Former Irish Times board member Gerry Burns dies age 85

The death has occurred of the former chief executive of Fermanagh District Council Gerry Burns who was one of scores of people caught up in the 1987 Enniskillen bombing, and was fortunate to survive that IRA attack.

Mr Burns, who was 85, died peacefully at South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen on Tuesday morning after a short illness and surrounded by his family.

Mr Burns was prominent in a number of roles. He also served as Northern Ireland Ombudsman and as Pro Chancellor of the University of Ulster.

He was author of the Burns report into secondary education in Northern Ireland having been tasked with the duty in 2000 by then minister for education Martin McGuinness.

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He also was a member of The Irish Times board and was a governor of The Irish Times Trust from 1997 to 2007.

Mr Burns first came to public prominence after the 1987 IRA Remembrance Sunday bombing in Enniskillen in which 11 people were killed, with a twelfth victim dying years later, and in which more than 60 were injured.

Mr Burns narrowly avoided death as he stood with many others at the war memorial in Enniskillen when the IRA bomb exploded on Sunday November 8th 1987.

He normally stood where Gordon Wilson and his daughter Marie stood, but, as his son Gerry recalled, he was running late that day and had to stand at a different point by the war memorial.

The force of the blast injured Gordon Wilson but fatally injured his 20-year-old daughter Marie. Both were buried in the rubble. The last words of Marie Wilson were: “Daddy, I love you very much.”

It was Mr Wilson’s subsequent words of forgiveness offered to the bombers and his pleas for no retaliation for the murders that helped to achieve some degree of calm after the bombing.

Despite his direct experience of the attack Mr Burns continued working and was centrally involved in preparing for and attending the funerals in the town in the subsequent harrowing days.

Mr Burns also was a founding member of the Spirit of Enniskillen Trust which, focused on young people, worked to foster a spirit of reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

Mr Burns is predeceased by his wife Maire and is survived by his five children. His funeral Mass is this Thursday, February 20th, in St Michaels Church in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.