Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I recently had the privilege of attending, along with the O'Reilly and Stanley families, the publication of the book Children of the Troubles: The Untold Story of the Children Killedin the Northern Ireland Conflict by Joe Duffy of RTÉ and Freya McClements ofThe Irish Times. It contains the following in relation to the Belturbet bombing:

Geraldine was one of two children killed in the explosion; the other, Patrick Stanley, had been calling his mother from a phone box when the bomb went off.

Nobody has ever been convicted of the atrocity but according to Lost Lives, 'reliable loyalist sources' attribute the bombings to the UVF. ... The bomb killed two people, both children; Paddy and 15-year-old Geraldine O'Reilly are now remembered with a memorial in Belturbet.

Over the years, I have been in contact quite often with the O'Reilly and Stanley families. They seek justice. They know, unfortunately, their beloved family members will not be brought back and they lost them at such a young age. That book, Children of the Troubles, should nearly be compulsory reading in our schools because of the devastation and loss of life during that time. Children were killed by Provisional paramilitaries and by loyalist paramilitaries and some by British State forces. When we talk of children being killed, it amplifies both the futility of conflict and the need for families to get justice.

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