Poppy Day Bomb 35th anniversary: Victim appeals for information on IRA killers who struck Enniskillen in 1987

Enniskillen was devastated on November 8, 1987 when a bomb turned the annual remembrance event into an atrocity, killing 11 and injuring over 60. A twelfth victim, Ronnie Hill, died from his injuries after 13 years in a coma.

On Tuesday, relatives of those killed and members of the public will take part in an act of remembrance at a newly installed memorial, installed in the side of the Clinton Centre, which was built on the bomb site.

It will mark the 35th anniversary of the atrocity.

Aileen Quinton, whose mother Alberta, 72, was killed in the bombing, said her grief has been exacerbated by attempts to rewrite history.

“It’s still awful that it happened, but what has got worse since is people trying to dismiss it as not relevant any more,” she told the PA news agency.

“People say, ‘oh it happened in the past’, but people continuing to justify it is still happening, people not disclosing information about who was responsible is still happening.”

No-one was ever convicted for the bomb attack.

Victims are concerned that a bill by the Government which proposes an effective amnesty for Troubles crimes in exchange for co-operation with a new information retrieval body will close down all avenues to justice.

“It’s hard to be hopeful because police don’t seem to be interested. And then we have government trying to get this dreadful legacy bill through, but I will never accept or agree to justice being overlooked or played down."

She added: “My message is that murder still matters and, even with the passage of time, the actual murders may be in the past but people continuing to justify it is happening in the present, continuing to fail to provide information is happening in the present. Even with the passage of time, if anybody has information, they should bring it forward.”

Kenny Donaldson of the victims’ group South East Fermanagh Foundation, described the bomb attack as “amongst the most heinous to have been carried out over the years of the terrorist campaign”.

He added: “We call upon the community and those in possession of information which could lead to the apprehending of those responsible, to come forward and disclose such information.”

Stella Robinson, whose parents Wesley and Bertha Armstrong were killed in the attack, is very pleased to have their own memorial in place, after 35 years.

"It is hard to express how much it means to us finally, after 35 years, to have a memorial in place, that is worthy of our loved ones and which also respects the truth of their murder," she said.

"We are grateful for the many who were involved at different stages in a difficult process including; local victim and survivor support groups, politicians, clergy and other private individuals.”

Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott MLA said: “It was an act of barbarity that even in a time when outrages were sadly almost commonplace, still had the power to shock people who had become almost immune to the horrors of the Troubles, and exposed to the wider world, the cruelty and the fascist nature of the IRA."