Seven years after the IRA bombed Warrington town centre, killing Tim Parry (12) and Johnathan Ball (3) the Duchess of Kent opened a £3 million Peace Centre in the town yesterday dedicated to their memory.
The deaths of the two boys, in March 1993, prompted a huge outpouring of grief around the world. It also embedded in the mind of Tim Parry's father, Mr Colin Parry, the idea of establishing a centre dedicated to the memory of his son and Johnathan Ball to help young people to resolve the causes of conflict.
The opening of the Tim Parry/Johnathan Ball Young People's Centre, which is a joint venture with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and Warrington Youth Club, was the realisation of that dream yesterday for the families of both boys. At the opening ceremony, Mr Parry said he hoped young people attending the centre's peace workshops and residential courses would bridge the causes of conflict and become "fully time-served ambassadors for peace".
Joining the Duchess of Kent at the opening ceremony, where she unveiled a Celtic-inspired glass mosaic of a dove and three angels, was the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, the Northern Ireland Security Minister, Mr Adam Ingram, the former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, and the former British prime minister, Mr John Major.
Mr Reynolds said the Warrington bombing was a "senseless destruction" of young life. It had inspired both him and Mr Major to take risks for peace. "I know John Major and I spoke about it on the day. It drove us on to make efforts to take more risks," he said. "It was a senseless destruction of young life. That's what led to our efforts in bringing out the Downing Street Declaration."
His words were echoed by Mr Major, who said the centre was a remarkable triumph of human spirit and he praised the efforts of the Parrys in realising their dream of a memorial to their son and Johnathan Ball. "When you consider what Colin and Wendy Parry had to face following the brutal murder of their son - to have looked beyond their own tragedy and to create a facility like this - I'm filled with admiration for them," he said.
The funds to build the centre were raised mainly through private donations over the past two years and, in addition to earlier grants, the Government donated £30,000 in January this year to the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Trust, which will run reconciliation courses at the centre. The British government has not provided funding to date but a spokeswoman for the centre said she hoped its opening would prompt ministers to release funds.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of people gathered in Warrington to mark the seventh anniversary of the bombing. At a commemoration ceremony on Bridge Street, where the IRA bomb exploded, the Duchess of Kent was joined by Mr Parry and Mrs Parry and their two children Dominic (21) and Abigail (18) and the parents of Johnathan Ball, Mr Wilf Ball and Ms Marie Comerford. Together they walked to a memorial dedicated to the two boys on the site where they were killed - a plaque mounted on a wall with photographs of the boys - where they placed flowers.