Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
20th June
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Tuesday 20 June 1972
Secret Meeting Between IRA and British Officials
[There was a secret meeting between representatives of the Provisonal Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and officials from William Whitelaw’s office (Whitelaw was then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland). The meeting took place at 3.00pm in a country house in Ballyarnet, close to the Derry / Donegal border. The PIRA representatives were David O’Connell and Gerry (Gerard) Adams. The officials acting on behalf of William Whitelaw were P.J. Woodfield and Frank Steele (who, at the time, was actually an MI6 Intelligence Officer).]
“There is no doubt whatever that these two at least [O’Connell and Adams] genuinely want a cease fire and a permanent end to violence. Whatever pressures in Northern Ireland have brought them to this frame of mind there is also little doubt that now that the prospect of peace is there they have a strong personal incentive to try and get it. … Their appearance and manner were respectable and respectful. … Their behaviour and attitude appeared to bear no relation to the indiscriminate campaigns of bombing and shooting in which they have both been prominent leaders”.
[Public Records 1972 – Released 1 January 2003: Note of the discussions that took place during a secret meeting between officials from William Whitelaw’s office and representatives of the Provisonal Irish Republican Army (PIRA). The meeting laid the groundwork for a PIRA ceasefire and a direct (secret) meeting between the PIRA and the British government on 7 July 1972.]
Thursday 20 June 1974
Assembly By-Election There was a Northern Ireland Assembly by-election in the constituency of North Antrim. Clifford Smyth was elected.
Francis Sullivan (36), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead at his home in the Falls Road area of Belfast by Loyalist paramilitaries.
Wednesday 20 June 1984
Neil Kinnock, then leader of the Labour Party, said that he was in favour of a united Ireland by consent.
Friday 20 June 1986
John Hermon, then Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), threatened to take libel action against those in the media who accused him of being involved in the decision to remove John Stalker, then Deputy Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester Police, from the ‘shoot to kill’ investigation.
Tuesday 20 June 1995
Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said that Sinn Féin (SF) could not join full political talks unless the decommissioning of Irish Republican Army (IRA) weapons began to happen first.
Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of SF, said that:
“in reality there is not a snowball’s chance in hell of any weapons being decommissioned this side of a negotiated settlement.”
Thursday 20 June 1996
An Irish Republican Army (IRA) ‘bomb factory’ was found by Gardí near Clonasee, County Laois, Republic of Ireland. In response the Irish Government ended all contacts with Sinn Féin (SF).
Friday 20 June 1997
Patrick Kane, then serving a life sentence for the murders of corporals Derek Wood and David Howes on 19 March 1988, was cleared of the killings by the Court of Appeal in Belfast.
Mickey Timmons and John Kelly, the other members of the ‘Casement Three’, continued to insist that they were also innocent of the killings.
Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, paid a visit to the United States of America (USA). During the visit he said: “a moment of decision is coming for Sinn Féin (SF) and the IRA [Irish Republican Army] as to whether they want to be any part of a forward process that is going to lead to a lasting settlement for peace”.
Wednesday 20 June 2001
The Catholic Holy Cross Girls’ Primary School in Ardoyne north Belfast was forced to close when Loyalists from the Glenbryn estate blockaded the entrance to the school. Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers advised children and parents not to attempt to enter the school.
During the evening there were serious distrubances in the area around the Holy Cross school as hundreds of Loyalists and Nationalists were involved in riots with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).
Shots were also fired at the police during the evening. During the riots the RUC fired a number of the new ‘L21 A1’ plastic baton rounds.
[This was the first time the new rounds had been used.]
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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles
Today is the anniversary of the death of the following people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die
– Thomas Campbell
To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live forever
– To the Paramilitaries –
There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.
5 People lost their lives on the 20th June between 1975 – 1981
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20 June 1975 Anthony Molloy (18)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Shot at his home, Ballymena Street, Oldpark, Belfast.
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20 June 1976 Edmund McNeill (22)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Found stabbed to death beside Ballysillan Playing Fields, Alliance Road, Belfast.
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20 June 1976 Richard Doherty (27)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Shot at his home, Alexandra Park Avenue, Skegoneill, Belfast.
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20 June 1979 Francis Sullivan (36)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his home, Bombay Street, Falls, Belfast
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20 June 1981
Neal Quinn (53)
Catholic Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while in Bridge Bar, Newry, County Down.
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As I child I learned the stories & legends of the Battle of Boyne & Siege of Derry at my grandfather’s & father’s k… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…— Belfast Child (@bfchild66) June 07, 2020
Roberto Calvi (13 April 1920 – 17 June 1982) was an Italianbanker dubbed “God’s Banker” (Italian: Banchiere di Dio) by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy’s biggest political scandals. His death in London in June 1982 is a source of enduring controversy and was ruled a murder after two coroner‘s inquests and an independent investigation. In Rome, in June 2007, five people were acquitted of the murder.
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Roberto Calvi
Gods Banker Life & Death
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Claims have been made that factors in Calvi’s death were the Vatican Bank, Banco Ambrosiano’s main shareholder; the Mafia, which may have used Banco Ambrosiano for money laundering; and the Propaganda Due or P2 clandestine Masonic Lodge.
The Banco Ambrosiano scandal
Roberto Calvi was the chairman of Italy’s second largest private bank, Banco Ambrosiano, when it collapsed in 1982. In 1978, the Bank of Italy produced a report on the Banco Ambrosiano, which found that several billion lire had been exported illegally, leading to criminal investigations. In 1981, Calvi was tried, given a four-year suspended sentence and fined $19.8 million for transferring $27 million out of the country in violation of Italian currency laws.
He was released on bail pending appeal and kept his position at the bank. During his short spell in jail, he attempted suicide. Calvi’s family maintains that he was manipulated by others and was innocent of the crimes attributed to him.
The controversy surrounding Calvi’s dealings at Banco Ambrosiano echoed a previous scandal in 1974, when the Holy See lost an estimated $30 million upon the collapse of the Franklin National Bank, owned by the Sicilian-born financier Michele Sindona. Bad loans and foreign currency transactions led to the collapse of the bank. Sindona later died in prison after drinking coffee laced with cyanide.
On 5 June 1982, two weeks before the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, Calvi wrote a letter of warning to Pope John Paul II, stating that such a forthcoming event would :
“provoke a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions in which the Church will suffer the gravest damage.”
Banco Ambrosiano collapsed in June 1982 following the discovery of debts (according to various sources) between 700 million and 1.5 billion US dollars. Much of the money had been siphoned off via the Vatican Bank (strictly named the Istituto per le Opere Religiose or Institute for Works of Religion), which owned 10% of Banco Ambrosiano, and was their main shareholder.
In 1984, the Vatican Bank agreed to pay US$224 million to the 120 creditors of the failed Banco Ambrosiano as a “recognition of moral involvement” in the bank’s collapse.
Death
On 10 June 1982, Calvi went missing from his Rome apartment, having fled the country on a false passport in the name of Gian Roberto Calvini. He shaved off his moustache and fled initially to Venice. From there, he apparently hired a private plane to London via Zurich. At 7:30 am on Friday, 18 June 1982, a postal clerk was crossing Blackfriars Bridge and noticed his body hanging from scaffolding beneath Blackfriars Bridge on the edge of the financial district of London. Calvi’s clothing was stuffed with bricks, and he was carrying around $15,000 worth of cash in three different currencies.
Calvi was a member of Licio Gelli‘s illegal masonic lodge, P2, and members of P2 referred to themselves as frati neri or “black friars”. This led to a suggestion in some quarters that Calvi was murdered as a masonic warning because of the symbolism associated with the word “Blackfriars”.
The day before his body was found, Calvi was stripped of his post at Banco Ambrosiano by the Bank of Italy, and his 55-year-old private secretary, Graziella Corrocher, jumped to her death from a fifth floor window at Banco Ambrosiano. Corrocher left behind an angry note condemning the damage that Calvi had done to the bank and its employees. Corrocher’s death was ruled a suicide.
