A bomb did go off in Derry a few hours ago, in a busy shopping area on a Saturday afternoon when crowds of people were there. Fortunately, someone had phoned in a warning so they evacuated the building(s) and no one was hurt. Without that prior alert, I don't like to think what the casualty rate could have been, what permanent injuries and mutilations.

I haven't researched it, but it's hard not to think that this is a gesture seeking to make some statement about the Queen's visit. Not just that she was in the Republic, at the invitation of the President, but that the whole undertaking has been a success. The attempted bombing was reported to have been carried out by "dissident republicans opposed to the peace process". Not the British per se. The peace process itself.

The memory of the past does need to be kept alive. But the hatreds do not. One is not the same thing as the other. Only for a stroke of luck, more innocent blood would have been splattered today because of those who cannot tell the difference between the two. Now: without cheating and looking it up on Google, who can tell which of these speakers is the DUP First Minister and which is the Sinn Féin First Minister (one of them calls it Derry and the other Londonderry, a dead giveaway, so I have changed both names to Derry):   

The perpetrators of this disgusting attack have no regard for human life. The people of Derry and of Northern Ireland have made it clear in our recent elections that they have no wish to return to the dark days of the past. There is no support for those who wish to destroy and divide us with this type of evil and callous attack. They will not succeed.

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Those who carried out the attack had no mandate. Those who carried it out need to realise that such an attack only hardens our resolve to ensure that peace survives and continues to flourish. The people of Derry have worked hard to build a city that is peaceful and inclusive. Their hard work will not be undone by today's mindless act.


See what I mean? They could be interchangeable. What does that tell you?