THE daughter of an MP killed in the IRA’s Brighton bomb attack claims she can now call the man who planted it a “friend”.
Speaking ahead of a special event to mark the 30th anniversary of the bombing this weekend, Jo Berry told The Irish Post that she believes it has been “harder” at times for IRA bomber Patrick Magee to come to terms with his part in the atrocity.
“I do now call Patrick my friend, but sometimes I can still get frustrated and it’s difficult emotionally,” said Berry, who has spent the last 14 years working with Magee on peace and reconciliation platforms worldwide.
“We’ve come a long way. I now have understanding of what he did and why. It’s not always there but I have it and its growing.”
Berry’s father Sir Anthony Berry MP was one of six killed in the Brighton attack at the Grand Hotel on October 12, 1984.
A further 34 people were injured in the bombing, which was an IRA attempt to assassinate then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was attending the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton.
Belfast-born Magee was controversially released from his multiple life sentences in 1999, under the Good Friday Agreement, having served just 14 years.
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