17 October 2011

McGuinness showed ‘no mercy’ to bomb victims

With the Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Revd Patrick Kelly, and the High Sheriff of Merseyside, Professor Helen Carty, in Liverpool Cathedral on Sunday morning

This morning’s edition of The Irish Times [17 October 2011] carries the following news report on page 7, along with other presidential election news report:

Warrington killings: McGuinness showed ‘no mercy’ to bomb victims

Patsy McGarry,
Religious Affairs Correspondent


The IRA’s Warrington bombers “never faced justice, and no mercy was shown to their victims by a man who is now a presidential candidate in the Republic of Ireland”, a congregation in Liverpool was told yesterday.

Speaking at a service in Liverpool Cathedral, Canon Patrick Comerford referred to the murder in Warrington in March 1993 of Tim Parry (12) and Johnathan Ball (3).

“In 2001, the parents of these two young boys met Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness. After the meeting, Martin McGuinness declined to say whether he had apologised to those parents on behalf of the IRA,” he said.

Recall[ing] how Liverpool is jokingly referred to as the capital of Ireland, Canon Comerford said: “Of course it is. After all, at least three of the four Beatles had strong Irish roots through their parents and grandparents. And, of course, we are one people…”

The bombings were “a tragedy that struck me personally, for Johnathan’s mother was Marie Comerford”. Noting the bombers never faced justice, he asked: “Is it any wonder Marie Comerford died of a broken heart two years ago?”

Canon Comerford is a lecturer at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in Dublin.

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