Over 3,500 names of victims who died in Troubles to be read out

The names of the more than 3,500 people who died as a result of the conflict in Northern Ireland will be read out today at the annual Good Friday ceremony at Dublin's Unitarian Church on Stephen's Green.

The annual act of commemoration, which is the only religious service of its kind in Ireland, begins at 12pm and is held over three hours during which church members solemnly read out the names of the dead.

The list will run alphabetically, starting with Anthony Abbott, a soldier from Manchester who was shot dead by the IRA in Ardoyne in North Belfast in 1976.

The ceremony is due to finish about 3pm with the names of William and Letitia Younger, an elderly Protestant man and his daughter, who were beaten, stabbed and shot by intruders in their home in Ligoniel in North Belfast in 1980.

Chronologically the litany dates back to 1966 when John Patrick Scullion, a Catholic storeman was shot by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in West Belfast and ends 48 years later in April 2014 with the murder of the prominent dissident republican Tommy Crossan in West Belfast.

The list includes the names of British soldiers, IRA volunteers, loyalist paramilitaries, Ulster policemen and women, gardaí, part-time Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) men, prison officers, civil rights marchers, judges, businessmen, farmers, taxi drivers, social workers, children of all ages, people killed walking home from the pub, while watching football on the television, while attending church, while travelling on trains and while out walking or shopping.

Members of the public are invited to attend the open ceremony which runs from 12-3pm at Dublin’s Unitarian Church on St Stephen’s Green and drop in and leave as they please.