‘As my PTSD therapy draws to a close I can say this: both Dublin and London have failed victims like us’

Last night I completed what was, more than likely, my second-last therapy session to treat complex PTSD.
Edward and Martha O'Neill on their wedding day. Edward was killed in the 1974 Dublin Monaghan bombings while his wife miscarried their unborn daughter, also Martha, as a result of the trauma.Edward and Martha O'Neill on their wedding day. Edward was killed in the 1974 Dublin Monaghan bombings while his wife miscarried their unborn daughter, also Martha, as a result of the trauma.
Edward and Martha O'Neill on their wedding day. Edward was killed in the 1974 Dublin Monaghan bombings while his wife miscarried their unborn daughter, also Martha, as a result of the trauma.

I have been attending therapy for over the last four years. In 1974, I was injured in the Parnell Street UVF bombing attack in Dublin which also murdered my father.

I had been in a barbershop with my dad and brother. The bomb exploded as we left. I was blown across the road and was buried alive under falling rubble and masonry.

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Oil from a tank in a building seeped through the rubble and burned me, leaving me with second and third degree burns on my back and stomach.

The aftermath of the Parnell Street bombThe aftermath of the Parnell Street bomb
The aftermath of the Parnell Street bomb

During the course of the treatment there were a lot of tears and, to be honest, I nearly gave up several times as it was so difficult.  

The day my dad was murdered I can still remember what was on the radio (Terry Jacks, ‘Seasons in the Sun’), what he gave me for breakfast (orange juice and toast and sections of fruit cut up), and the smell of the soap off his face after he shaved when he hugged me.

I remember him dressing me and me tossing his hair and then laughing and kissing me on the cheek. I loved my dad; he was my hero. He is still my hero. 

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I am however not unique. There are many people like me with similar stories to tell. All equally painful and all telling a similar tale.

Letter to the editorLetter to the editor
Letter to the editor

What I say now pains me even more. The legacy proposals of Boris Johnson and Brandon Lewis will cruelly snatch away any last remaining hope we have of ever getting closure for ourselves and the cruel wrongs done to our families if implemented.

The role of the government in the Republic in our case and the others including Breen and Buchanan, Ian Sproule, etc, all demand answers.

The Garda have treated us appallingly, in the cruellest most reprehensible manner possible. I had such high hopes for Drew Harris.

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Nearly 48 years later, they are still hiding files. People can draw their own conclusions from this.

If the Garda had clean hands in this and many other cases, the files would have been released long ago.

We all know they don’t have clean hands, which is the equally sad and frustrating thing.

We are fighting on two fronts: the Government in the Republic and the British Government, who are attempting this abomination of a slight of hand. 

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What has the Good Friday Agreement done for victims and survivors left behind? The answer is nothing.

It has been extremely profitable however for the terrorists, who have grown fat and rich on the proceeds of their evil, now selling baubles like Easter eggs on social media.

It has left survivors like me scrambling for the crumbs left over to pay for medical care for our injuries and to keep a roof over our heads while the terrorists swapped their balaclavas and AK-47s for €1,000 suits and took high-paid ministerial and advisors’ jobs and fat pensions.

This kicks sand in the faces of ALL innocent victims and survivors, and can only be described as rubbing salt into an obvious open wound.

They really have no shame.

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The Government in the Irish Republic need to step up to the plate and acknowledge their responsibilities, remove the barriers for us, release all files and ensure that we are treated better than the terrorists who caused our injuries.

At this moment we are being treated like we are the ones who did wrong. Like we are the bad ones. Appalling.

A special mention to groups such as the Victims and Survivors Service and South East Fermanagh Foundation, without whose help people like me would have nowhere to turn because the governments have been useless, and likely deliberately putting barriers in our way.

We are an embarrassment to them, and we know it. 

I cannot change the past, but I can change the future. 

Edward O’Neill, survivor of the UVF’s Parnell Street attack in Dublin, on May 17, 1974

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