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21/10/2013
Thomas Begley Plaque Unveiled Amid Protests
A commemorative plaque dedicated to Thomas Begley, an IRA man who died while planting a bomb in a Shankill Road shop in 1993, has been unveiled in north Belfast.
Nine civilians, including two children aged seven and 13, where killed alongside Begley when the bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely as he entered a shop on 23 October, 1993.
The plaque was revealed by Begley's father, Billy Begley, in a ceremony organised by friends.
A group protested the ceremony on the nearby Crumlin Road with critics of the plaque saying that it would only add to the grief of the victims.
Billy Begley addressed the group gathered for the unveiling, saying that the plaque was not a "celebration or a glorification of that tragic day", and was not intended to "degrade the innocent people on the Shankill Road."
Commenting on the plaque, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, who caused controversy when he carried the coffin of Thomas Begley, told the BBC: "I think we have to be very sensitive about all of this. Thomas Begley has a family, those families arguably are victims.
"The Shankill Road bombing, we all know inflicted awful hurt upon the people who were killed and those people who were injured.
"So I'm very mindful, as we seek to build the future, that we have to deal with the past, and part of the problem for victims is that the past is the present.
"It's not going away, so we need to be ultra, ultra careful and sensitive to everybody's feelings in this situation," Mr Adams added.
(MH/JP)
Nine civilians, including two children aged seven and 13, where killed alongside Begley when the bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely as he entered a shop on 23 October, 1993.
The plaque was revealed by Begley's father, Billy Begley, in a ceremony organised by friends.
A group protested the ceremony on the nearby Crumlin Road with critics of the plaque saying that it would only add to the grief of the victims.
Billy Begley addressed the group gathered for the unveiling, saying that the plaque was not a "celebration or a glorification of that tragic day", and was not intended to "degrade the innocent people on the Shankill Road."
Commenting on the plaque, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, who caused controversy when he carried the coffin of Thomas Begley, told the BBC: "I think we have to be very sensitive about all of this. Thomas Begley has a family, those families arguably are victims.
"The Shankill Road bombing, we all know inflicted awful hurt upon the people who were killed and those people who were injured.
"So I'm very mindful, as we seek to build the future, that we have to deal with the past, and part of the problem for victims is that the past is the present.
"It's not going away, so we need to be ultra, ultra careful and sensitive to everybody's feelings in this situation," Mr Adams added.
(MH/JP)
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