IT is 10 years to the day since the IRA ripped the heart out of Manchester.

The day when a 3,300lb bomb packed into a van exploded in Corporation Street at 11.17am.

The day more than 200 people were injured and one third of the city centre's shopping space was wiped out. And still the people of Manchester are waiting for an apology from the IRA.

Sinn Fein, the political party historically linked to the IRA, said yesterday it continued only to "regret" the physical injuries to those caught up in the nightmare that gripped the city centre. It made no reference to the é200m of damage or thousands of people who lost their jobs.

And it blamed the then prime minister, John Major, for "running away" from all-party talks and "squandering the opportunity" of a ceasefire announced in 2004.

Regret

A Sinn Fein spokesman said: "Sinn Fein made our position on the IRA bomb attack in Manchester clear 10 years ago and the party president Gerry Adams made clear his regret over civilians being injured in the explosion.

"That bomb came after years of intensive efforts by Sinn Fein to engage in inclusive negotiations which would address the causes of the conflict in Ireland. The Conservative government led by John Major ran away from such an inclusive process and squandered the opportunity presented by the first IRA cessation of August 1994.

"Fortunately efforts by the Sinn Fein leadership along with others including the new British Prime Minister Tony Blair brought about a set of circumstances which saw the restoration of the IRA cessation and an inclusive talks process developed. This process led directly to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and after many years' hard work the declaration by the IRA last year of the ending of their armed campaign."

Closed

The statement comes just weeks after Greater Manchester Police confirmed that they had closed the investigation into the attack.

The Manchester Evening News revealed in 1999 that detectives had identified at least one suspect who they believed was involved in causing the blast and had later tracked him on visits to the city. The attack on Manchester came just four months after the IRA had declared an end to its ceasefire.

It happened on a Saturday morning when the city centre was even busier than usual because Old Trafford was hosting matches in the Euro 1996 football championships.

Police managed to evacuate the area around Corporation Street, but the blast - the biggest ever peacetime explosion on the British mainland - was so powerful it caused the town hall to shake several hundred yards away.

Peace activists and politicians said they are not surprised by Sinn Fein's attitude.

Unprovoked

Colin Parry, who founded the charity Children for Peace after his 12-year-old son was killed in an IRA attack in Warrington in 1993, said: "So far as forgiving is concerned, I don't forgive and I can understand why the city of Manchester would not forgive. It was a devastating and totally unprovoked attack. And neither, of course, do we forget. But that is not necessary for progress to be made and new relationships to be formed."

Graham Stringer, MP for Manchester Blackley, said: "Apologies only mean something if they are meant.

"It would be a good thing were the IRA to apologise but I doubt it will happen. Does that concern me? No. The important thing is that the violence, certainly on the mainland, has ceased."

WATCH the video of the bomb exploding here.

SEE exclusive, never-seen-before police pictures of the devastation.

VIEW the new Manchester as it rose from the ashes of the bomb.

SHOULD the IRA apologise for the Manchester attack, 10 years after that fateful day? Have your say.

* EXCLUSIVE anniversary coverage will be published here throughout the day.....

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