The shameful night dying victims of a pub bomb were turned away from a Belfast hospital

It’s chilling to recall how insensitive we could be during the conflict

An injured man is carried out of the bombed Rose and Crown pub in front of young children

The second of May, half a century ago, was also a Thursday. My dad was in Belfast that day, finishing off a building job with city-based colleagues who later invited him for drinks at a pub called Maddens in the Markets.

And Joe was sorely tempted. He liked those guys but had never felt comfortable in The Smoke, didn’t fancy bunking down in someone else’s house and, ultimately, boarded a Transit van bound for Ballymena.