Cole calls on Council to press ahead with 1973 Bomb Memorial proposal
A DUP councillor has urged the Chief Executive of Coleraine Borough Council to "urgently press ahead" with a proposal to erect a permanent memorial to the six pensioners killed in the 1973 IRA bombing in Coleraine.
Councillor Sam Cole said that Council had agreed to that a cross-party committee would be set up to investigate the matter but to date that has not occurred.
Councillor Cole told the Times yesterday: "Many are now questioning Coleraine Borough Council's commitment and true intent for the project.
"With RPA plans for the new cluster 'Causeway Coast and Glens' Council to be instituted in May 2011 and an opportunity will be lost for Council to mark the slaughter of the innocents."
"In a recent CBC survey in the Coleraine Borough over 40% of unionists indicated that they felt their position and opinions were being eroded and undermined.
"Victims of atrocities in Omagh, Claudy, Teebane, Enniskillen etc. have all been remembered by the erection of memorials.
"Coleraine Borough Council must act now with urgency to prevent the Coleraine 1973 atrocity being consigned to the history books as the forgotten massacre of the Northern Ireland troubles."
Last September The Coleraine Times revealed that former councillor, David Gilmour, had written to Council Chief Executive, Roger Wilson, requesting that Council consider a memorial to the six pensioners who died in the atrocity, which also saw 33 others injured.
Two cars stolen in the south Londonderry area were used to carry bombs into Coleraine. At 3pm a 100-150lb bomb, hidden in a Ford Cortina car, exploded outside a wine shop in Railway Road. A number of children returning home from school were injured in the attack.
A spokesperson for Council said: "Council has agreed that a working group be established to consider the issue of memorials and in particular the 1973 Coleraine bombing.
"Draft terms of reference are being worked up for the group and advice is being sought from external bodies.
"This sensitive matter needs to be properly researched and thoroughly considered so that informed decisions can be made."
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Weather for Coleraine
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
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