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Irish president calls Guildford bombings 'tragedy'

Getty Images A black and white image of a pub in Guildford with the front badly damaged from a bomb blast. Getty Images
Five people were killed in the attack

Ireland's president has called the Guildford pub bombings an "appalling atrocity" ahead of a service to mark the 50th anniversary of the attack.

The IRA detonated two bombs at pubs in the centre of the Surrey town on 5 October 1974, killing four soldiers and a civilian and injuring 65 others.

Michael D Higgins said on Saturday: "We hold in our thoughts the five people who died, the bereaved families left behind and the many injured who continue to bear the scars of that savage act of violence.

"Fifty years on, as we reflect on the tragedy of that day, I wish to express my solidarity with those affected by this appalling atrocity."

Getty Images A black and white compilation photo of the five victims of the bombing. Getty Images
(Clockwise from top left) Paul Craig, Caroline Slater, John Hunter, William Forsyth and Ann Hamilton died at the Horse and Groom

Those who died after the first bomb exploded at the Horse and Groom, North Street, were soldiers Ann Hamilton, 19, Caroline Slater, 18, William Forsyth, 18, and John Hunter, 17, as well as civilian Paul Craig, 21.

The second bomb went off 30 minutes later at Seven Stars on Swan Lane.

President Higgins called for reaffirmation of the "commitment to peace" and of continuing the "important work of addressing the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland".

A service at the Holy Trinity Church in Guildford, which will be live streamed, is due to start at 11:30 BST on Sunday.

Guests include representatives of the Women's Royal Army Corps Association, the Scots Guards Association and members of the public.

Getty Images Three men and a woman inspect a pub blown up by a bomb. Getty Images
Then Home Secretary Roy Jenkins inspected the wreckage of the Horse and Groom pub

The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were wrongly convicted of the attack in one of the UK's biggest miscarriages of justice. 

An IRA terror cell later claimed responsibility but no-one has been convicted.

The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, a new body tasked with investigating cases related to the Troubles, said it had accepted a request to look into the Guildford bombings.

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