'˜If youth don't know history it could be repeated'

Zara Ferguson was speaking after singing at the annual South East Fermanagh Foundation service at Colaghty Church of Ireland at Lack in Fermanagh on Sunday.

Some 300 people attended the service, where the theme was on recognising the role of the next generation of young people whose families lost loved ones during the Troubles.

Zara – who was born in the year of the Good Friday Agreement – said it was important to have a good understanding of recent history.

Her uncle Alan Ferguson was murdered by the IRA in 1978 while on duty with the UDR.

“I just think it is really important that you know about your family history,” she said.

“For me it is really important and it helped me grow up and understand properly what happened.

“A lot of young people don’t actually understand what happened and they get a one sided perspective.”

She has previously travelled to the US with young Catholic people whose families from other parts of Northern Ireland lost loved ones to the UVF.

“I just think it is really important to educate our young people because if we don’t know what happened it could happen again,” she added.

Zara saw at first hand the impact her uncle’s murder had on her grandmother – and greatly admired her example after the tragedy.

“My grandmother was seen as a person in her community who, instead of showing hatred, she held it with pride and dignity and didn’t treat the other side of the community with any prejudice,” she added.