Final preparations as Coleraine set to commemorate those killed in 1973 IRA bomb blast

A new memorial is to be unveiled on Monday afternoon – exactly fifty years to the day since since a large explosive device was detonated claiming the lives of six Protestants and wounding more than 30 other people.

The official unveilling will take place during a service at Coleraine Town Hall at 3pm.

On June 12, 1973, a garbled phone warning was given that a bomb (hidden in a stolen Ford Cortina) had been left in the area of Coleraine’s Railway Road.

It exploded at 3pm, before police had a chance to commence an evacuation.

The six people who died were: Elizabeth Craigmile,76; Robert Scott, 72; Dinah Campbell, 72; Francis Campbell, 70; Nan Davis, 60, and Elizabeth Palmer, 60.The Campbells and Elizabeth Craigmile were all related; Francis was Dinah’s husband, and Elizabeth was his sister.

A second device detonated five minutes later at a garage in Hanover Place but there were no fatalities. One man spent months in intensive care, but survived. At least three people lost limbs.

Last month, a granite plaque was placed at the scene of the fatal bomb blast at Railway Road.

A granddaughter of Nan Davis who was killed in the Coleraine bomb attack, said the murder devastated her family.

Lesley Magee said: "I remember vividly my mum being hysterical. It was just an awful time for the family,” she said."There were three siblings and the youngest one lived in England and he was very, very close to his mother."He's still alive. He's 80-odd now and if you were to speak to him about it now, at 80-odd he would still cry. It has ramifications throughout generations," she told the BBC.Speaking to the News Letter, Ms Magee said: "My mum Kathleen died a few years ago. It's very, very strange. She had dementia, and it's the one thing that never left her. Literally days before she died, she still cried about her mother being killed.”

Alliance councillor Alderman Yvonne Boyle said: “As this anniversary approaches, my thoughts and sympathies are with the friends and families of those who were killed in this terrible attack, as well as those who were injured in the attack.“Even 50 years later, the shadow of the bombings still hangs heavy over Coleraine. The dark day lives long in the memory of all those who lived here at the time in particular, with lives lost and others changed forever. All those affected have shown a bravery which can only be commended.”Alderman Boyle added: “It is important we remember all lives lost to terrorism, both here and further afield, and stand united in opposition to it.

"That is especially vital when a minority remains today who would drag us back to our troubled past.”

Sinn Fein councillor Sean McGlinchey, who was given six life sentences for his role in the bombings, has said he will not attend the memorial unveiling.

Anyone wishing attend is asked to arrive at the Town Hall by 2.45pm. A one-minute silence will take place at 3pm.