The former taoiseach, Mr John Bruton, has said that the suffering of those injured but not killed in bomb attacks should be acknowledged when considering the victims of the Northern Ireland conflict.
He said those injured in bomb attacks were often forgotten. Between 10,000 and 15,000 people were still in constant pain from their injuries and their suffering was not quantifiable.
Mr Bruton was speaking in an ardfheis debate in which he said the time had come to recognise victims of the conflict instead of arranging a footing in the political process for those who had participated in terrorism.
While Mr Bruton had experienced a sense of "helpless grief" when dealing with those suffering from psychological trauma after a death, he said the physical suffering endured by those injured in bombs was "one of the most exquisite forms of pain".
Such people suffered "day and night, day-in day-out" because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time "when some coward decided that he would detonate a bomb".
He was speaking before Mr Michael Gallagher of the Omagh victims' group, whose son Aidan died in the bomb attack, said there was "not one leader" in the North who he would be proud to have representing the people there.
Mr Gallagher read a letter in which his daughter, Kathy, spoke of the bombers that inflicted on her a lifelong struggle of coming to terms with the death of her brother. She said that she was no longer as ambitious as she had been and less inclined to see the opportunities in life as a result of the death of her brother.
Mr Gallagher said it was notable that the Spanish authorities were able to say that all of those responsible for Madrid bomb attack in March were either behind bars or dead. He contrasted this with the Omagh case, for which no-one has been charged with murder.
While Mr Gallagher said his group was pleased to have initiated court action against those allegedly responsible for the attack, a former director of the Glencree Reconciliation Centre said that to date the litigious route has not brought closure for victims.
Mr Ian White also said he believed that a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission was not an alternative means of bringing closure. The Northern problem was more complex than the situation in South Africa post-apartheid.
While it was important to have acts of remembrance, it would be difficult to achieve consensus on the structure of such a commission in a scenario where there were three states "or two states and a statelet" and many groups who were still adversaries.
Stating that not all victims' group conducted themselves with the same integrity as the Omagh group he said that some groups existed to "beat up the British" or to "beat up the Good Friday agreement".