Calvi’s death was the subject of two coroner‘s inquests in the United Kingdom. The first recorded a verdict of suicide in July 1982. The Calvi family then secured the services of George Carman QC. At the second inquest, in July 1983, the jury recorded an open verdict, indicating that the court had been unable to determine the exact cause of death. Calvi’s family maintained that his death had been a murder.
In 1991 the Calvi family commissioned the New York-based investigation company Kroll Associates to investigate the circumstances of Calvi’s death. The case was assigned to Jeff Katz, who was then a senior case manager for the company in London. As part of his two-year investigation, Katz instructed former Home Office forensic scientists, including Angela Gallop, to undertake forensic tests.
As a result, it was found that Calvi could not have hanged himself from the scaffolding because the lack of paint and rust on his shoes proved that he had not walked on the scaffolding. In October 1992 the forensic report was submitted to the Home Secretary and the City of London Police, who dismissed it at the time.
Following the exhumation of Calvi’s body in December 1998, an Italian court commissioned a German forensic scientist to repeat the work produced by Katz and his forensic team. That report was published in October 2002, ten years after the original, and confirmed the first report. In addition, it said that the injuries to Calvi’s neck were inconsistent with hanging and he had not touched the bricks found in his pockets.
When Calvi’s body was found, the level of the Thames had receded with the tide, giving the scene the appearance of a suicide by hanging, but at the exact time of his death, the place on the scaffolding where the rope had been tied could have been reached by a person standing in a boat. That had also been the conclusion of a separate report by Katz to the Calvi family in 1992, which also detailed a reconstruction based on Calvi’s last known movements in London and theorized that Calvi had been taken by boat from a point of access to the River Thames in West London.[
Roberto Calvi’s life was insured for $10 million with Unione Italiana. Attempts by his family to obtain a payout resulted in litigation (Fisher v Unione Italiana [1998] CLC 682). Following the forensic report of 2002, which established that Calvi had been murdered, the policy was finally settled, although around half of the sum was paid to creditors of the Calvi family who incurred considerable costs during their attempts to establish that Calvi had been murdered.[5][13][14]
Prosecution of Giuseppe Calò and Licio Gelli
In July 1991, the Mafia pentito (a mafioso turned informer) Francesco Marino Mannoia claimed that Roberto Calvi had been killed because he had lost Mafia funds when Banco Ambrosiano collapsed.
According to Mannoia, the killer was Francesco Di Carlo, a mafioso living in London at the time. The order to kill Calvi had come from Mafia boss Giuseppe Calò and Licio Gelli. When Di Carlo became an informer in June 1996, he denied he was the killer, but admitted he had been approached by Calò to do the job. However, Di Carlo could not be reached in time. When he later called Calò, the latter said that everything had been taken care of. According to Di Carlo, the killers were Vincenzo Casillo and Sergio Vaccari, who belonged to the Camorra from Naples and were later killed.
In 1997, Italian prosecutors in Rome implicated a member of the Sicilian Mafia, Giuseppe Calò, in Calvi’s murder, along with Flavio Carboni, a Sardinian businessman with wide ranging interests. Two other men, Ernesto Diotallevi (purportedly one of the leaders of the Banda della Magliana, a Roman Mafia-like organization) and former Mafia member turned informer Francesco Di Carlo, were also alleged to be involved in the killing.
In July 2003, the Italian prosecutors concluded that the Mafia acted not only in its own interests, but also to ensure that Calvi could not blackmail :
“politico-institutional figures and [representatives] of freemasonry, the P2 lodge, and the Institute of Religious Works with whom he had invested substantial sums of money, some of it from Cosa Nostra and Italian public corporations”.
The Square and Compasses is one of the most prominent symbols of Freemasonry.
On 19 July 2005, Licio Gelli, the grand master of the Propaganda Due or P2 masonic lodge, received a notification – required by Italian law – informing him that he was formally under investigation on charges of ordering the murder of Calvi along with Giuseppe Calò, Ernesto Diotallevi, Flavio Carboni and Carboni’s Austrian ex-girlfriend, Manuela Kleinszig. The four other suspects were already indicted on murder charges in April in a separate indictment. According to the indictment, the five ordered Calvi’s murder to prevent the banker “from using blackmail power against his political and institutional sponsors from the world of Masonry, belonging to the P2 lodge, or to the Institute for Religious Works (the Vatican Bank) with whom he had managed investments and financing with conspicuous sums of money, some of it coming from Cosa Nostra and public agencies”.
Gelli was accused of provoking Calvi’s death to punish him for embezzling money from Banco Ambrosiano that was owed to him and the Mafia. The Mafia allegedly wanted to prevent Calvi from revealing that Banco Ambrosiano was used for money laundering. Gelli denied involvement, but acknowledged that the financier was murdered. In his statement before the court, he said the killing was commissioned in Poland. This is thought to be a reference to Calvi’s alleged involvement in financing the Solidarity trade union movement at the request of Pope John Paul II, allegedly on behalf of the Vatican.
However, Gelli’s name was not in the final indictment at the trial that started in October 2005.
Trials in Italy
In 2005 the Italian magistrates investigating Calvi’s death took their inquiries to London in order to question witnesses. They had been cooperating with Chief Superintendent Trevor Smith who built his case partly on evidence provided by Jeff Katz. Smith had been able to make the first ever arrest of a UK witness who had allegedly committed perjury during the Calvi inquest.
On 5 October 2005, the trial of the five individuals charged with Calvi’s murder began in Rome. The defendants were Giuseppe Calò, Flavio Carboni, Manuela Kleinszig, Ernesto Diotallevi, and Calvi’s former driver and bodyguard Silvano Vittor. The trial took place in a specially fortified courtroom in Rome’s Rebibbia prison.
On 6 June 2007, all five individuals were cleared by the court of murdering Calvi.
Mario Lucio d’Andria, the presiding judge at the trial, threw out the charges citing “insufficient evidence” after hearing 20 months of evidence. The verdict was a surprise to some observers. The court ruled that Calvi’s death was murder and not suicide.
The defence suggested there were plenty of people with a motive for Calvi’s murder, including Vatican officials and Mafia figures who wanted to ensure his silence.
Legal experts following the trial said that the prosecutors found it hard to present a convincing case due to the 25 years that elapsed since Calvi’s death. Additionally, key witnesses were unwilling to testify, untraceable, or dead.
The prosecution called for Manuela Kleinszig to be cleared, stating that there was insufficient evidence against her, but sought life sentences for the four men.
The private investigator Jeff Katz, hired by Calvi’s family in 1991 to look into his death, claimed it was likely that senior figures in the Italian establishment escaped prosecution. “The problem is that the people who probably actually ordered the death of Calvi are not in the dock – but to get to those people might be very difficult indeed,” he said in an interview. Katz said it was “probably true” that the Mafia carried out the killing, but that the gangsters suspected of the crime were either dead or missing.
The verdict in the trial was not the end of the matter, since by June 2007 the prosecutor’s office in Rome had opened a second investigation implicating, among others, Licio Gelli.
In May 2009, the case against Licio Gelli was dropped. According to the magistrate there was insufficient evidence to argue that Gelli, the former head of the secret Masonic lodge P2, had played a role in the planning and execution of the crime.
On 7 May 2010, the Court of Appeals confirmed the acquittal of Calò, Carboni and Diotallevi. The public prosecutor, Luca Tescaroli, commented, after the verdict, that for the family
“Calvi has been murdered for the second time.”
On November 18, 2011, the court of last resort, the Court of Cassation, confirmed the acquittal. Giuseppe Calò is still serving a life sentence on unrelated Mafia charges.
Films about Calvi’s death
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The Pope and the Mafia Millions Documentary
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A 1983 PBS Frontline Documentary, titled “God’s Banker” investigated Calvi’s links with the Vatican, P-2, and if his death was really a suicide.
