A SMALL potent event took place in Letterkenny on Saturday morning last, to mark the 80th year since the dropping of two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Approximately, 546,000 people were killed in a horrific way.

Some former members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament group of the 1980s marked the occasion at the commemorative oak tree on Sentry Hill.

They hung 80 paper cranes on the tree; a meaningful tradition with roots in Japanese culture, often symbolising hope, healing, and peace.

Sean Gallagher, Adi Morrison, Callum Galway, Maria Connelly, Anne Mclean and Stephen McGlinchey at sentry hill where 80 paper crane birds were attached to tree set 20 year ago to remember the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Photo Brian McDaid.

The story of Sadako Sasaki, who died at the age of 10 years of leukaemia eight years after being exposed to the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, inspired the organisers. She popularised the practice for peace and hope when she folded paper cranes (origami) when in hospital, believing it would help her recover.

In a short statement from attendees at the event, they said that they serve as a reminder of the need for meaningful dialogue and political discourse as a prerequisite to achieving peace between nations and people.