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Hate mail for man behind Troubles website
Monday, 7 September 2009
IRA Bomb attack on the La Mon House Hotel. Images from the Belfast Telegraph Troubles Gallery
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A Co Londonderry man who set up a website which features accounts of victims beside those of perpetrators of atrocities carried out during the Troubles has received hate mail.
Stephen Todd set up sharedtroubles.net earlier this year after his children quizzed him on the Troubles.
It has over 150 stories to date including Margaret Thatcher's account of the Brighton bomb and contributions from Gerry Adams and Danny Morrison.
Coleraine businessman Mr Todd, said: “Potentially we could have a bomber with their account of planting a device and how they felt when it exploded, alongside the story of someone injured or bereaved in that blast.
“Some people find that unacceptable and I've received hate mail. However most people are supportive. Apart from removing swear words or libellous material, people's stories appear unedited.
“The site is unique. It has no political slant or message.”
Mr Todd was shocked when his children asked
him ‘Daddy, what were the Troubles?'
The conversation came up one evening as he was driving past the Droppin' Well in Ballykelly, scene of an INLA bomb which killed 11 British soldiers and six women in 1982.
When he got home he searched the internet for information so he could help his children aged 10 and eight to understand the Troubles, but was unable to find anything he felt would be useful.
He decided to set up a website, designed to keep the memories alive of people from all backgrounds, who survived the Troubles.
www.sharedtroubles.net went live earlier this year and features stories from republicans, loyalists, members of the emergency services, civilians, members of the RUC, PSNI and British Army.
“The current websites were very biased one way or the other,” said Mr Todd.
“I was looking for a way of reading what had happened to real people during the Troubles so I took the initiative and decided to create a living historical archive of individuals' personal experiences.
“I come from a mixed marriage and was very fortunate to grow up in Coleraine which did not suffer the same level of sectarian strife that many other towns did.”
Mr Todd said he realised there was a large number of unheard stories just waiting to be told.
There is a wide range of personal accounts on the site.
One British soldier recalls passing IRA men in the street: “They gave you the look and you looked back at them, right into their eyes. It was like saying, 'We're here now, ready to play'. I have to say I miss it in some sick way. Miss the mates, miss what we had.”
Another story is from Patricia MacBride, a victims' commissioner, whose 27-year-old brother Anton, an IRA member, was shot dead by the SAS in 1984.
“I was so proud of my brothers — their dignity, their courage, their refusal to concede,” she recalled.
“The three saluting by the grave and the one beneath the clay.”
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Mr Todd, I still say the site is well intended. But the whole matter should be seen in a wider context about the rights and wrongs of who did what and why. History must be seen in context and in the absence of context all these stories will end up contributing to a dumbed down series of "what I did in the War". No one will learn anything. All sides must be heard but there must be background and a lot of underpinning knowledge provided. When I see that, I will not hesitate in providing my own recollections.
Posted by lumina | 08.09.09, 21:29 GMT
Well done for this site - this is real and unadulterated history. I hope you will get many,many more stories from all over. Hopefully this will lead to some greater understanding, particularly from those who suffered. Most certainly, it can provide a hugely valuable source for future historians and those who seek to understand. As an unrepentant Republican myself, last night I was very moved to see the stories of British soldiers suffering from PTSD, on Channel 4. It was a totally non-political/jingoistic programme. Just showed the suffering of working class lads and their families caught up in war. Could have been any nationality, any war, anywhere. Telling and listening to our stories is essential if we are all to recover our humanity, and an essential part of the move into a more positive future.
Posted by sam simpson | 08.09.09, 15:04 GMT
The only way we can move forward is to truly understand how we got here. In our case we have to open our minds and listen to all sides whether you personally believe they are right or wrong - leave those personal emotions at the door. If people stopped for one second and considered all other conflicts across the world they will see that the ones that have been resolved peacefully are the ones that have involved dialogue not the bullet. Open your eyes and you will see.
Posted by Andrew | 07.09.09, 22:04 GMT
its really sad to think that people can't come to terms with truth and reconciliation including lots of famous people on both sides who have both aplauded acts in private while stating their disgust in public....and in some ways created the very situation ireland and northern ireland finds itself in which is where you can't even talk about what happened in this noN sensicle cyber world where everyone makes a buck! isn't it about time the young people of ireland stop saying "i've never seen any trouble" and let their parents who all experienced the horror of the 80's and 90's start to tell their stories without fear of intimidation. isn't it all about drug turf now anyway!!!!!!!!
Posted by daniel thomas evans | 07.09.09, 20:06 GMT
Sharedtroubles.net and/or sharedtroubles.blogspot.com has the potential for promoting tremendous understanding and to filling a void. A place where people can read, stand back, reflect and revisit. Maybe even then comment on the impact of those Troubles for themselves. Being a non-partisan project, I think it will be hugely educational for those who are open to learning and for some it may even be of real help.
Posted by JohnRaff | 07.09.09, 18:29 GMT
lumina, surely if we are to explain the past to future generations we must first explain what happened, why it happened and who made it happen?.
Posted by terry | 07.09.09, 15:09 GMT
Thank you all for your honest and mixed comments about the Sharedtroubles project I started to educate my children.
I appreciate this is a very difficult and emotive subject. I feel strongly that the stories themselves give the reader the opportunity to make their own moral judgements about right or wrong.
I sought out advice from victims groups including FAIR, The Omagh Bomb Group and Relatives for justice during the building stages of Sharedtroubles and took their views on board.
Support has come from across the conflict and I hope many people find it useful to be able to have their voices heard in their own words regardless of their background. Some of the stories will horrify others will simply strike a chord.
Posted by Stephen Todd | 07.09.09, 14:35 GMT
"Beneath the clay" - yes, very emotional! But also a touch anti-Republican, dare I say it?
Posted by Andrew | 07.09.09, 13:46 GMT
This web site may be well intended but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. This site treats the experiences of the murdered and their families with the murderers as been equal or the same in some way. This is morally repugnant and the site author is doing his children no favours by presenting the horrific consequences of 40 years of violence in such a valuless manner. The site does attempt to separate "lawful" and "unlawful".
The example given by the republican "victims' commissioner" highlights the fact that terrorism will be glorified as the words used by this person bears out. No remorse. No guilt. Nothing constructive.
I was a member of the 999 services from 1971 to 2004 and what I saw on the streets after each terrorist incident was nothing to crow about or give the air of publicity to. It was premeditated, cruel and inhumane. The only dignity and courage I saw was with my colleagues or the relatives of the murdered.
Posted by lumina | 07.09.09, 13:12 GMT
I think this is an important story to be told and only once people acknowledge their feelings in all honesty can you begin to move on. Forgive and Not Forget.
There should be a public inquiry much like that in Post Apartheid South Africa.
Posted by KC | 07.09.09, 13:12 GMT
i just visited the website-top job,well done,cant wait to post a story or two of my own, i wish you well Mr Todd,it would be nice to see lots of people tell some tales of their own as a wee eye opener,pity about the hate mail,i cant think why anyone would want to do that.
Posted by darklord999 | 07.09.09, 12:16 GMT