Former SDLP leader John Hume has said today's (Thursday) 10th anniversary of the Greysteel killings should inspire political leaders to ensure the Good Friday Agreement succeeds.
The episode marked one of the most brutal periods of the troubles, though appeals from the bereaved for an end to violence was to drive the search for peace forward.
On October 30 1993 eight people were fatally wounded when UFF gunmen opened fire on patrons in the Rising Sun Bar in Greysteel. The attack ended one of the most violent weeks of the troubles.
The IRA's Shankill Road bomb attack killed nine people, as well as one of the IRA bombers, beginning a wave of violence that saw 23 murders in seven days.
Like other areas of comparable size throughout Northern Ireland, the Co Derry village of Greysteel was one of those places that politics appeared to pass by. In fact even the massacre was testimony to this as the murder victims included people from both communities and all ages.
Fr Stephen Kearney was a curate in nearby Faughanvale at the time. Now based in Newtownstewart, he has vivid memories of the night of the atrocity.
"I was visiting friends in Eglinton and it was a quiet night and I was about to have a glass of wine when the family's son came in from the front room and told us it was on a newsflash on the television," he said.
On arriving at the scene, he started acting as an information point for the community while his colleagues, Fr Jack Gallagher (deceased) and Fr John Downey administered the Last Rites to the dead and dying.
Fr Kearney said one of his most striking memories of the killings came the following day.
"I often say even the birds stopped singing. At Mass on the Sunday morning (the day after), I remember it was a warm, grey day and just everything seemed quiet. People coming into Mass looked as if they had all aged," he said.
In political terms, the period marked one of the major low-points in the life of then SDLP leader, John Hume.
The Derry politician was coming under intense pressure from political opponents, sections of the Dublin media, and even from within the ranks of his own party because of his ongoing talks with Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams.
As he walked behind the funeral cortege of one of the eight people murdered in the Rising Sun Bar, a relative of the victim approached Mr Hume.
"She told me that her family had prayed for me around the coffin of their loved one the night before...that I would be successful in my work to get the violence ended so that no other family would suffer what they had suffered.
"It was clearly a very moving moment," he recalled.
The exchange – coupled with the pressure he was under – triggered an emotional release in the former SDLP leader who – before the world's press – broke down in tears.
Less than a year later, the work to establish a lasting peace was rewarded when the IRA declared a cessation.
"At the time I was receiving a lot of criticism for my efforts – for the dialogue I was engaged in – to bring the violence to an end," said Mr Hume.
"I have to say that that very moving occasion encouraged me enormously to continue with my efforts to achieve a complete end to violence."
The Nobel Peace Laureate said the 10th anniversary of the atrocity was an occasion for the people of Ireland to renew their sympathy for the families of the victims of Greysteel and the relatives of all the victims of the troubles.
"I am quite certain that it is the will of the vast majority of the people of Northern Ireland that the violence is completely ended and that the terrible suffering becomes a thing of the past," he said.
Mr Hume added: "I clearly hope that we are already well down the road to doing that but on this day let us again express our sympathy to the Greysteel families," he said.
The Foyle MP said enormous progress has been made and it should be remembered that the people of Ireland – north and south – had spoken clearly about how they wished to live together by voting for the Good Friday Agreement.
"It is the duty of all true democrats to fully implement the will of the people by implementing all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement. No paramilitary organisation can any longer claim it is acting in the name of the people," he said.
Fr Kearney recalls how the Greysteel killings devastated the people of the village, who were indignant that their home was chosen for such an appalling act.
"It made them realise how much they depended on each other and how deep their relationships were," he said.
Those killed in Greysteel were: Steven Mullan (20), Karen Thompson (19), James Moore (81), Joseph McDermott (60), Moira Duddy (59), John Moyne (50), John Burns (54) and Victor Montgomery (76).
There may have been a ninth victim. Although ill, Karen Thompson's 45-year-old father had been expected to make a full recovery in hospital.
He died a few months after his daughter's murder, many said from a broken heart.
