Woman who lost parents in IRA bomb tells politicians 'don't forget the victims of terrorism'
A woman whose parents were killed in the La Mon hotel bombing, has urged politicians to remember victims, if power sharing talks resume.
Last updated 17th Feb 2018
Dr Andrea Nelson was just 14-years-old when her parents Paul and Dorothy were killed as they attended an Irish Collie Club dinner dance at the hotel, 40 years ago.
12 people died in the explosion and dozens more were seriously injured on February, 17, 1978.
After her parents' deaths, Dr Nelson and her sister Melanie, 13, stayed with their grandparents in Belfast, before leaving Northern Ireland permanently.
Andrea who's 54, attended the 40th anniversary of the atrocity in Belfast on Saturday.
The memorial service for those who lost their lives was followed by the re-dedication of a memorial stained glass windows and seating in Lisburn.
Andrea told Downtown Cool FM, the night she lost her parents changed her life forever:
"That evening I went in next door, I was 14 at the time.
"I was babysitting for the little boy and girl next year, I was watching the television as you do and I saw the newsflash about the bombing at La Mon and I didn't give it a second thought as I didn't know the name of the hotel my parents had gone to."
"The people that we were babysitting for came home looking for my mum and dad had they come back.
"That started probably the longest night of our lives waiting for mum and dad to come back and them not coming back."
Dr Nelson described how it felt to become an orphan at just 14:
She said: "It's complete shock, you've no idea what it might be like not to have your normal home life.
"How do you get up every morning?
"Who's going to look after you, who's going to be there when you come home from school, who's going to take you on your holidays, who's going to take you to get your outfits for Christmas and Easter?
"I remember trying to console my sister and thinking I'm sure this can't have happened because why would it happen and why would it happen to us?"
More than 30 people were arrested during the Royal Ulster Constabulary investigation into the bombing.
West Belfast man Robert Murphy was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Speaking about the current political stalemate at Stormont, Andrea said she is extremely frustrated to see the impasse continuing after 13 months:
"What seems to be missing is people actually working together to get to the other side.
"I'm incredibly frustrated and saddened by the inability of people to get through some of these issues.
"From what I see, it looks very, very frustrating to have essentially a peace in Northern Ireland that doesn't seem to be peaceful at all.
"From what I understand there are really important things that need to be decided by government and they're going to have to be decided in Westminster.
"It's incredibly frustrating and I'm only sad that we haven't yet got proper peace in Northern Ireland."
Dr Nelson had a stark message for politicians here:
"Don't forget the victims of terrorism as you move forward.
"But please be aware that every day that we don't seek to have the truth about what happened, there will be justice for some, there won't be justice for many, without that the scars that people hold may well be holding them back from moving on to the next stage."