The circumstances surrounding Calvi’s death were made into a feature film, I Banchieri di Dio – Il Caso Calvi (God’s Bankers – The Calvi Case), in 2001.
Following the release of the film, Flavio Carboni sued the director Giuseppe Ferrara for slander, but lost the action. The lawsuit caused the film to be withdrawn from Italian cinemas, but it was released on video when the legal action ended.
A heavily fictionalized version of Calvi appears in the film The Godfather Part III in the character of Frederick Keinszig.
With the same director and co-writers, the comedy film The Pope Must Die (1991), in which a naive priest, played by Robbie Coltrane, is unexpectedly made Pope and takes on a mafia dominated Vatican, has been described by Variety as “Loosely based on the Roberto Calvi banking scandal”.
Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
19th June
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Monday 19 June 1972
Desmond Mackin (37), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) in the Cracked Cup Social Club, Leeson Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.
Mackin was involved in an altercation with PIRA members, part of a feud between the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) and the Provisionals.
Representatives of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) held another meeting with William Whitelaw, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
There was a hunger strike at Crumlin Road Jail at the time and Whitelaw conceded ‘special category’ status, or ‘political status’ for paramilitary prisoners.
Wednesday 19 June 1974
Representatives of Loyalist paramilitaries held a ‘conference’ which announced their support for the negotiated independence of Northern Ireland.
Sunday 19 June 1977
Robert Muldoon, then New Zealand Prime Minister, held talks with representatives of the Peace People in Belfast.
One of the items discussed was the possibility of of ex-paramilitaries being allowed to emigrate to New Zealand.
Monday 19 June 1978
Margaret Thatcher, then leader of the Conservative Party, paid a visit to Northern Ireland.
Thursday 19 June 1980
The European Commission on Human Rights rejected a case brought on behalf of Republican prisoners taking part in the ‘blanket protest’ at the Maze Prison.
The Commission found that the conditions were self-inflicted but the Commission also criticised the British government for being inflexible.
Friday 19 June 1992
There was a meeting between representatives of the British and Irish Governments and the Northern Ireland parties to discuss an agenda for Strand Two of the political talks (later known as the Brooke / Mayhew talks).
Wednesday 19 June 1996
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a statement in which it said: “We are still prepared to enhance the democratic peace process”.
Friday 19 June 1998
In a debate in the House of Commons on the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Bill there were divisions over the issue of the release of paramilitary prisoners. David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and John Taylor, then deputy leader of the UUP, abstained from voting but six UUP Members of Parliament (MPs) voted against the bill along with Conservative MPs.
Saturday 19 June 1999
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), invited Jeffrey Donaldson, a critic of the Good Friday Agreement, to rejoin his talks team in preparation for meetings with the British and Irish governments over the 30 June 1999 devolution deadline.
[The move seemed to dispel hopes in London and Dublin that the UUP leader might be persuaded to form the Northern Ireland Executive without a hard and fast agreement on IRA decommissioning.]
Ten men were arrested on both sides of the Border in connection with the bombing of Omagh on 15 August 1998. A further two men were arrested on 21 June 1999.
Tuesday 19 June 2001
School-children Face Loyalist Protest
Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers had to protect children and parents entering the Catholic Holy Cross Girls’ Primary School in north Belfast after they were attacked by Loyalist stone throwers. Police described the attack as “vicious”.
The school is on the Ardoyne Road next to the Loyalist Glenbryn estate.
Following the incident a blockade of the school developed.
[The blockade was to continue each morning during the remainder of the school term (until 29 June 2001) with Loyalists standing across the road and RUC officers refusing Catholic children and their parents permission to proceed along the road to the school.
Some of the school-children and their parents were forced to enter the building through the grounds of another school. The protests resumed on 3 September 2001 when the school reopened for the new term.]
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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles
Today is the anniversary of the death of the following people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die
– Thomas Campbell
To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live forever
– To the Paramilitaries –
There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.
8 People lost their lives on the 19th June between 1972 – 1991
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19 June 1972 Desmond Mackin (37)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Shot during altercation with Irish Republican Army (IRA) members in Cracked Cup Social Club, Leeson Street, Lower Falls, Belfast. Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) / Irish Republican Army (IRA) feud.
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19 June 1972
Bryan Sodden, (21)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) mobile patrol, Brompton Park, Ardoyne, Belfast.
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19 June 1975
Francis Bradley (16)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF) Killed by bomb left in oil can at Shamrock Filling Station, Great Patrick Street, Belfast.
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19 June 1976 William Rankin (32)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Shot at his home, Westland Road, Belfast.
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19 June 1976 Wesley Nicholl (40)
Protestant Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Shot at his home, Larch Grove, Seymour Hill, Dunmurry, near Belfast, County Antrim
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19 June 1977 Robert Whitten (73)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Magistrate. Died three months after being shot from passing car while walking along Thomas Street, Portadown, County Armagh.
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19 June 1979 John Hannigan (34)
Protestant Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Off duty. Shot while on his way to work, Omagh, County Tyrone.
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19 June 1991
Anthony Harrison (21)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Off duty. Shot at his girlfriend’s home, Nevis Avenue, Strandtown, Belfast.
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As I child I learned the stories & legends of the Battle of Boyne & Siege of Derry at my grandfather’s & father’s k… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…— Belfast Child (@bfchild66) June 07, 2020
Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
18th June
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Wednesday 18 June 1969
A report was published by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) on the British government’s policy in Northern Ireland.
The report was critical of both the British government and the Northern Ireland government.
Thursday 18 June 1970
Westminster General Election
A general election was held across the United Kingdom with the Conservative Party replacing the Labour Party to form the government at Westminster.
Edward Heath became Prime Minister.
Reginald Maudling, was appointed as Home Secretary and had responsibility for Northern Ireland.
In Northern Ireland the Unionist Party held ‘only’ eight of the 12 seats.
Ian Paisley, gained North Antrim, Frank McManus, a Nationalist unity candidate, gained Fermanagh-South Tyrone, Gerry Fitt held West Belfast and Bernadette Devlin held Mid-Ulster.
Friday 18 June 1971
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Nationalist Members of Parliament (MPs) refuse to attend the state opening of Stormont.
Sunday 18 June 1972
Arthur McMillan & Colin Leslie
(Two of the murdered soldiers)
Three members of the British Army were killed by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb in a derelict house near Lurgan, County Down.
Wednesday 18 June 1975
At Westminster a Bill was introduced to make amendments to the Northern Ireland Emergency Provision Act (1973).
The main amendment had the effect of giving control of detention to the Secretary of State.
Sunday 18 June 1978
Hugh Murphy, then a Catholic priest was kidnapped in retaliation for the abduction of a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer the day before, 17 June 1978.
The kidnappers issued a statement saying that they would return the priest in the same condition as the RUC officer is returned.
A number of Protestant ministers appealed for the priest to be released and he was subsequently returned unharmed.
[On 10 July 1978 the body of Officer Turbitt was discovered. In December 1978 three RUC officers were charged with kidnapping the Catholic priest. The same officers were also charged, along with two additional officers, of killing a Catholic shopkeeper in Ahoghill on 19 April 1977.]
Wednesday 18 July 1979
Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), tried to interrupt Jack Lynch, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) and President of the European Council, but was shouted down by other Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
Wednesday 18 June 1980
Hunger Strike.]
Friday 18 June 1982
Lord Gowrie, then a Northern Ireland Office (NIO) Minister, was quoted as saying:
“Northern Ireland is extremely expensive on the British taxpayer … if the people of Northern Ireland wished to join with the South of Ireland, no British government would resist it for twenty minutes.”
Tuesday 18 June 1991
An additional 500 British Army soldiers arrived in Northern Ireland bringing the total number deployed to approximately 11,000.
Friday 18 June 1993
President Shakes Adams’ Hand
Mary Robinson, then President of the Republic of Ireland, paid an unofficial visit to community groups in Belfast.
