Survivors remember 1972, ‘worst year of Troubles’, at a ‘special service of Christian unity’

Victims and survivors of the Troubles from both the nationalist and unionist traditions gathered for a weekend remembrance service to mark 50 years since the “worst year of the Troubles”.
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Described as a ‘a special service of Christian unity’ by the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), it was held at St Columb’s Cathedral in Londonderry with several people who lost loved ones taking part.

Among them were Eugene McVeigh whose brother Columba was listed as one of the ‘disappeared’, Shane Laverty whose brother Robert was an RUC constable shot dead by the IRA, and Richard Bell, who survived an assassination attempt on him, his father and his brother Robin, an off-duty UDR soldier who sadly died in the attack.

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SEFF director of services Kenny Donaldson said: “We face into 30 years of 50th anniversaries in the context of the events of the terrorist campaign – the Troubles – and as an organisation we felt it important to offer leadership around these issues.

Shane Laverty, Kenny Donaldson, Eugene McVeigh, Rosemary McCullagh and Pete Murtagh at St Columb’s CathedralShane Laverty, Kenny Donaldson, Eugene McVeigh, Rosemary McCullagh and Pete Murtagh at St Columb’s Cathedral
Shane Laverty, Kenny Donaldson, Eugene McVeigh, Rosemary McCullagh and Pete Murtagh at St Columb’s Cathedral

“Assembled within the cathedral on Friday night were innocents impacted by both republican and loyalist terror from across these islands, others opted out from attending and that is deeply regrettable, we hope that a time may come when they will be willing to engage in wider communal remembrance, understanding the need to express solidarity with the loss and injustice experienced by their own neighbours.”

He continued: “1972 was a truly brutal year with almost 500 deaths and over 4,000 injured. Many of those impacted feel marginalised and that somehow their loved one(s) have been forgotten, they have not felt acknowledged, Friday night went some way to redressing this.”

Mr McVeigh, reflecting during the service on his brother’s murder, said: “My family’s greatest pain over time has been the one of feeling helpless in the face of such an atrocity.

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“We have been hurt and at times very angry too when reflecting of the injustice and brutality inflicted on Columba. Perhaps not unlike how we all feel today at the brutal events in Ukraine.

“But as individuals and as a community our strength lies in dealing with that pain and the personal tragedies of that past.

“That’s why I’m grateful to be present in this magnificent cathedral tonight and to stand with you who know what pain and hurt and loss is really about.”

After the service, Mr Laverty said: “We are in a cycle of 30 years of 50th anniversaries, but truthfully, for us, each family occasion is an anniversary! The events of 1972 changed the lives of very many families.”

He added: “On Friday night, we remembered the silent sacrifice. No big headlines, no multi-million-pound inquiry, just dignified, prayerful and loving thoughts for innocents, lost.”