Docklands bomb victim: my relative De Valera would not have stooped to this

Jonathan Ganesh, who grew up in Limerick and had a miraculous escape from the 1996 IRA bomb in London, says his famous ancestor – a former Sinn Fein member and Dail president – would not have targeted civilians.

“It was one of the most frightening days of my life,” Mr Ganesh told the News Letter.

“I thought I was going to die. I was walking around and knew nothing about the bomb warnings.

“Then I saw a flash of orange and green light. I thought – what on Earth is that? A cloud of dust and smoke and glass and iron girders came flying through the air.

“It only lasted a few seconds but seemed to last 5-10 minutes. I was on the ground praying to God.

“The noise was so deafening but you could hear people screaming and yet the noise surpassed their screaming. I woke up covered in blood.

“I was only about 50 yards from the bomb. It really was a miracle I survived – and that only two people were killed.”

Mr Ganesh’s mother Patricia Coll was Irish and he grew up with her in the Republic.

“Eamon de Valera’s mother was my grandmother’s sister,” he told the News Letter.

“It is astonishing. But I don’t think de Valera would have blown up shopkeepers or children in Warrington – that is quite different to a confrontation with an army.

“But there should be no violence whatsoever. We believe in democracy, but the IRA attacked innocent civilian targets.”

Mr Ganesh later helped set up the Docklands Victims’ Association (DVA), which he now chairs, to support survivors.

The two men who died in the bomb – Inam Bashir and John Jeffries – were his personal friends.

“We are still absolutely appalled that the Government has not got behind the victims,” he said.

Many of the victims are struggling financially to survive, said Mr Ganesh.

“I would like those responsible to be held accountable. There is very little justice for victims.”

One of the members of the DVA is 74-year-old Zaoui Berezag, who suffered severe brain damage in the bomb.

His daughter Rajaa was 10 years old at the time and now acts as his carer.

“He can talk to us but you have to figure out what he is saying,” she said. “He does not know what day it is or the time.

“I am blessed to have had 20 years with him. But I was only 10 when it happened so I never really had a chance to know him.”

Ms Berezag supports the current campaign to secure compensation from Libya, which supplied the Semtex for the bomb to the IRA.

“But whether we get compensation or not, we are still going to be left with this.”

Her mother Gemma says her life ended with the bomb.

“We never had a nice day in our lives since,” she said.

“My husband was a hard worker, nice to his children and nice to me. Now I change his nappy 10 times a day.

“I need financial help for my husband. I cannot even afford the nappies he needs.

“The Government forgot about me. I am 57 but I feel like I am 80.

“This is still killing me, 20 years after the bomb.”