The visit went ahead against the wishes of the British government and the Northern Ireland Office (NIO). During the visit Robinson met Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), and shook his hand.
[This gesture provoked a lot of criticism amongst Unionists.]
Robinson also visited Coalisland, in County Tyrone.
Saturday 18 June 1994
Loughlinisland Killings
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) killed six Catholic men and wounded five others in a gun attack on a bar in Loughlinisland, County Down.
The people in the bar were watching a televised World Cup football match when the gunmen entered.
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[The attack was widely condemned. Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said that the “moral squalor” of the killers was beyond description. Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs), said it was a “night of savagery”.]
Shots were fired into the home of a Catholic family in Lisburn, County Antrim.
Sunday 18 June 1995
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) rerouted an Orange Order parade away from the Nationalist area of the lower Ormeau Road, Belfast.
Tuesday 18 June 1996
Parts of the centre of Dublin were evacuated in a bomb hoax which was believed to have been made by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF).
Friday 18 June 1999
Lee Clegg, then a soldier in the Parachute Regiment, was sentenced to four years for attempting to wound Martin Peake with intent in west Belfast on 30 September 1990.
Clegg was however immediately released because of the time he had already served in prison.
[Clegg was originally convicted of the murder of Karen Reilly during the same incident but was cleared on appeal on 11 March 1999.]
Three people from Northern Ireland were appointed as Working Peers by the Labour government. They were John Laird, a former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Stormont MP; Dennis Rogan, then UUP Chairman; and May Bloody, then a Shankill Road community worker.
James McCarry, then a Sinn Féin Councillor, became the first Republican to obtain a firearms licence following the personal intervention of Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Monday 18 June 2001
New Political Talks
Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, and Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), launched another attempt to find a resolution of the outstanding issues in the peace process. The two leaders held talks with represetatives of the three main pro-Agreement parties: the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and Sinn Féin (SF).
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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles
Today is the anniversary of the death of the following people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die
– Thomas Campbell
To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live forever
– To the Paramilitaries –
There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.
13 People lost their lives on the 18th June between 1972 – 1994
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18 June 1972
Arthur McMillan (37)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb in derelict house, Bleary, near Lurgan, County Down.
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18 June 1972 Ian Mutch (31)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb in derelict house, Bleary, near Lurgan, County Down
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18 June 1972
Colin Leslie (26)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb in derelict house, Bleary, near Lurgan, County Down.
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18 June 1974
John Forsythe (30)
Protestant Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb while on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) foot patrol, in entry off Market Street, Lurgan, County Armagh.
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18 June 1976 Robert Craven (51)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Killed in bomb attack on Conway’s Bar, Greencastle, Belfast.
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Civilian employed by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). Shot while driving his car, near to his home, Balmoral Park, Newry, County Down.
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18 June 1985
William Gilliland (39)
Protestant Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol, Coragh Glebe, near Kinawley, County Fermanagh.
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18 June 1994
Adrian Rogan (34)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Malcolm Jenkinson (52)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Barney Greene (87)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Daniel McCreanor (59)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Patrick O’Hare (35)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Eamon Byrne (39)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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As I child I learned the stories & legends of the Battle of Boyne & Siege of Derry at my grandfather’s & father’s k… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…— Belfast Child (@bfchild66) June 07, 2020
Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
17th June
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Monday 17 June 1974
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded a bomb at Westminster Hall in London, 11 people were injured in the explosion.
Thursday 17 June 1976
Brendan Meehan & Gerard Stitt
Two Catholic civilians were shot dead, by the UDA or (UVF), as they travelled on a bus on Crumlin Road, Belfast. A Catholic civilian died 11 days after being shot by the IRA in a case of mistaken identity.
Saturday 17 June 1978
Hugh McConnell & William Turbitt
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out a gun attack on an Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) patrol car near Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
One officer, Hugh McConnell (32), was killed at the scene and a second officer, William Turbitt (42), was kidnapped.
A Catholic priest was kidnapped the following day in retaliation but was later released.
On 10 July 1978 the body of Officer Turbitt was discovered.
In December 1978 three RUC officers were charged with kidnapping the Catholic priest. The same officers were also charged, along with two additional officers, of killing a Catholic shopkeeper in Ahoghill on 19 April 1977.
Kevin Dyer, Kevin
A Catholic civilian was found beaten to death on a rubbish tip in Belfast. He had been killed by Loyalists.
Tuesday 17 July 1979
Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), interrupted the opening proceedings of the European parliament to protest that the Union flag was flying the wrong way up on the Parliament Buildings.
Monday 17 June 1991
Political Talks Began
The four main political parties met at Stormont, Belfast, to begin talks on the future of Northern Ireland.
The talks (later known as the Brooke / Mayhew talks) began with opening statements from each of the parties. Prospects of a breakthrough however are slim given the fact that a meeting of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (AIIC) is scheduled for the middle of July.
This event is important given the fact that Unionists have stated that they will withdraw from the talks once the two governments begin their preparations for the AIIC.
Friday 17 June 1994
Three Men Shot by UVF
Gerald Brady (27), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Brady was a taxi driver and was found shot in his car, Blackthorn Park, Sunnylands, Carrickfergus, County Antrim.
Cecil Dougherty (30), a Protestant civilian, was shot dead by the UVF) during a gun attack on a workers hut, Rushpark, off Shore Road, Newtownabbey, County Antrim.
He was assumed to have been a Catholic.
In the same attack William Corrigan (32), a Protestant civilian, was also shot and mortally wounded.
He died 10 July 1994.
Corrigan was also assumed to have been a Catholic.
A meeting of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference took place in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, stated that there would be no successful political solution in Northern Ireland unless Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution were amended.
Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs), replied by saying that the British government would have to make changes to Section 75 of the Government of Ireland Act.
Saturday 17 June 1995
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), said that preliminary talks with British ministers had run their course and were now over.
Tuesday 17 June 1997
There were arson attacks on the homes of two Prison Officers.
[The attacks were blamed on the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).] Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, held separate meetings with representatives of the Orange Order and representatives of the residents of the Garvaghy Road in an attempt to find a settlement to the dispute over the parade planned for Sunday 6 July 1997.
Thursday 17 June 1999
Martin McGartland, formerly a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who turned informer, was shot seven times and seriously injured at his home in Whitley Bay, England. McGartland blamed the IRA for trying to kill him.
The High Court in London passed a ruling (by 2 to 1) that the 17 former soldiers giving evidence to the Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday could remain anonymous.
The ruling was criticised by relatives of the victims. Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), corrected a statement he had made in the Dáil earlier in the day.
In the statement he had said that he believed the Garda Síochána (the Irish police) had given up on some of the sites being searched for the remains of those killed and buried in secret by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
He said he had discussions with officials from the Department of Justice and had been assured that the Garda had not given up on the searches.
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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles
Today is the anniversary of the death of the following people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die
– Thomas Campbell
To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live forever
– To the Paramilitaries –
There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.
13 People lost their lives on the 17th June between 1973 – 1994
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17 June 1973 Joseph Kelly (25)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Found shot by Corr’s Corner, Larne Road, near Glengormley, County Antrim.
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17 June 1976 Daniel McCann (50)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died 11 days after being shot at a relative’s home, Ringford Park, Suffolk, Belfast. Mistaken for Ulster Defence Association (UDA) member.
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17 June 1976
Brendan Meehan (48)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Shot while sitting in Citybus travelling along Crumlin Road, Belfast.
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17 June 1976
Gerard Stitt (21)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Shot while sitting in Citybus travelling along Crumlin Road, Belfast.
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17 June 1978
Kevin Dyer (26)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Found beaten to death on rubbish tip, Glencairn Road, Belfast.
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17 June 1978
Hugh McConnell (32)
Protestant Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by snipers while travelling in Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) civilian type car, Sturgan Brae, by Cam Lough, near Belleek, County Armagh.
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17 June 1978
William Turbitt (42)
Protestant Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by snipers while travelling in Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) civilian type car, Sturgan Brae, by Cam Lough, near Belleek, County Armagh.
