A Bystander's View...

There are many people who have been traumatised as a result of being eye-witnesses to shootings, bomb explosions and punishment beatings.

I was getting into bed
and I looked out the window
I saw a car
and two men got out
and petrol bombed our house.
I actually jumped back from the window
when the petrol bombs hit my window.
We had to get out.
It had been my home for twenty-one years.
   ......
The rioting had started that night [in Drumcree]
The lights were out,
the smell of petrol was everywhere,
there were people in corners,
young fellas with balaclavas throwing petrol bombs,
you could see the police.
I looked down an alleyway,
and at the top of it was a police jeep
and my son saw me
but he ran towards the police
and the police opened up with rubber bullets
I was actually thinking we are going to be shot here.
    ......
You also had to go through a checkpoint to get into work.
It was a very important part of your day.
It was the first thing that happened to you.
My own office was either blown up
or burnt out more than once.
Everything in town shut down
and there was an exodus at tea time.
The bombs would have had the most personal effect on me.
I knew people who have been shot,
I know people who have been killed in explosions.
 

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