Among Shankill Road shoppers there were feelings of anger, regret and resignation over the release today of Sean Kelly, one of the bombers of Frizzell's fish shop, Monika Unsworth writes. Ten died in the atrocity.
It is a busy afternoon on Belfast's Shankill Road. Young mothers are hurriedly pushing prams down the street while a number of elderly ladies, weighed down by shopping bags, sip cups of tea in the "Stars and Stripes" coffee shop.
A small black plaque outside is the only reminder that "Stars and Stripes" is not just another community-run cafe aimed at giving unemployed young people in the area some useful skills. Until seven years ago, it was the site of Frizzell's fish shop, blown up by an IRA bomb on October 23rd, 1993. Ten people, including one of the two bombers, Thomas Begley, were killed in one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles.
The victims were the owner of the fish shop, Desmond Frizzell, and his daughter, Sharon McBride; Michael Morrison, his partner, Evelyn Baird, and their daughter, Michelle (7); George and Gillian Williamson; Wilma McKee and Leanne Murray (13).
The fact that Sean Kelly, the other bomber, is being released today under the Belfast Agreement's early-release scheme is a bitter pill to swallow for the people of the Shankill. Kelly, who was severely injured when the bomb went off prematurely, was given nine life sentences at his trial in January 1995. Sentencing him, the judge said the "wanton slaughter of so many innocent people must rank as one of the most outrageous atrocities endured by the people of this province in the last quarter of a century".
One of the most vigorous campaigners against Kelly's early release has been Michelle Williamson, whose parents, George and Gillian, were among the dead. When Kelly was released on a 10-day Christmas parole in December 1998, Ms Williamson handcuffed herself to the prisoners' exit turnstile to confront him.
Yesterday she described herself as "heart-broken" and said she could not bring herself to see Kelly walk free from the Maze this morning.
Ms Williamson says she has collected some 63,000 signatures against Kelly's release but has not yet been given the opportunity to hand them over to the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson. "To me it just looks like ordinary people like myself count for nothing."
There appears to be a feeling of resignation among the families of the other victims. After a meeting at the Shankill Stress and Trauma Group last week, they decided not to speak to the media about Kelly's release, among fears that their feelings might be "exploited by those who don't really give a damn". In a statement, the families say it "matters not whether Sean Kelly served eight or 80 years, his sentence could never bear any relation to our hurt and pain".
Among Shankill shoppers, the feelings about Kelly's release are mixed. "This is all wrong. All of these released prisoners will just go straight back to what they know best. This government has made a big blunder by recognising them as political prisoners," says Ms Josephine McFarlane, who was in Frizzell's fish shop just minutes before the bomb went off.
Ms Eileen Morrison, who went to school with one of the dead, Wilma McKee, says keeping the prisoners in jail would not accomplish anything. "It's tough for the people round here that your man, Kelly, is getting out but then each side has their own. While we might not want to see him released, I am sure Catholics are upset about Michael Stone getting out. I can't see it doing any harm if they are all released."
Mr Alfie McCrory, a taxi driver, blames the Troubles for the fact that there were political prisoners in the first place. "If it hadn't been for the Troubles they wouldn't have been in jail anyway."
Mr McCrory helped pull people out of the rubble minutes after the bomb went off, one of them Kelly himself. "I lifted Sean Kelly from the ground, not knowing who he was. It didn't matter anyway. There were some friends of mine who got killed that day, Michael Morrison and his wife and child."
He says he found it hard to deal with what he had seen that day. "Afterwards, I found it really hard to cope. But you have to get on with it. There have been two world wars and people just had to get on with it. Nobody knows what's round the corner."