Apparently still alive, abducted by the IRA from the scene of the ambush. Body found, on information supplied by the IRA, in derelict farmhouse, Drumlougher, near Crossmaglen, County Armagh, on 10 July 1978.
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17 June 1981
Christopher Kyle (25)
Protestant Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot near to his home, Beragh, County Tyrone.
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17 June 1991
Brian Lawrence (34)
Protestant Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot at his workplace, tyre depot, Duncrue Street, Belfast.
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Shot while inside York Hotel, Botanic Avenue, Belfast.
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17 June 1994
Gerard Brady (27)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Taxi driver. Found shot in his car, Blackthorn Park, Sunnylands, Carrickfergus, County Antrim.
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17 June 1994
Cecil Dougherty (30)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack on workers hut, Rushpark, off Shore Road, Newtownabbey, County Antrim. Assumed to be a Catholic.
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17 June 1994 William Corrigan (32)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ), Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack on workers hut, Rushpark, off Shore Road, Newtownabbey, County Antrim. Assumed to be a Catholic. He died 10 July 1994.
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As I child I learned the stories & legends of the Battle of Boyne & Siege of Derry at my grandfather’s & father’s k… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…— Belfast Child (@bfchild66) June 07, 2020
The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are soley intended to educate and provide background information to those interested in the Troubles of Northern Ireland. They in no way reflect my own opinions and I take no responsibility for any inaccuracies or factual errors.
Allegations persist that police (Royal Ulster Constabulary) double agents or informers were linked to the massacre and that police protected those informers by destroying evidence and failing to carry out a proper investigation.
At the request of the victims’ families, the Police Ombudsman investigated the police. The Ombudsman concluded that there were major failings in the police investigation, but no evidence that police colluded with the UVF.
However, the Ombudsman did not investigate the role of informers and the report was branded a whitewash. Ombudsman investigators demanded to be disassociated from the report because their original findings “were dramatically altered without reason”, and they believed key intelligence had been deliberately withheld from them.
This led to the report being quashed, the Ombudsman being replaced and a new inquiry ordered. In June 2016, a new Police Ombudsman report was released indicating that there had been “collusion” between the police and the UVF, but that the police had no advance knowledge of the attack.
However, most of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often killed at random. Whenever it claimed responsibility for attacks, the UVF usually claimed that those targeted were IRA members or were helping the IRA. Other times, attacks on Catholic civilians were claimed as “retaliation” for IRA actions, since the IRA draws almost all its support from the Catholic population.
Since the mid-1960s, the UVF had carried out many gun and bomb attacks on Catholic-owned pubs and there had been many incidents of collusion between the UVF and members of the state security forces. During the early 1990s, loyalists drastically increased their attacks on Catholics and Irish nationalists and – for the first time since the conflict began – were responsible for more deaths than republicans or the security forces.
Mural for Trevor King & Other UVF Members
On 16 June 1994, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) shot dead three UVF members – Trevor King, Colin Craig and David Hamilton – on the Shankill Road in Belfast. The following day, the UVF launched two ‘retaliatory’ attacks. In the first, UVF members shot dead a Catholic civilian taxi driver in Carrickfergus. In the second, they shot dead two Protestant civilians in Newtownabbey, whom they believed were Catholics.
The Loughinisland shootings, a day later, are believed to have been further retaliation.
On the evening of 18 June 1994, about 24 people were gathered in The Heights bar and lounge watching the Republic of IrelandvsItaly in the World Cup.
At 10:10pm, two UVF members wearing boiler suits and balaclavas walked into the bar and opened fire on the crowd with assault rifles, spraying the small room with more than sixty bullets.
Six men were killed outright, and five other people were wounded. Witnesses said the gunmen then ran to a getaway car, “laughing”.
One described:
“bodies … lying piled on top of each other on the floor”.
The dead were Adrian Rogan (34), Malcolm Jenkinson (52), Barney Greene (87), Daniel McCreanor (59), Patrick O’Hare (35) and Eamon Byrne (39), all Catholic civilians. O’Hare was the brother-in-law of Eamon Byrne and Greene was one of the oldest people to be killed during the Troubles.
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Victims
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18 June 1994
Adrian Rogan (34)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Malcolm Jenkinson (52)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Barney Greene (87)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Daniel McCreanor (59)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Patrick O’Hare (35)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Eamon Byrne (39)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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The UVF claimed responsibility within hours of the attack. It claimed that an Irish republican meeting was being held in the pub and that the shooting was retaliation for the INLA attack.
However, police said there is no evidence that The Heights Bar had any links to republican paramilitary activity. Journalist Peter Taylor suggested in his book Loyalists that it was not entirely certain that the UVF Brigade Staff (Belfast leadership) had sanctioned the attack, and that it was instead carried out by a local UVF unit. In the event of an “enemy” attack, these UVF units were given freedom to retaliate against what they deemed to be appropriate targets.
An unnamed UVF member told Taylor that the UVF believed IRA members would be in the pub that evening. The Brigade Staff later assured Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) leader David Ervine that there would never again be another attack such as Loughinisland.
The attack received international media coverage and was widely condemned. Among those who sent messages of sympathy were Pope John Paul II, Queen Elizabeth II and US President Bill Clinton. Local Protestant families visited their wounded neighbours in hospital, expressing their shock and disgust.
Provisional IRA response
The massacre ultimately led to a temporary return to tit-for-tat violence. The following month, the IRA shot dead three high-ranking members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the other main loyalist paramilitary group alongside the UVF. It is claimed this was retaliation for the Loughinisland massacre.
The IRA stated that the men were directing the UDA’s campaign of violence against Catholics.
Ray Smallwoods
On 11 July the IRA shot dead Ray Smallwoods, a member of the UDA’s Inner Council and spokesman for its political wing, the Ulster Democratic Party. Six days later, UDA gunmen tried to repeat the Loughinisland massacre when they attacked the Hawthorn Inn at nearby Annaclone.
About 40 people were inside watching the football World Cup final. The pub’s thick doors had been locked and so the gunmen instead fired through the windows, wounding seven people.
Bratty commemorated with other South Belfast UDA members on a Sandy Row plaque
On 31 July, the IRA shot dead UDA commander Joe Bratty and his right-hand man Raymond Elder.
Investigation and campaign by victims’ families
The morning after the attack, the getaway car—a red Triumph Acclaim—was found abandoned in a field near Crossgar.
On 4 August, one of the vz. 58 rifles used in the attack was found hidden at a bridge near Saintfield along with a holdall containing boiler suits, balaclavas, gloves, three handguns and ammunition.
In 2006, following claims that “an RUC agent” had supplied the getaway car to the gunmen, the victims’ families lodged an official complaint about the investigation with the Police Ombudsman. The complaint included allegations “that the investigation had not been efficiently or properly carried out; no earnest effort was made to identify those responsible; and there were suspicions of state collusion in the murders”.
It was alleged that police agents or informers within the UVF were linked to the attack, and that the police’s investigation was hindered by its desire to protect those informers. The victims’ families also alleged that the police had failed to keep in contact with them about the investigation, even about significant developments.
It was revealed that the police had destroyed key evidence and documents. The car had been disposed of in April 1995, ten months into the investigation.
In 1998, police documents related to the investigation were destroyed at Gough Barracks RUC station, allegedly because of fears they were contaminated by asbestos. It is believed they included the original notes, made during interviews of suspects in 1994 and 1995.
A hair follicle had been recovered from the car but nobody had yet been charged, while the other items (balaclavas, gloves, etc.) had not been subjected to new tests made possible by advances in forensic science.
It was alleged that the rifle used in the attack had been part of a shipment smuggled into Northern Ireland for loyalists by British agent Brian Nelson.
