MANCHESTER ATTACK: York people on how we respond to such an atrocity

THE LORD MAYOR

York's Lord Mayor Cllr Dave Taylor had one message for the people of the city in the wake of Monday night's bombing.

"We have to be calm, and we have to carry on with business and with life as normally as possible," he said.

Dave Taylor: Keep calm, and carry on

Cllr Taylor grew up in Rochdale. Manchester was always his nearest big city - the place he'd go to see acts such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, or else to go clubbing. What happened on Monday filled him with horror, he admitted: and his thoughts were with the victims and their families.

It was appalling to see such things happening so close to home, he said, in a city you knew, and to people you knew.

But it was important to remember that those responsible were extremists, not ordinary, decent Muslims. "They (ordinary Muslims) are not responsible, in the same way that you and I were not responsible for attacking Iraq.

"It is so easy to create mayhem. But we mustn't let this drive us into intolerance. That's what they want. They want to provoke a reaction, like what happened after 9/11. We mustn't let them."

THE C of E VICAR

The Rev Jane Nattrass, priest in charge of York's city centre churches, was lighting a candle at St Martin's in Coney Street yesterday morning, in an act of remembrance of the victims of the Manchester bombing. It's an act she has been repeating all-too-often recently, as atrocity has followed atrocity: Paris, Berlin, London and now this.

Jane Nattrass and Kingley Boulton lighting a candle in memory of victims of the Westminster attack. It is becoming all-too-common, she says

"It's dreadful, dreadful," she said. "We feel for all those who were affected: the people who died, the people who were injured, the families..."

She's planning a vigil on Friday afternoon, where people can come to think of and pray for the victims and their families.

And in the meantime, how should we respond to the awful events of Monday night?

"We have to show that we care for those affected, and we have to remember that most people have goodness in them," she said. "We just have to care for each-other, and remember the goodness."

THE IMAM

A man came to the door of the York Mosque in Bull Lane yesterday morning, said Abid Salik, the mosque's young Imam. His name was David, and he had a simple message for York's Muslim community: if there was any kind of anti-Muslim backlash, it was not in his name.

That was hugely important, Mr Salik said. "We have to come together, as one voice, one humanity."

Abid Salik: we must come together after this act of evil

The Imam had no hesitation in condemning Monday night's bombing as an act of evil - one that had no basis in Islam or in any other religion. The victims, he said, were "children, innocents, young people enjoying themselves." Anybody who could claim to find in religion a justification for committing such an act against such people was lying to themself, Mr Salik said.

The victims of Monday night's bombing were in the hearts and minds of 'every single member' of York's Muslim community, he added. That community would extend every comfort and support it could to victims and their families. And as to how we should respond to the atrocity ...there was only one way, Mr Salik said. This Friday sees the beginning of Ramadan, a month devoted to tolerance, patience and empathy with the needs of others. "Let's let that bring us all together," the Imam said.

THE MUSICIAN

Shed Seven frontman Rick Witter took one of his children to a gig in Newcastle recently. The possibility of something happening was always there in the back of your mind, he admitted. "You can't help thinking 'are they going to have a really great time and enjoy the music, or are they going to get bombed?' It is very worrying.

"But you have to just live your life. The answer really isn't cowering in a corner hoping it won't happen to me. There are too many good things in life."

Rick Witter: the answer isn't cowering in a corner

The thing that sickened him most about the bombing was that it was so clearly targeted at children and teenagers out having a good time. It was beyond belief that anybody could be so twisted that they thought they would go to a better place for doing that, he said.

But we mustn't let those behind the bombing drive divisions between us, he added. Just because people believed in a certain faith, didn't mean that they in any way condoned what had happened. "It's just a twisted few."

THE RETIRED POLICEMAN

The people of Yorkshire are no strangers to terrorist attacks, says retired York police superintendent Jim Kilmartin.

Jim was a young policeman in 1974 when the IRA planted a bomb on a bus carrying soldiers and their families along the M62 towards Catterick and Darlington. Twelve people (nine soldiers and three civilians) were killed. A month later, the IRA planted three bombs at Claro barracks near Ripon, and in June the same year they bombed Strensall Barracks, although nobody there was injured.

So how should we respond to Monday night's Manchester bombing? It is different times, different terrorists, but the same response, Jim said. "The British people have always had courage. We didn't let the Blitz affect the way we lived our lives, and it will be exactly the same this time. I'm due to be going to see the Beach Boys at Scarborough, and I will go. Yorkshire people will turn up in their crowds. Once you cancel, you let these people win - and we won't let them win."

The bombing on Monday night was an appalling act, which had targeted the most innocent people possible. But that is terrorists, Jim said. "They will try to kill policemen, they will try to kill soldiers, and if they can't do that, they will kill innocents.

"The people responsible for what happened will want to see it as a victory, even though it involved children. We mustn't let them."

We must also ensure that we don't let what happened sow divisions, he added. It would be senseless to blame ordinary Muslims, who are as appalled by what happened as anybody. "You have got to blame the right people. That's one of the big things I learned in the police. Get the right people."

THE MUM

Kildip James took her 13-year-old daughter to the MEN Arena just last week, to see Bruno Mars. She had a wonderful time, said Kildip, clearly shaken.

Her first thought on learning of the Manchester bombing was for the victims. "It was so horrible, I could cry." But then there was a determination that the perpetrators must not be allowed to win.

"You have to keep going," she said. "You cannot let people make you frightened. They mustn't be allowed to stop people going out, and enjoying their lives." She herself was due to be going to the MEN Arena this Friday to see Take That. "I don't know whether it has been cancelled now, out of respect," she said. "I imagine it might have been. But if it hasn't, I'm still going! I'm not going to let these people put me off."

She's also concerned for Muslim communities in York, and community relations. "York is such a lovely, tolerant city. We all work together. I don't want this to create any hostility, especially with Brexit and everything that has been going on. Muslims will be praying for the victims today, like everybody else."