The first news story that got to you?

For me it was one that was close to where I live- two elderly brothers were burgled, it turned violent and one of them was killed. I was only 9 and I remember my school being the guard of honour for the poor man's funeral. Awful as it was only a small village, nothing of the like had happened before, hit me hard realising stuff like that could happen so near and not just in big towns/cities.

Then there was 9/11 of course I remember coming home from school, flicking through the channels and seeing the footage of the buildings smoking, being so young, I'd never imagined something like that could happen in America.

The first one I can remember is the Berlin wall coming down, I didn't fully understand the consequences at the time but it was obvious that it was something significant. Others would have been the first Gulf war and the IRA ceasefire in 1994.

Also one thing that freaked me out as a child was the Imelda Riney (is that right) case. Brendan O Donnell murdered her and her son and left them in the woods.

I remember being petrified going anywhere near woods or tree or anything like that for fear I'd find a body

Dunblane massacre and Jamie Boulger both stood out for me, can still see those CCTV images of those 2 kids leading Jamie away. Same for Dunblane, the class photo of all the kids and teacher involved, the distraught families and all the flowers and teddies that were left in the following days.

On a happier note, the announcement of the Good Friday agreement stands out, felt like it was a new beginning though didn't realise the significence of it at the time.

OutlawPete wrote: »

The news that Elvis was dead .. in 1981.

I cried for hours.

I was eight and had just watched King Creole and Frankie and Johnnie back to back.

I asked my parents who Elvis was and could I see him if him sometime.

They told me he died four years previous and I ran out and jumped on my bike and cycled and cried and cycled and cried for what seemed like forever.

Sounds to me like you were all shook up.:(

Michellenman wrote: »

The first that really got to me wasn't on the news, it was a documentary that RTE did about child orphans in Russia. They showed that due to lack of resources and money all children had to have their tonsils removed to prevent infection which would need medication. The kids had to have them cut out without any anesthetic, weren't prepared for it and had their arms and legs tied to a chair and their head held in place by someone else for the whole procedure. I still have images of that burned in to my brain.

News story would be the abduction case of Millie Dowler and the abduction and subsequently the murder cases of Holly wells and Jessica Chapman.

Christ, I saw that documentary, harrowing does not even describe it, was heartbreaking :(:(

Finding out on BBC news that a best mate died in Afghanistan.

The 1995 friendly between Ireland and England at Landsdowne. Dirty English supporters ripped the place up.

Also, the Omagh bombing 1998.

Cullen82 wrote: »

+1

Never felt as much emotion or disbelief as I did watching this unfold. Standing on Dawson Street outside where I was working at the time with everyone crowded around the TV shop window.

Horror

Wait for the horror you'l feel when it comes out that the US government was behind it all!

The first that I remember clearly was the Kosovo bombings in '99. I was about eleven at the time and was just scared stiff because I couldnt comprehend it and just kept thinking we are next. Terrifying.

Aside from that, probably watching 9/11 unfold in school and the confusion and panic surrounding it , even in Dublin. The event itself and the fact that many people had friends and relatives in the States. Scary stuff.

The Border Fox kidnapping Dentist John O'Grady for £1.5M, he chopped off 2 of his fingers and had them left in Carlow Catheral.
As a kid he was supposely hidding out in a derilict house in our locality.
I made my parents put the Kitchen table up against back door to make sure he would not get in