A key eyewitness claimed she gave police a description of the getaway driver within hours of the massacre, but that police failed to record important information she gave them and never asked her to identify suspects. A serving policeman later gave the woman’s personal details to a relative of the suspected getaway driver. Police then visited her and advised her to increase her security for fear she could be shot.
The Office of the Police Ombudsman, which investigated the police over the massacre
In 2008 it was revealed that, since the shootings, up to 20 people had been arrested for questioning but none had ever been charged.
In January 2010 a reserve Police Service of Northern Ireland officer (formerly an RUC officer) was arrested by detectives from the Police Ombudsman’s Office and questioned over “perverting the course of justice” and “aiding the killers’ escape”.
Later that year, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute. In reply, the Ombudsman’s Office said it would consider disciplinary action against the officer.
Police Ombudsman’s report and aftermath
In September 2009 it was revealed that a Police Ombudsman’s report on the killings was to be published on 15 September.
At the same time, some details of the report were made known. Police sources said the report would expose the role of four RUC informers in “ordering or organising” the attack. The report was also said to highlight a series of major failings in the police investigation – including that not enough effort was made to identify those responsible, that police failed to speak to people of interest, that key evidence was destroyed and that there was poor record management.
However, shortly after these revelations, the Ombudsman postponed publication of the report as “new evidence” had emerged.
The Ombudsman’s report was finally published on 24 June 2011. It said that the police investigation had lacked “diligence, focus and leadership”; that there were failings in record management; that significant lines of enquiry were not identified; and that police failed to communicate effectively with the victims’ families.
However, it said that there was “insufficient evidence of collusion” and “no evidence that police could have prevented the attack”.
Margaret Ritchie
The report was harshly criticized for not investigating the role of RUC informers inside the UVF. Social Democratic and Labour Party leader Margaret Ritchie said the findings were flawed and contrary “to a mountain of evidence of collusion”. She added: “It completely lets down the victims’ families and the wider community. Al Hutchinson paints a picture of an incompetent keystone cops type of police force when the reality was that the RUC and Special Branch were rotten to the core”.
Niall Murphy, the solicitor for the victims’ relatives, described the report’s findings as “timid, mild and meek”. He added: “The ombudsman has performed factual gymnastics to ensure there was no evidence of collusion in his conclusion”. The relatives stated that they believe the report proves police colluded with those involved and made “no real attempt to catch the killers”.
After the report’s publication, there were calls for Al Hutchinson to resign, and the victims’ families began a High Court challenge to have the report’s findings quashed.
In September 2011, the Criminal Justice Inspectorate (CJI) criticized Hutchinson and recommended that the Ombudsman’s Office be suspended from investigating historic murders because its independence had been compromised. CJI inspectors found “major inconsistencies” in the Ombudsman’s report. Ombudsman investigators had demanded to be disassociated from the report because their original findings “were dramatically altered without reason”. Ombudsman investigators also believed that key intelligence had been deliberately withheld from them.
In 2012, the Belfast High Court quashed the report’s findings and Hutchinson was replaced by Michael Maguire, who ordered a new inquiry into the massacre.
Maguire, after investigating the killings, stated with regard to the RUC police force colluding with the murderers: “I have no hesitation in unambiguously determining that collusion is a significant feature of the Loughinisland murders.” He said the VZ58 rifle used in the attack was part of a shipment of weapons brought by loyalist paramilitaries into Northern Ireland late 1987 or early 1988.
Responding to Mafuire’s report, Foreign Minister Flanagan said : “The Ombudsman’s findings are deeply disturbing – in particular his determination that ‘collusion is a significant feature of the Loughinisland murders.
Commemoration
On the 18th anniversary of the attack, the Republic of Ireland football team again played Italy – this time in the Euro 2012 at Poznań, Poland. The Irish team wore black armbands during the match, to commemorate those killed while watching the same teams playing 18 years before. The idea was proposed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and backed by UEFA. Some prominent loyalists berated the move. South Belfast UDA brigadier Jackie McDonald said that it was “bringing politics into sport” and would lead to “dire repercussions” for football.
Another leading loyalist, Winston Churchill Rea, also raised concerns about the tribute. However, the victims’ families fully supported the gesture.
On 29 April 2014, ESPN, as part of their 30 for 30 series, broadcast a documentary about the shootings, named “Ceasefire Massacre”.
As I child I learned the stories & legends of the Battle of Boyne & Siege of Derry at my grandfather’s & father’s k… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…— Belfast Child (@bfchild66) June 07, 2020
The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are soley intended to educate and provide background information to those interested in the Troubles of Northern Ireland. They in no way reflect my own opinions and I take no responsibility for any inaccuracies or factual errors.
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Trevor James King, also known as “Kingso” (c. 1953 – 9 July 1994), was a BritishUlster loyalist and a senior member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). He was commander of the UVF’s “B” Company, 1st Belfast Battalion, holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. On 16 June 1994, he was one of three UVF men gunned down by the Irish National Liberation Army as he stood on the corner of Spier’s Place and the Shankill Road in West Belfast, close to the UVF headquarters.
His companion Colin Craig was killed on the spot, and David Hamilton, who was seriously wounded, died the next day in hospital. King was also badly injured; he lived for three weeks on a life-support machine before making the decision himself to turn it off.
There are several murals in the Shankill Road area commemorating King. One of these is a mural and plaque dedicated to him, David Hamiliton and William “Frenchie” Marchant, which stands at the Spiers Place and Shankill Road junction.
An oversized mural painted on the gable end of a house in Disraeli Street, Woodvale, features a portrait of King with an inscription from a poem by Siegfried Sassoon.
He was arrested that same night by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after he and another young man were caught working with a rifle bolt in the rear yard of a house in Blackmountain Pass. The rifle had jammed and the men had been attempting to free its bolt. Inside a bedroom, police found three Steyr rifles, ammunition and illuminating flares. Several hours earlier the UVF had exploded a car bomb outside Kelly’s Bar on Whiterock Road and then taken up sniping positions from high-rise flats in Springmartin. T
he IRA responded by shooting at British Army troops who arrived on the scene before exchanging gunfire with the UVF snipers. That Saturday night saw the most violent gun battles since the suspension of Stormont and imposition of Direct Rule from London. Five people died in the clashes which continued on 14 May; these deaths included British soldier Alan Buckley, and teenagers John Pedlow (17), Michael Magee (15), and Martha Campbell (13).
When arraigned for trial after his arrest King told the court:
“I refuse to recognise this court, as an instrument of an illegal and undemocratic regime. Also I would like to make it clear [fellow UVF member and arrestee William] Graham is innocent of all charges”.
King spent time in prison for his involvement in the gun battle whilst Graham was acquitted. Evidence supplied by a supergrass helped to ensure that King was sent to Crumlin Road gaol.
Following his release King rose in the organisation’s ranks to become a senior leader as commander of the UVF “B” Company, 1st Belfast Battalion which covered West Belfast, including the Shankill Road. He held the rank of lieutenant colonel, and was the director of UVF military operations.
Although King had been arrested numerous times, he was never prosecuted as witnesses were afraid to testify against him. According to The People newspaper he maintained an “iron grip” on the UVF from 1974. He was however held on remand in the Maze during the early 1980s and whilst in the prison camp he was close to Billy Hutchinson, who was Officer Commanding of the Maze UVF at the time.
In 1984 he was charged in connection with the 1975 killings of Catholic civilians Gerard McClenahan and Anthony Molloy after being named by supergrass John Gibson as the latter’s accomplice. King was acquitted after the case fell apart.
Shooting
Mural and plaque commemorating Trevor King, William Marchant and David Hamilton on the corner of Spiers Place and the Shankill Road
On 16 June 1994, King was standing on the corner of the Shankill Road and Spier’s Place talking to fellow UVF members, David Hamilton (43) and Colin Craig (31). They were about one hundred yards away from the UVF headquarters, which was located in rooms above a shop known as “The Eagle”. A car drove past them and as it did so, Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) gunmen inside the vehicle opened fire on the three men
David Lister and Hugh Jordan claimed that Gino Gallagher, who was himself shot dead in 1996 in an internal feud, was the main INLA gunman in the attack. Colin Craig was killed on the spot. King and David Hamilton lay in the street, seriously wounded as panic and chaos erupted on the Shankill in the wake of the shooting. Presbyterian minister, the Reverend Roy Magee was in “the Eagle” discussing an upcoming Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) meeting and the possibility of a loyalist ceasefire with the UVF Brigade Staff (leadership) when the attack took place.
