Three men who were killed by car bombs 50 years ago have been remembered at a ceremony in Dublin City Centre.
George Bradshaw, Tommy Duffy and Tommy Douglas were all young men who worked for CIE. They were killed by explosions on Sackville Place, off O'Connell Street.
On 1 December 1972, car bombs exploded in Dublin for the first time. The first was outside Liberty Hall on the quays. A short time later there was another on Sackville Place.
It was close to the CIE club on Marlborough Street used by bus workers. George Bradshaw and Tommy Duffy were coming from the club when they were caught by the bomb.
Mr Bradshaw was a bus driver from Fethard in Co Tipperary. The 30-year-old was married with two children, and had only recently moved to Dublin. He had been taking night classes in business studies.
Tommy Duffy, from Castlebar in Co Mayo, was a bus conductor. The 24-year-old was married with one child. His wife Monica was pregnant and was left a widow at the age of 22. Their son Thomas was born four months later in April 1973.
Speaking today, Thomas said: "I grew up with other people's memories of my dad, cherished memories on their behalf but always second hand. It was the reality I grew up in, his absence, and it took many years trying to come to terms with that".
Thomas - an artist - designed the memorial on Sackville Place, which is a bronze plaque is set into the pavement alongside bronze flowers and piece is called "a fallen wreath".
Just over a month later on 20 January 1973, there was another explosion at Sackville Place, where Tommy Douglas – another bus conductor – lost his life.
He was aged 21 and had only recently arrived in Dublin from Stirling in Scotland.
Mr Douglas loved all things Irish, having spent many of his summers around his mother's home on Achill Island. He was also engaged to be married.
The three families of those who died travelled from Scotland, Tipperary and Kilkenny, and gathered at Sackville Place this afternoon where they were joined by elected representatives and colleagues from CIE.
Minister for Education Norma Foley laid a wreath on behalf of the Government and expressed concern about the UK's Legacy Bill, which aims to end prosecutions for crimes committed during the Troubles.
She described it as "not fit for purpose".
Those concerns are shared by victims' groups who fear it will make it harder for families to find the truth about the deaths of their loved ones.
Secretary of Justice for the Forgotten Margaret Urwin said: "That has the potential to stop all investigations and all civil cases in the North and indeed inquests in the North, which we know are so important."
