Plaque recalls hero who carried bomb out of PN club just before it blew up

A plaque was unveiled on Tuesday to recall how a man 39 years ago picked up a bag containing a bomb at the PN club in St Julians and flung it to the seashore, moments before it exploded.

Paul Cremona was hailed a hero for potentially saving many lives by his quick thinking on December 26, 1984 when he spotted the suspicious bag under the stairs of the club and immediately carried it out, crossed the street and promenade and threw it onto rocks. Young people had been gathering at the club for Christmas drinks at the time.

The plaque, fixed close to where the bomb exploded below the promenade, was unveiled by PN leader Bernard Grech, who said people who forgot the past were condemned to relive it (a phase originally attributed to writer-philosopher George Santayana.)

The memorial plaque was installed on the initiative of European Parliament election candidate Peter Agius. He said Cremona, who died in 1999, had saved Malta from what would have been a dark chapter of its political history. 

Those present for the short ceremony included members of Paul Cremona's family. His son Warren recalled how the police had even arrested and accused his father of having placed the bomb in the club, causing him and the family psychological trauma.

St Julian's residents called for a memorial to Paul Cremona in 1984. A commemorative plaque was only unveiled on Tuesday.