He and the others raced out of the building after hearing the gunfire. He later described the scene he came upon outside.
“With some others, I ran down to where the men were. One was already dead and the others were in a very, very bad physical state. The road was in pandemonium at that stage. You could see that the leadership of the UVF was quite naturally very, very broken and disturbed about the shooting of their colleague. He [Trevor King] was a senior commander”.
King was rushed to hospital where he was put on a life-support machine. The shooting had left him paralysed from the neck down. He died on 9 July with Reverend Magee at his bedside. According to Magee, King himself made the decision to turn off the machine.
The People alleged that prior to his shooting, he had been moving the UVF towards drug dealing and racketeering.
The UVF leadership was badly shaken by the attack, as it had taken place on the staunchly loyalist Shankill Road and involved a high-ranking member.
The next day, after David Hamilton succumbed to his injuries, the UVF made its first moves to punish Catholics. A Catholic taxi driver was killed in Carrickfergus and two Protestants mistaken for Catholics were shot dead in Newtownabbey.
On 18 June, the UVF struck again. Their target was the Heights Bar in Loughinisland, County Down. As customers sat watching Ireland play Italy in the World Cup football match, UVF gunmen stormed in spraying the bar with gunfire. In all, six Catholics died and another five were wounded in the attack.
A revenge attack on the INLA was also planned and in September UVF gunmen occupied the Lower Falls home of INLA chief of staff Hugh Torney and held his family hostage whilst they awaited Torney’s return home. However the INLA leader, who had a reputation for being especially guarded about his public safety, got wind of the event and did not return home, resulting in the UVF members abandoning their attempt and releasing Torney’s family.
It was subsequently revealed that Colin Craig had been an RUC informer. It was believed that he had provided intelligence to the security forces which enabled an undercover British Army unit to shoot UVF hitman Brian Robinson dead in 1989. A UVF leader had suggested after the triple shooting that Craig had been in line to be killed by the UVF anyway.
Legacy
Close-up of plaque on King’s Disraeli Street mural
King has been commemorated in loyalist songs, annual parades, and murals. A memorial plaque and mural stands at the junction of Spier’s Place and Shankill Road junction close to the spot where King was fatally wounded. It is dedicated to him, David Hamilton and William “Frenchie” Marchant, a leading UVF member gunned down by the IRA at the same location in 1987.
On the gable of a house in Disreali Street in the Woodvale area, King is featured on one of three outsized murals commemorating killed loyalist paramilitaries (a fourth at the start of the street commemorates the Woodvale Defence Association in general). His is the middle mural, flanked by those representing Brian Robinson and Sam Rockett, UVF men killed by the Force Research Unit and Ulster Defence Association respectively. Beside King’s mural there is an inscription taken from Suicide in the Trenches, a poem written by Siegfried Sassoon in 1917. It reads:
“You smug faced crowds with kindling eye
who cheer when soldier lads pass by
sneak home and pray you’ll never know
the hell where youth and laughter go”.
There was a parade and ceremony to mark the mural’s completion in July 1995, the first anniversary of his death. Loyalist bands paraded and laid floral wreaths at the base, and Billy Hutchinson of the Progressive Unionist Party (and King’s former Officer Commanding in Long Kesh) made a speech honouring King’s memory.
In July 2000, on the sixth anniversary of his death, hundreds of people turned out on the Shankill Road to watch a memorial service held in honour of King. Three masked UVF men, two of whom were armed with rifles, took part in the ceremony. One supporter commented, “King was a legend in this area and it is only fitting that his anniversary should be marked by the organisation to which he devoted his life.
Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
16th June
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Friday 16 June 1972
John Johnson (59), who had been shot twice on ‘Bloody Sunday’ (30 January 1972), died. His family was convinced that he died prematurely and that his death was a result of the injuries he received and the trauma he underwent on that day.
The Fianna Fáil (FF) party won the general election in the Republic of Ireland. FF had a majority of 20 seats. Jack Lynch became the new Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister).
Friday 16 June 1978
Kevin Dyer (26), a Catholic civilian, was found beaten to death on a rubbish tip at Glencairn Road, Belfast. He had been killed by Loyalists.
Monday 16 June 1980
Brooks Richards was appointed as security co-ordinator for Northern Ireland.
Wednesday 16 June 1993
John Major, then British Prime Minister, and Albert Reynolds, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), held a meeting in London and both called for talks between the Northern Ireland political parties to be resumed.
Thursday 16 June 1994
Three UVF Members Shot by INLA
The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) carried out a gun attack on a group of Loyalists on the Shankill Road, west Belfast. Two members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) were shot.
One died at the scene, and the second died on 9 July 1994.
A Protestant civilian was also mortally injured and died on 17 June 1984. A fourth man was injured in the attack.
[The UVF carried out a series of ‘revenge’ attacks over the coming days and killed 9 people – 7 Catholic civilians and 2 Protestant civilians mistakenly believed to be Catholics.]
Monday 16 June 1997
Two RUC Officers Killed by IRA
John Graham & John Graham
Roland John Graham (34), a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer, and David Andrew Johnston (30), a RUC reserve officer, were shot dead in Lurgan, County Armagh.
The two officers were shot from close range from behind. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) admitted responsibility for the killings. The two men were survived by five children.
[The RUC officers were the first to be killed by the IRA since the ending of its ceasefire on 9 February 1996.]
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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles
Today is the anniversary of the death of the following people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die
– Thomas Campbell
To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live forever
– To the Paramilitaries –
There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.
9 People lost their lives on the 16th June between 1972 – 1997
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16 June 1972 Charles Connor (32)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Found shot Minnowburn, Shaw’s Bridge, Belfast.
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16 June 1973 Daniel Rouse (17)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Found shot at the side of Dunmurry Lane, Dunmurry, near Belfast, County Antrim
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16 June 1978
Robert Struthers (19)
Protestant Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), K
illed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty reservist. Shot at his workplace, Foyle Street, Derry.
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16 June 1986 Terence McKeever (30)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Found shot at Mullaghduff, near Cullyhanna, County Armagh. Contractor to British Army (BA) / Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) .
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16 June 1994
Colin Craig (31)
Protestant Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Shot while standing outside shop, junction of Spiers Place and Shankill Road, Belfast.
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16 June 1994 David Hamilton (43)
Protestant Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Shot while standing outside shop, junction of Spiers Place and Shankill Road, Belfast. He died 17 June 1994
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16 June 1994
Mural for Trevor King
Trevor King (41)
Protestant Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Shot while standing outside shop, junction of Spiers Place and Shankill Road, Belfast. He died 9 July 1994.
Protestant Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot, while on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) foot patrol, Church Walk, Lurgan, County Armagh.
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16 June 1997
David Johnston (30)
Protestant Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot, while on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) foot patrol, Church Walk, Lurgan, County Armagh.
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As I child I learned the stories & legends of the Battle of Boyne & Siege of Derry at my grandfather’s & father’s k… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…— Belfast Child (@bfchild66) June 07, 2020
The 1996 Manchester bombing was an attack carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on Saturday 15 June 1996. The IRA detonated a powerful 3,300-pound (1,500 kg) truck bomb on Corporation Street in the centre ofManchester, England. The biggest bomb detonated in Great Britain since World War II, it targeted the city’s infrastructure and economy and caused widespread damage, estimated by insurers at £700 million (£1.2 billion as of 2016).
