The people of Northern Ireland have delivered a resounding "yes" to the peace deal, but BARRY NEILD talks to one victim of terrorism who believes the troubles are far from over ...

It was a day John Doherty will remember for the rest of his life.

Sixteen years old and scared witless, he was seized by masked gunmen and thrown to the ground.

A trigger was pulled and an explosion rang out in the darkened amusement arcade.

For a moment, as he scrambled to his feet, he thought they'd missed.

But as he tried to run away, the smell of smoke caught his nostrils. He looked down, saw his mangled leg and fainted.

Today, although surgeons have rebuilt his bones with plastic, John still carries the scars from the "kneecapping" he received at the hands of Irish National Liberation Army terrorists in his home town of Strabane, County Tyrone.

Now living in York with his partner, Carol, and their three children, John still nurses the mental scars from the troubles he fears are far from over.

John, 31, fled his homeland two years after the attack, which he believes was unprovoked, after suffering further violence.

The experience, which cut short a promising career as a boxer, left him severely disturbed; he would often resort to violence of his own to control mood swings.

Counselling and support from Carol have enabled John to slowly rebuild his life in York, the city he has adopted as his new home.But always on his mind are the troubles he left behind and the struggle for peace.

Even now, when he returns home once a year to visit his mother, the memories and the tension are still all too vivid.

"In York I can walk anywhere, I can go to Clifton, Tang Hall, Acomb. But in Northern Ireland it is different.

"You've got to watch where you go - you go into the wrong area, you get killed."

Mr Doherty says his experiences and his lack of faith in the peace deal mean he is unlikely to return to live in his birthplace. "There is no way I can go back now," he says in a soft Irish accent.

"These politicians are saying it is a peace deal, but there will never be peace in Northern Ireland until all the bullets and bombs are destroyed. It is like me saying to my partner, 'I've stopped smoking', but walking around with a pack of 20 in my pocket."

"Only when all the paramilitaries hand over their weapons to the British Government will, I believe, there be peace."

"Everybody in Northern Ireland wants peace, they are pining for it and saying prayers. Everybody wants to live a normal life. "But this senseless minority want to keep the conflict going and they will continue to do so."

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