Shankill Bomb 30th anniversary: Alan McBride says he will never give another interview about IRA attack - and calls for politicians to commit to building peace and reconciliation

After the 30th anniversary church service today for those killed, Alan told the News Letter that the day marked the last time he would give an interview about the attack.

"The last two years have been particularly difficult for me with my daughter becoming older than her mother was when she passed away and then my little granddaughter being born."

To pass such milestones without his wife and father-in-law is "incredibly sad" he said.

"But it is good to be here today with so many friends that I've met along the way."

These included Briege Voyle and John Taggart from the Ballymurphy Families, he said.

Many Protestant and Catholic families suffered, he said, "and the pain is exactly the same".

"And my appeal on this 30th anniversary is that we need to do more to build peace and reconciliation. Here, I decided after today that I'll be doing no more media interviews about the bomb."

He added: "I just want to make my last interview, to be of just appealing for politicians to get back into government and get back around the table to make this place work... The most important thing is peace and reconciliation, to be able to give our children the future that we never had."

Michelle Williamson, whose mother and father George and Gillian Williamson were killed in the blast said the event caused her very mixed emotions.

"Like so many people here today it's hard to believe we're 30 years on and I have to say there's been no closure for victims or no justice," she told the News Letter.

For her justice would be all those responsible for planning and planting the bombing being jailed.

"But... we live in Northern Ireland, there never is justice because it upsets the politics of Northern Ireland."

John MacVicar, spokesman for the Shankill Bomb Families Support Group said many questions remain unanswered.

A report by the Historical Enquiries Team did not answer key questions, he said.

"You don't take a bomb like that off the shelf and just pick a particular day. When they arrived, they knew they were gonna kill innocent people.

It was in the middle of a busy shopping day and the forensic report found there was only an 11 second fuse on the bomb.

"So they knew they were going to kill innocent civilians."

"So the questions that remain unanswered are who made the bomb? Who authorised it being sent here, but also, who drove the two bombers here with it? The attack is portrayed as a flash-in-the pan attempt to murder members of the UDA but it was clear it was going to kill civilians.

We will be taking every opportunity we can in future to get answers.

Máiría Cahill, who is from a prominent west Belfast republican family but later sat as an SDLP councillor, also attended the service.

She has attended the anniversary service for years and has many friends at the church, she said.

She noted that in the order of service one of the messages of support and sympathy comes from the Fall Road.

"Really that echoes the horror and revulsion that was felt by many people on the Falls on that day," she said.

"Not everybody supported the IRA, and particularly coming from the background and community that I come from, it's important to come and share in people's grief and try and support them as best you can."

SDLP veteran Joe Hendron, now aged 90, also attended the service.

At the time of the bomb he was the MP for west Belfast, and he attended the scene the morning afterwards.

"I called down the next day," he said. "It was a terrible slaughter of those innocent people. There were very big crowds, some people in prayer and some angry as well."

He too tries to attend the service each year.

"It was just a beautiful service, I felt like Jesus Christ was there," he said. "I felt very much at home. What happened was horrific and shouldn't have happened, but they [the victims] will never be forgotten."