Shankill Bomb 30th Anniversary: DUP, UUP, TUV, SDLP and Alliance Party express solidarity with victims of IRA atrocity

The victims were the fish shop owner, John Frizzell, 63, his daughter Sharon McBride, 29, Michael Morrison, 27, his partner Evelyn Baird, 27, their daughter, Michelle, seven, George Williamson, 63, Gillian Williamson, 49, Wilma McKee, 38, and Leanne Murray, 13.

One of the IRA bombers was also killed, Thomas Begley.

A commemoration service for the relatives of those killed was held at West Kirk Presbyterian Church on the Shankill Road today.

DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was one of those who attended.

“The pain on the Shankill Road still resonates today, three decades after the Provisional IRA took nine innocent lives," he said afterwards.

"It was a shocking and indiscriminate attack which tore through a busy shopping street on a quiet Saturday afternoon. Three decades later the community in the greater Shankill area remain united in a determination that those murdered on that day will never be forgotten."

UUP leader Doug Beattie also expressed solidarity.

"On this, the 30th anniversary of the Shankill Bombing, the Ulster Unionist Party joins with the entire community in remembering the nine innocent people who were murdered by the Provisional IRA on 32 October 1993," he said.

He added: “It would be fitting for Sinn Fein to recognise the suffering caused by their actions and for them to join us in condemning all terrorist actions, regardless of the perpetrators.”

TUV leader Jim Allister also attended the service.

"At a time when an aspiring First Minister claims that there was 'no alternative' to such atrocities it is more important than ever to remember what happened on the Shankill 30 years ago today," he said afterwards.

Alliance leader Naomi Long MLA also expressed support for the families.

“Their courage, dignity and compassion, alongside the strength shown by the wider community in the wake of the attack, stands in stark contrast to the depravity and lack of humanity displayed by those who planted the bomb," she said.

Former West Belfast SDLP MP Joe Hendron led an SDLP delegation to the service who met families afterwards.

"What happened was horrific and shouldn't have happened, but they [the victims] will never be forgotten," he told the News Letter.

Sinn Fein did not appear to release any statement about the attack.

Kenny Donaldson, Director of victims group, the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) attended the commemoration.

"Yet another milestone anniversary has been reached and it is clear to see over recent days the very palpable and painful legacy which remains within the local Shankill community but particularly within the families directly impacted through having loved ones stolen away," he said afterwards.

President of the Republic of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, also expressed his support.

“As their families and relatives will be recalling the loved ones cruelly taken from them, we too are thinking of the families and community of all those murdered 30 years ago today in the Shankill Road bombing," he said. "Their courage, resilience, and grief reminds us that while peace is difficult to achieve, and so difficult to maintain, it can be achieved even from the most harrowing of circumstances.”