Manchester has always held a special place in my heart as the city I ventured to as a teenager for university, shaking off the small-town mentality of Derry to join the big, bad world of Mancunian madness.

This was where I earned my degree, met my first boyfriend, made life-long friends, cut my teeth as a bartender in the most famous, or infamous Irish bars in town, and decided on my future career.

It was where I saw Linford Christie (British sprinting legend before Usain Bolt) walking down the street as part of the Commonwealth Games and where I witnessed my first Pride parade.

Like everyone else with connections to the city, I was heartbroken at the bombing at the Manchester Arena, which claimed the lives of 22 people, many of them teenage girls.

The city has always been good to me and my sisters, who all followed me across the Irish Sea to the English metropolis clutching their own dreams, prompted by my ravings of the amazing opportunities to be had, not to mention the amazing nightlife.

When I arrived, John Major was in Downing Street and the immensely popular Mancunian band Oasis was in its prime, pounding out hits such as 'What's the Story, Morning Glory?' Manchester was still reeling from an explosion that had devastated the city centre two years earlier. The bomb had been planted by the IRA in 1996 as part of its campaign of violence on English soil in its continuing attempts to force the British to withdraw from Northern Ireland. 

The bombing of all those innocent people at the Manchester Arena will haunt the families of the victims for the rest of their lives. Being the target of such prejudice and hate leaves a mark, a fingerprint indented onto memory like a tattoo that doesn't heal.

Feelings of confusion abound as to why these girls and others enjoying a concert were targeted and the only person to answer that is the man who killed himself in the bombing. 

While we grieve for the people who lost their lives last Monday night, we need to be mindful that the target of this attack might have been girls who were simply having fun – something that is anathema to the people who carry out such acts of hate.

After hearing of the abrupt rise in hate crimes in the city following the Manchester Arena attack last Monday night, I was saddened. I hope these incidents are rare but I suspect that over the next few weeks and months and maybe even years the same behaviour will be experienced by people who are assumed to be aligned with terrorists.

Each of us forgets (or has no idea) what it feels like to be the target of hate; particularly for a group of people who have no bearing on your individual identity. 

We don’t know why the people were targeted at the Ariana Grande concert, but we need to support our girls and young people to challenge the idea that terrorists can break our spirit. Ideas such as freedom and feelings of joy cannot be crushed with bombs or threats. And I know that Manchester will be a shining example of this.