Living with the scars left by IRA atrocity
It has been 20 years since an IRA bomb exploded in Enniskillen on November 8, 1987. The atrocity claimed 11 lives and that of Ronnie Hill, seven years ago, and injured and traumatized many others. To many people caught up in the blast, it still seems as if it happened yesterday. In this series of reports Anne Palmer talks to individuals who were there as they pause to reflect and remember
Stephen Gault, was injured in the 1987 Enniskillen bomb. He still has a piece of debris from the bomb blast, possibly a piece of masonry or grit lodged in his forehead, above his right eye.
It feels uncomfortable. It has been there, moving around under his skin for 20 years. Tragically, Stephen lost his dad Samuel Gault in the IRA atrocity. This loss also bereaved his mum Gladys, and brother Keith.
Stephen said he will always remember his dad, a loving father and an RUC officer, as a "bubbly" person and as a "perfect gentleman".
He was 18 years old at the time, and was standing near the Cenotaph, between the wall of St Michael's reading rooms building, where the bomb exploded. Samuel Gault was on one side and Ted Armstrong on the other side, with his son Clive, he said. The two men were killed, however, remarkably, their two sons survived.
Today, Stephen uses crutches, he is crippled with pain from arthritis and has psoriasis, which developed weeks after the bomb, and is linked to the trauma and stress of the bombing. Living with these medical conditions has been a constant and daily reminder of the bomb, he said.
His father had served in the RUC from 1958, through the early days of the Troubles, and was shot in the knee on Remembrance Sunday 1961, in south Armagh, by the IRA. A colleague died in the incident.
"We always thought it was very ironic that it had happened on Remembrance Sunday, and then he died on Remembrance Day. He retired in 1985 and we thought he would have a good few years' retirement. He was only 49 when he died," he said.
"It was very difficult, I think I was numb especially the first few days afterwards, I just kept thinking it was a bad dream. It was difficult for my mum and brother too," he said.
"Twenty years have passed, people are always talking, saying it is meant to get easier. While it is a massive milestone, 20 years after, it hasn't got any easier. It's not as bad as the third anniversary was, but it is a long time to be suffering," he said.
"People have not been brought to justice for their crime, and that's very hard to deal with, you could be passing them in the street and not know who they are. The Historical Enquiries Team have been very encouraging. We just have to wait and see what happens," he said.
Clearly these two decades have been very difficult for Stephen, carrying the effects of such a traumatic experience.
"For 19 years I would have kept everything bottled up. I felt it was very good, when I started talking about it, it was like a cork being released from a bottle and it certainly helped," he said.
To some extent he feels lucky in his life, as he has been able to achieve what he wanted, but evidently with the resulting illness, his career prospects were hampered.
"But I would not say I was fortunate, when so many people around me died. It was a blessing from God, that I survived," he said.
He believes the Enniskillen atrocity marked a turning point in the history of the Troubles. He said the Americans who supported the terrorists would have been disgusted, and would have withdrawn their support and funding.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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