with two small children, SarahJane who was four years and six months old and Louise who was 18 months old.
I have been involved with SEFF for four years now and they have literally transformed my family’s life and particularly Sarah-Jane, they’re always there to back us, to support us, to encourage us and to carry us through.
In recent month we secured a positive result in the Civil Courts where John Downey was found to be liable for the Hyde Park bomb, he won’t go to Prison for Jeffery’s murder, but we feel a sense of vindication. The public now know John Downey’s attachment to that horrific act of terrorism that forever changed our lives.
Other background information submitted by Judith:
I have tried to get help for her for years, but nobody wanted to know. Sarah Jayne suffers from the memories of the bombing and the aftermath and we had nobody who would listen to her or understand her. As Sarah Jayne got older, her life became difficult. All throughout her life I had no one to turn to for help. Until one day, I received a message from Chris Daly who asked if I would like to attend a meeting in Northern Ireland that an organisation called SEFF were arranging. I thought, well I have nothing to lose. I was very afraid of going over to Northern Ireland, but I took my chances as I really needed help for Sarah Jayne. When I arrived, I realised that there was a lot of people in the same situation as me. SEFF have helped me to realise that I was not alone.
When I came back home, they contacted someone to help Sarah Jayne and give her counselling. That was the start of some help for us. Up until that point, we were in a dark place and I could not see any light. I was so desperate for help. SEFF understand Sarah Jayne better than I ever could, and they have dealt with her trauma and they understand terrorism. I can’t thank them enough for the support Sarah Jayne has had for her mental and physical issues. I dread to think were we would be today if I had not gone over to Northern Ireland and met with SEFF.
To know you are not alone, it was like a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Sarah Jayne has found it helpful as she has really bad days and knowing that there is someone at the end of the phone to talk to, who understands her and is not going to leave but make things a little better for her to deal with. As I said, I can’t thank SEFF enough.