Unionists have reacted angrily to remarks by the Shankill bomber, Sean Kelly, that he is a "victim" of the Troubles.
In his first interview since his release from the Maze prison, Kelly said he was "sorry" that innocent people had lost their lives when he planted a bomb in Frizzell's fish shop in 1993. Kelly's IRA accomplice, Thomas Begley, died in the explosion with nine other people.
Kelly said while he had to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life he had "suffered", too.
"I have to accept the families of those people who were killed in the explosion will never forgive me.
"But it honestly was an accident, and if I could do anything to change what happened, believe me, I would," he told the North Belfast News.
The Ulster Unionist MP, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, who had backed a campaign to keep Mr Kelly in jail, said the IRA man's actions could never be justified. "No matter how much he tries to justify it as an accident, the planting of a bomb was bound to cause casualties, in this case nine innocent lives."
The fact that Kelly had served only seven years for killing so many people was a "terrible injustice", Mr Donaldson added. "While Kelly sets himself up as a victim, by his own actions he has created victims. I have no doubt that some of the families of the victims of the bomb will be angered by this interview and Sean Kelly's attempt to play down the massacre of innocent people on the Shankill Road."
Mr Ian Paisley jnr of the DUP described Kelly as a "coldblooded, ruthless killer" who had accidentally killed his close friend, Thomas Begley, and now wanted sympathy for it.
Relatives of the victims of the Shankill bomb were divided on Kelly's expression of regret. Mr Alan McBride, who lost his wife and father-in-law in the explosion, said he could not accept that the bomb was an accident but he was glad Kelly wanted to put something back into the community.
Mr Charlie Butler, who dug the remains of three relatives out of the rubble, said Kelly had only had "murder in his heart" that day.