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@stevo_com
Growing up in NI at the tail end of the troubles, I was very "lucky" to have been from the rural outskirts of a small, predominantly protestant town (mostly prods so less conflict). It is only a handful of miles away from Belfast but I was fortunate enough not to have been personally affected by any of the bombings or attacks that happened. I did kind of experience one car bomb. It was in the late 90's, set off on a Sunday I think in the late afternoon right in the town centre so no bugger was about, thankfully. Nobody was reported injured, only damage to shop fronts. I was playing football in one of the nearby farmer's gardens with their son/my friend. We heard a loud, metallic bang that sounded exactly like one of the big steel barn doors being hit. We didn't realise what it was until we saw the almost cartoon-like mushroom cloud on the horizon. We were about 5 miles away. That was chilling enough, I can only imagine what it was like for people whose lives were devastated by similar acts in more damaging circumstances. I've met more people since moving to London who were more directly affected by the troubles than I ever did in 20+ years in NI.