DEPUTY First Minister and former IRA commander Martin McGuinness is set to sit down with a man whose son was killed by the IRA in a compelling Féile an Phobail event that’s sure to attract tremendous interest.
Mr McGuinness and Colin Parry will speak at St Mary’s University College on the Falls Road on July 31. Mr Parry’s 12-year-old son, Tim, was killed in an IRA bomb in Warrington in 1993 and the two men will talk as part of a discussion which takes as its theme ‘On the Journey to Peace and Reconciliation’.
Tim’s death led Colin to found the Foundation for Peace, a charity working to promote peace and non-violent conflict resolution. During the same time, Mr McGuinness has played a central role in conflict transformation here in Ireland, leading him to his current key role at Stormont. Both are set to share their respective journeys at the event. Speaking in Warrington last September, Mr McGuinness told of meeting Colin for the first time.
“A few years ago I met with Colin and Wendy Parry in Warrington,” he said. “That was a significant act of generosity, reconciliation and hope by Colin and Wendy. In my experience of meeting those bereaved by the conflict in Ireland it never ceases to amaze me how generous and compassionate many of them are despite their loss.
“I know from my personal experience of meeting relatives of those killed as a result of the conflict in Ireland that their lives are never the same again – life’s compass is permanently broken.”
On the Journey to Peace and Reconciliation is at St Mary’s University College on July 31 at 8pm.
