'We cannot forget - nor should we': Londoners gather to mark 30 years since IRA's colossal Canary Wharf bomb claimed two lives
Those left “scarred” by terrorist attacks cannot forget those atrocities “and nor should we”, a memorial service for an IRA bombing has heard.
Jonathan Ganesh was speaking at a gathering yesterday of around 50 people to remember the victims of the IRA’s 1996 Canary Wharf attack (also known as the Docklands bombing), exactly 30 years ago.
Mr Ganesh survived the attack, but his friends Inam Bashir and John Jeffries did not.
Meanwhile over 100 people were hurt and the newly-built financial district in the east end of London was devastated, with repair costs reportedly being around £150m.
Also speaking at the event was Sarah Butt whose brother-in-law Paul had been one of three people killed in the IRA’s Baltic Exchange blast in the Square Mile four years earlier.
Speeches were heard as people gathered close to the bomb site, flowers were laid, and doves were released over the Thames to symbolise peace.
Mr Ganesh said that one of London’s deputy mayors Joanne McCartney and Met commander Neerav Patel were among the attendees, which included Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and Hindus, plus Leon Silver of the East London Central Synagogue (and president of Nelson Street Synagogue).
He had been 23-years-old at the time of the bombing and was an amateur boxer, about to turn professional.
However an injury to his hand from the blast halted his nascent career.
He said the act had been “despicable”, adding that more lives would have been lost if not for the “extraordinary courage, unwavering professionalism, and selfless dedication” of the emergency services.
“Many of you will remember Inam and John as the friendly faces behind the newspaper kiosk beside South Quay Station,” he said.
“They were well-known, well-liked, and truly loved within this community.
“They were ordinary men living ordinary lives – taken from us in an extraordinary and horrific act of violence.
“I believe they would be deeply moved to see us gathered here today.”
He added: “We cannot forget the acts of terror that have scarred our communities, both at home and across the world. Nor should we.”
In her speech, Ms Butt had written: “The Docklands attack was not an isolated incident.
“It was part of a sustained campaign of terror that claimed many innocent lives.
“My brother-in-law Paul was among them.”
She added: “Paul's parents and brother all died without ever seeing justice.
“And the impact didn't end with that generation – it rippled forward into the next.
“Paul's niece and nephew grew up hearing about an uncle they would never know, robbed of memories they should have had.”
She pledged that “we will continue to campaign for justice – for those who were killed, for those who were injured, and for the families who still live with the consequences”.
Only one of the IRA team responsible for the bomb – James McArdle – was convicted.
Sentenced to 25 years in jail, he had been due to get out in March 2001 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
However, in July 2000 both the BBC and The Guardian newspaper reported that the then-Northern Ireland secretary Peter Mandelson had deployed a royal pardon to get him out eight months sooner.