Victims’ campaigner dies just weeks after toddler’s murder anniversary

Jackie Nicholl’s son Colin, aged just 17 months and being pushed in a pram, died when the IRA placed a bomb at a furniture showroom on Belfast’s Shankill Road in December 1971.

Two other people were killed and others seriously injured.

In an emotional interview ahead of the anniversary of the murder last month, Mr Nicholl told the News Letter he still has no idea how he coped with the loss.

“Anyone who has lost their child knows how deep that hole can be. It is a very big hole that no one can fill for us... no matter what,” he said.

Mr Nicholl, who died on January 26, also said it pained him that no one was brought to justice.

“There is no way that we are thinking about justice,” he said.

“My son is fifty years dead... and not once has anyone from the RUC or the PSNI come to us to talk about it. It is a disgrace that I hear other cases being talked about. It is terrible.”

He added: “I can’t thank the people of the Shankill Road enough. They have been very good. When people remember, it really does help us.”

Still grieving five decades on, Jackie said it would be hard for anyone who hasn’t lost a child in this way to understand how he feels.

“Anyone who has lost their child knows how deep that hole can be.

“It is a very big hole that no one can fill for us... no matter what,” he said.

Jackie became a committed trade unionist “working for everyone”, and was elected chairman of the North Belfast branch of the NI Labour Party.

No organisation claimed responsibility for the bombing but it was believed that the Provisional IRA attacked the showroom in retaliation for the UVF bombing of McGurk’s bar the previous week.

Axel Schmidt, advocacy manager at Ulster Human Rights Watch, said Mr Nicholl and his wife, Ann, “bore their loss with great dignity”.

He said: “We are deeply saddened to hear of Jackie’s passing. He was one of the thousands of innocent victims of IRA terrorism when his baby son, Colin, was murdered in a bomb attack in 1971 on Belfast’s Shankill Rd.

“He and his wife, Ann, bore their loss with great dignity. Jackie campaigned with us for the victims’ payment scheme to get government approval. Sadly, Jackie hasn’t lived long enough to see the scheme deliver practical financial support for victims.”

Mr Schmidt added: “Our deepest sympathy goes to Ann and the wider family for a father who never gave up the fight and, in life as a leading trade unionist, worked tirelessly and with complete dedication for workers and the trade union movement.

“His legacy is his story that is one of nine now available through the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).”

READ: Parents of toddler killed by IRA bomb braced for anniversary service

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