Greysteel tragedy 'still vivid'

Eight people were killed in the Rising Sun massacre

The murders of eight people in a loyalist gun attack on a County Londonderry bar has stirred up vivid memories on the 10th anniversary of the killings.

In one of the worst atrocities of the Northern Ireland Troubles, two gunmen from the Ulster Freedom Fighters opened fire on the Rising Sun bar at Greysteel, County Londonderry in October 1993.

They shot dead seven people, both men and women. Another man later died of his injuries.

It was an act of retaliation for the IRA's bombing on the Shankill Road in west Belfast just days earlier, in which 10 people, including one of the bombers, were killed.

Customers at first thought it was a Halloween prank as the gunmen shouted "trick or treat" before opening fire on the bar.

You can't help but think about that night and it does bring back memories which are very vivid Adrian McAuley Paramedic

Adrian McAuley of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, who was a paramedic on duty the night of the killings, said the anniversary was poignant.

"We knew it was a shooting, but we didn't know the numbers of casualties and when we walked inside and looked round, it looked like there were just bodies everywhere," he said.

"It doesn't actually seem like 10 years. In this sort of job you don't really spend a lot of time lingering on the things that have happened. You face a lot of trauma, day in and day out.

"But on the tenth anniversary, and with it being in the papers and television, you can't help but think about that night and it does bring back memories which are very vivid."

Three people were convicted in connection with the Greysteel killings but were later granted early release from prison under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.