Alan Jack: Baby killed in IRA bomb attack 'will never be forgotten'

Alan Jack will be remembered at a church service this Sunday

The family of one of the youngest victims of Northern Ireland's Troubles, who died 50 years ago, has said he will "never be forgotten".

Alan Jack was just five months old when he was killed by an IRA car bomb in Strabane on 19 July 1972.

In a statement, his family said no one has ever been questioned by police about his death.

"We have never received an apology or acknowledgement for what happened," they said.

Baby Alan had been with his mother Barbara and two-year-old brother Robert on the day he was killed.

They had been shopping for sweets in the County Tyrone town's centre.

At about 13:05 that day, an anonymous phone call was made to Strabane Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) station warning a bomb had been planted in the town centre and would go off in 20 minutes.

"Barbara came out of the Argosy sweet shop, Abercorn Square, with Robert and baby Alan, who was in his pram. Barbara was told by the police to move on as there was a car bomb somewhere in the area," the family said.

"Barbara hurried away and as she passed the Ulster Bank, the bomb exploded, causing glass in 30 nearby buildings to shatter.

"Cruelly, a piece of 1/4-inch plate glass fell from a window in the Ulster Bank into the pram, hitting baby Alan in the head and face - he didn't stand a chance."

Alan Jack is remembered along with some of the youngest victims of the Troubles in a memorial quilt created in 2017

Both Alan's parents have died in the fifty years since their son was killed.

In the statement, the wider Jack family said they were deeply frustrated by the lack of acknowledgement of his death.

They said his life had been "erased before it had barely even started".

His parents, the family added, "were truly devastated" by what had happened.

"Alan's life was not for others to take," the family said.

"Yes, there were siblings born but there was always this emptiness - baby Alan was never forgotten by our family, nor will he ever be forgotten."

'Journey of healing'

A service of remembrance and thanksgiving will be held for baby Alan on Sunday at Leckpatrick Parish Church.

• Service remembers young Troubles victims in quilt

• What were the Troubles?

Kenny Donaldson, director of services for the South East Fermanagh Foundation, which supports victims and survivors of paramilitary violence, told BBC News NI outside of the family circle, baby Alan's death had been largely forgotten.

"There was never any focus on the case," he said.

"The family were largely left to deal with the pain and with their loss themselves."

Mr Donaldson said it was wrong no one had ever been held accountable for Alan's death.

He said no photo exists of the five-month-old as the family did not have a camera at the time.

"The murder of a child so young was and remains a tragedy, and in this milestone anniversary year it is important that Alan Jack's name is heard, and heard loudly," he said.

He said he hoped the remembrance service would "offer the family a form of recognition and support then in their ongoing journey of healing".