Michelle O'Neill as First Minister: Colin Parry, whose son was killed in IRA Warrington bomb, urges people to give Sinn Fein Vice President a chance to deliver

Colin and his wife Wendy went on to found the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation in memory of the two boys.

The new Sinn Fein First Minister Michelle O'Neill caused anger in 2022 when she said there had been “no alternative” to the IRA's 30 year campaign, which claimed almost 1,800 lives.

In her inaugural speech as First Minister on Saturday she said everyone who died in the Troubles must never be forgotten - but did not acknowledge the IRA's key role in the bloodshed.

"Much suffering and trauma persists as a result of the injustices and tragedies of the past," she told the Assembly on Saturday. "We must never forget those who have died or been injured, and their families. I am sorry for all the lives lost during the conflict. Without exception.

"As First Minister I am wholeheartedly committed to continuing the work of reconciliation between all of our people. The past cannot be changed or undone. But what we can do is build a better future. I will never ask anyone to ‘move on’, but I do hope that we can ‘move forward’. I want us to walk in harmony and friendship."

But Mr Parry urged people to look at the wider picture in the interests of peace.

"There is probably no such thing as a perfect peace," he told the News Letter.

Many people would hear her words through the filter of their own personal background and experience, he said.

"But if running through all of that is a genuine purpose and aim to make serious political progress, then I think all of us have to some extent accept that language can be interpreted in so many ways.

"And if we look at it in that kind of microscopic way you will find things that they don't particularly like in that statement.

"But if you're looking in the round, it seems to me that kind of speech so you'd expect somebody who is now first minister to make, so let's now give her the chance to deliver. That is my view."

He added: "Personally I don't live there so I'm not going to be living with this on a day-to-day basis as people in Northern Ireland are. But nevertheless, as a victim that is my take."

Mr Parry invited Martin McGuinness to speak at his centre in Warrington in 2013. He said he could never forgive the republican leader or the IRA for the death of his son, but still believed he was sincere about making peace.

Asked if he was now personally satisfied with Sinn Fein's efforts towards personal reconciliation with him, he said that does not enter his thinking.

"I don't factor Tim into my responses to these questions," he said. "I try and look at the fact that it's a political process.

"No amount of words of apology or regret will ever undo what happened to Tim and my family. But I can't remain locked in the past. And I just like I think most people who want to see a peaceful Northern Ireland."