On Monday 14th April two bombs exploded in close proximity to the finish line of the Boston Marathon as runners completed the race and hundreds of spectators lined the streets. To date, no suspects have been named, no arrests made and news is filtering through that the explosive devices may have been contained inside pressure cookers.
In the wake of the tragedy social networks and other sites went into overdrive with fake donation accounts being set up and some awful name-calling and minority bashing going on. At Folk & Tumble we don’t like to point any fingers and neither do we report on the same news reported by other media outlets but occasionally it’s hard to ignore such tragedies.
Thou shalt give equal worth to tragedies that occur in non-english speaking countries as to those that occur in english speaking countries. – Scroobius Pip
From a personal point of view, as a Northern Irish resident, I know only too well the effect that such an attack has on individuals and the whole community involved. The Irish have a strong connection with the residents of Boston going back many, many years and while we share much history and a love of music we hope their capacity to rebuild and stick together as a community is similar to ours in Belfast.
Boston has been the home of some of our favourite musicians over the years. Our thoughts go out to them and all those affected by Monday’s shocking events.