'I forgave her killers for my own heart'

The nephew of a woman who was killed in an IRA firebomb attack fifty years ago has said he forgives those responsible for her murder.

Yvonne Dunlop, a mother of three boys, was burned to death in October 1976 after a fire bomb went off in the clothes shop she was working in.

Thomas McElwee took part in the bombing. He was imprisoned and later died on hunger strike in 1981.

On Monday, her nephew Stephen Thompson detailed for the first time the decades-long impact it had on his family, and said it continued to "ripple today".

Thompson said while his decision to forgive was not about excusing what had happened, it was something "I did for my own heart".

He was among speakers at an event at Stormont marking European Day for Innocent Victims of Terrorism, sponsored by TUV assembly member Timothy Gaston.

Thompson detailed meeting one of those involved in the attack on his aunt years later at an event, and how in that moment he realised he had found "genuine forgiveness".

"One of the bombers was in front of me and he handed me a cup of a tea - I thanked God for grace that day, carrying anger does not heal," he added.

He said he was "not a historian, nor a political voice but someone whose family was forever changed" by the violence they endured.

Thompson, who is now a pastor, said in the aftermath of the incident, his father moved his family to England, saying: "Leaving felt like the only way to protect what remained of our loved ones."

He said he wanted his aunt, who was from Ballymena, to be remembered as a "beautiful and loving mum" who had opportunities taken from her.

He added that he now has a daughter who is the same age that Yvonne was when she was killed in her 20s.

Speaking at the same event, a woman whose father was murdered by a loyalist gang in 1975 accused politicians of failing victims over the Troubles pension.

Denise Mullen was present when her dad, Denis, was killed by the UVF in Moy, County Tyrone.

The activities of the so-called Glenanne gang were examined by Operation Kenova, which reviewed 98 incidents resulting in 127 deaths.

Mullen told the event she felt the process of applying for a pension - which exists to help those seriously physically or psychologically injured during the Troubles - was "retraumatising".

"It's wrong that victims have had to write down everything and relive the trauma," she said.

"Whoever decided that we should do that doesn't understand victims," added the former SDLP and Aontu councillor.