Dolores O'Riordan: IRA bomb victim's father pays tribute to Cranberries star

Colin ParryMartin Rickett/PA
Colin Parry's 12-year-old son, Tim, was killed in an IRA bomb in 1993

The father of one of the Warrington bomb victims has paid tribute to the Irish musician, Dolores O'Riordan.

The lead singer of The Cranberries died on Monday, aged 46.

Colin Parry's 12-year-old son, Tim, was killed alongside three-year-old, Johnathan Ball, in 1993 when two IRA bombs detonated in Cheshire.

The Cranberries recorded the single Zombie in 1994 in memory of the two boys.

Mr Parry told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme he had been touched by the lyrics but had not known their significance until after the singer's death.

PA
Jonathan Ball, three, and Tim Parry, 12, died after the IRA bombing

"Only yesterday did I discover that her group, or she herself, had composed the song in memory of the event in Warrington," he said.

"I was completely unaware what it was about.

"My wife came home from the police centre where she worked yesterday and told me the news.

"I got the song up on my laptop, watched the band singing, saw Dolores and listened to the words.

Some lyrics from the 1994 single 'Zombie'

Another head hangs lowly

Child is slowly taken

And the violence, caused such silence

Who are we mistaken?

But you see, it's not me

It's not my family

In your head, in your head, they are fighting

With their tanks, and their bombs

And their bombs, and their guns

In your head, in your head they are crying

'Powerful'

"The words are both majestic and also very real.

"The event at Warrington, like the many events that happened all over Ireland and Great Britain, affected families in a very real way and many people have become immune to the pain and suffering that so many people experienced during that armed campaign.

"To read the words written by an Irish band in such compelling way was very, very powerful.

"I likened it to the enormous amount of mail expressing huge sympathy that we received in the days, weeks and months following our loss.

"Proportionately a very high total of that total came from the island of Ireland," he said.

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip twitter post by Colin Parry OBE

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy and privacy policy before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

"It was a shock that a lady so young should die so unexpectedly," he added.

The musician from Limerick, led the band to international success in the 90s.

A statement from her publicist said: "The lead singer with the Irish band The Cranberries was in London for a short recording session.

"No further details are available at this time."

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the police were called to a hotel in Park Lane at 09:05 GMT on Monday, where "a woman in her mid-40s" was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are not treating the death as suspicious.

More on this story