Manchester bomb: Victims' lives '˜will be changed forever'

Jonathan Ganesh’s reaction upon hearing the news of Monday’s blast was one of “sadness” and “disgust”.

Mr Ganesh – now 41 and living in east London – grew up in Limerick, describes himself as Catholic, and is distantly related to Easter Rising leader Eamon De Valera.

He was wounded in the IRA bombing of Canary Wharf in 1996, when he was working as a security guard in the area.

The blast buried him under rubble, and left him with serious injuries to his face and hands. He is also partially deaf in one ear. The bomb killed Inam Bashir, 29, and John Jeffries, 31, who had been working in their newspaper kiosk. Many more people were left seriously injured.

“It’s devastating,” Mr Ganesh said.

“My heart really goes out to those people [who were injured in Manchester]. I can really identify with those people, what they’re suffering. They have my deepest sympathy. It’s identical to what happened to us in Canary Wharf and other IRA attacks. I’m sorry to say this to you, but their lives will be changed forever, like my life has changed forever.”

Mr Ganesh said he has spoken to IRA victims in Manchester who are members of his group, the Docklands Victims Association, after news of Monday night’s bomb spread.

He said people “may not want to hear it,” but the bombing on Monday was “identical to what the IRA have done”.

“There is no difference between terrorism and bombs,” he said, adding that Colonel Gaddafi, the IRA and Isis are all indistinguishable in his mind.