Remembering the victims in Greysteel

As people gather 30 years on to remember their loved ones, men and women whose lives were so cruelly cut short or forever changed on October 30, 1993, perhaps we all should take the time to ponder and reflect.

That day will forever be imprinted on the minds of many us. I remember as a teenager being out at a fancy dress party with others and the news filtering through about what had happened at the Rising Sun. I remember the stunned silence. We may have been on the other side of Derry, but if felt so close. The innocent victims were people who had gone for a night out, just like us.

Those murdered were Karen Thompson, Stephen Mullan, John Moyne, John Burns, Moira Duddy, Joseph McDermott and James Moore. Samuel Montgomery passed away later from injuries he sustained. Nineteen others were injured.

Many of you will also remember the impact of that terrible day too, and none more so than the people of Greysteel, the bereaved and all those who have carried with them for 30 years the physical injuries and emotional scars from what was one of the worst atrocities of the troubles, the local people who gathered to do what they could in the aftermath for their friends, their neighbours, their loved ones.

As they gather once more, three decades on, our thoughts and our prayers go with them.