@Sharptonguedwoman I meant to say, I lived through all of that. Thankfully not in close proximity but sometimes it did come all too close. A relative had his work van hijacked and was made to drive a bomb to the intended location. I couldn't get my school shoes for starting secondary school because there were firebombs going off in the shops. The shop owner delivered them to me. Three people died in a bombing in my nearest town. Another relative had their shop burned out twice in firebombings. And of course, the news was all doom and gloom. We seldom ventured to Belfast without very good reason.
I was in a tutorial in University Square at QUB when a law lecturer was shot dead outside. We were so stupid/naive though! We'd go into town for something, and there'd be the inevitable white tape (police cordon), and instead of getting the fuck out of Dodge, we tried to find another way around it!! The innocence of youth!
I was in a mixed group one night when we were waylaid by thugs with broom handles outside the Crescent bar in Sandy Row (major loyalist enclave, popular with students, mainly the Law faculty which was known for having more Catholic than Protestant pupils - go figure!! - mainly because they seemed to get drink that had fallen off the back of a lorry!!) It was near the bar that 'Hurricane' Higgins drank in. I never felt comfortable in it. Now DH managed to talk our way out of that one!
The office I worked in in Belfast at the time was bombed one night. There was the traditional newsflash on the BBC with the accompanying call, "could all keyholders please go and check their premises?" Well I was the only keyholder in the country at the time, so was I fuck going near it late at night on my own!
When I went the following morning, there were already people in clearing up the debris! It was so so efficient! I was chilled to see the massive piece of glass that was embedded in the back of my chair!
There's loads more - it's just all coming back to me as I type! Suffice it to say, it's amazing that we got from where we were then to where we are now. I did move away for a while but I always wanted to come home. I can't actually believe all of those things happened but it was the reality here. I remember being really upset by the Omagh bomb, for obvious reasons, but what drove it home to me was the pregnant lady, and I was not long pregnant then with my 2nd.
What I see now, looking back, is the amazing resilience of the people of NI and how we dealt with the mayhem around us. Yes, there are obviously people deeply affected who still suffer from trauma all these years on. The rest of us got by with a bit of grit and a (dark!) sense of humour.
People here are still amazing. I remember when I lived and worked in London, an elderly gentleman had a fall at a tube station on the Piccadilly line. I heard a voice go, "oh the poor wee man!" as she rushed to help, and I knew the owner of the voice was from 'home'. I'd gone to school with her sister!!