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The IRA had sent telephoned warnings about 90 minutes before the bomb detonated. At least 75,000 people were evacuated from the area, but the bomb squad were unable to defuse the bomb in time. More than 200 people were injured, but there were no fatalities. At the time, England was hosting the Euro ’96football championships and a Russia vs Germany match was to take place in Manchester the following day.
Since 1970 the Provisional IRA had been waging a campaign aimed at forcing the British government to negotiate a withdrawal from Northern Ireland. Although Manchester had been the target of IRA bombs before 1996, it had not been subjected to an attack on this scale. In February 1996, the IRA had ended its seventeen-month ceasefire with a similarly large truck bomb attack on London’s Canary Wharf financial district.
The Manchester bombing was condemned by the British and Irish governments and US President Bill Clinton. Five days after the blast, the IRA issued a statement in which it claimed responsibility, but regretted causing injury to civilians.
Several buildings near the explosion were damaged beyond repair and had to be demolished, while many more were closed for months for structural repairs. Most of the rebuilding work was completed by the end of 1999, at a cost of £1.2 billion, although redevelopment continued until 2005. The perpetrators of the attack have not been caught, and Greater Manchester Police have conceded it is unlikely that anyone will be charged in connection with the bombing.
Background
From 1970 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) was carrying out an armed campaign aimed ultimately at bringing about a united Ireland. As well as attacking military and political targets, it also bombed infrastructure and commercial targets in Northern Ireland and England. It believed that by damaging the economy and causing severe disruption, it could pressure the British government to negotiate a withdrawal from Northern Ireland.
Manchester had been the target of earlier IRA bombs. Firebombs damaged city centre businesses in 1973 and 1974, for which a man was later imprisoned. In April 1974, a bomb exploded at Manchester Magistrates’ Court, injuring twelve. In 1975, IRA bomb factories were found in Greater Manchester and five men were imprisoned for planning attacks in North West England.
On 4 December 1992, the IRA detonated two small bombs in Manchester city centre, forcing police to evacuate thousands of shoppers. More than 60 were hurt by shattered glass and the blasts cost an estimated £10 million in damage and business losses.
The Downing Street Declaration of 1993 allowed Sinn Féin, a political party associated with the IR to participate in all-party peace negotiations on condition that the IRA called a ceasefire. The IRA called a ceasefire on 31 August 1994. John Major‘s government, dependent on Ulster unionist votes, then began insisting that the IRA must fully disarm before there could be any all-party negotiations. The IRA saw this as a demand for total surrender and believed the British were unwilling to hold negotiations. It ended its ceasefire on 9 February 1996 when it detonated a powerful truck bomb in Canary Wharf, one of the two financial districts of London. The blast killed two people and caused an estimated £150 million worth of damage.
The IRA then planted five other devices in London within the space of 10 weeks.
The IRA planned to carry out a similar bombing in Manchester. The city may have been chosen because it was one of the host cities of the Euro ’96 football tournament, attended by visitors and media organisations from all over Europe, guaranteeing the IRA what Margaret Thatcher called the “oxygen of publicity”. A Russia vs Germany match was to take place at Old Trafford in Manchester a day after the bombing.
The year before, Manchester had also won its bid to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games, at the time the biggest multi-sport event ever to be staged in Britain.
On 10 June 1996, multi-party negotiations began in Belfast. Sinn Féin had been elected to take part but were barred because the IRA had not resumed its ceasefire or agreed to disarm.
Details of the bombing
The IRA’s South Armagh Brigade was tasked with planning and carrying out the attack. It had also been responsible for the Canary Wharf bombing in February, and the Bishopsgate bombing in 1993. Its members mixed the explosives in Ireland and shipped them by freight from Dublin to England. In London, the bomb was assembled and loaded into the back of a red and white Ford Cargobox truck. On 14 June it was driven north towards Manchester, accompanied by a Ford Granada which served as a ‘scout car’.
Discovery
Stills taken from India 99, a Greater Manchester Police helicopter, showing the Ford Cargo truck moments before the blast, the explosion taking place, and the resulting mushroom cloud over the city, dwarfing the adjacent 23-storey high-rise, Arndale House.
At about 9:20 am on Saturday 15 June 1996, the Ford Cargo truck was parked on Corporation Street, outside the Marks & Spencer store, near the Arndale Centre.[1] After setting the bomb’s timer, two men – wearing hooded jackets, baseball caps and sunglasses – left the vehicle and walked to Cathedral Street, where a third man picked them up in the Ford Granada.
The truck had been parked on double yellow lines with its hazard lights flashing. Within three minutes a traffic warden had issued the vehicle with a parking ticket and called for its removal.
At about 9:40 am, Granada Studios on Quay Street received a telephone call claiming that there was a bomb at the corner of Corporation Street and Cannon Street and that it would explode in one hour. The caller had an Irish accent and gave an IRA codeword so that police would know the threat was genuine.
Four other telephoned warnings were sent to television/radio stations, newspapers and a hospital.
The first policeman to arrive on the scene noticed wires running from the truck’s dashboard through a hole into the back and reported that he had found the bomb. Forensic experts later estimated that the bomb weighed 3,300 to 3,500 pounds (1,500–1,600 kg) and was a mixture of semtex, a military-grade plastic explosive, and ammonium nitrate fertiliser, a cheap and easily obtainable explosive used extensively by the IRA. Components of what may have been a tremble trigger were also found later, designed to detonate the bomb if it was tampered with.
Evacuation
At 10:00 am, there were an estimated 75,000–80,000 people shopping and working in the vicinity. An evacuation of the area was undertaken by police officers from Bootle Street police station, supplemented by officers drafted into Manchester to control the football crowds. The police were helped by security guards from local shops.
One group worked to move people away from the bomb while another, assisted by firefighters and security guards, established a continuously expanding cordon around the area to prevent entry. By 11:10 am the cordon was at the greatest extent that available manpower would permit, about a quarter of a mile (400 m) from the truck and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in circumference.
Explosion
The bomb squad arrived from their Liverpool base at 10:46 am and attempted to defuse the bomb using a remote-controlled device, but they ran out of time. The bomb exploded at 11:17 am, causing an estimated £700 million (£1.2 billion as of 2016) of damage and affecting a third of the city centre’s retail space. Marks & Spencer, the sky bridge connecting it with the Arndale Centre, and neighbouring buildings were destroyed. It was the largest peacetime bomb ever detonated in Great Britain,and the blast created a mushroom cloud which rose 300 metres (1,000 feet) from the ground.
The explosion could be heard up to 15 miles away and left a crater 15 metres wide. Glass and masonry were thrown into the air, and behind the police cordon – up to 1⁄2 mi (800 m) away, people were showered by falling debris.
There were no fatalities, but 212 people were injured. A search of the area for casualties was confused by mannequins blasted from shop windows, which were sometimes mistaken for bodies. Hospitals across Greater Manchester were made ready to receive those injured in the blast. The police commandeered a Metrolink tram to take 50 of the casualties to North Manchester General Hospital, which treated 79 in total; a further 80 were cared for at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, and many others were treated in the streets by ambulance crews assisted by doctors and nurses who happened to be in the city centre that morning.
Reaction
The bombing was condemned by British Prime Minister John Major and his government, by the opposition, and by individual members of parliament (MPs) as a “sickening”, “callous” and “barbaric” terrorist attack. Early on, Major stated that,
“This explosion looks like the work of the IRA. It is the work of a few fanatics and … causes absolute revulsion in Ireland as it does here”.
“struck mute” on the attack in the immediate aftermath. Bruton described the bombing as “a slap in the face to people who’ve been trying, against perhaps their better instincts, to give Sinn Féin a chance to show that they could persuade the IRA to reinstate the ceasefire”.
The President of the United States, Bill Clinton, stated he was “deeply outraged by the bomb explosion” and joined Bruton and Major in “utterly condemning this brutal and cowardly act of terrorism”. Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams, stated that he was “shocked and saddened” by the bombing. He insisted that his party was committed to achieving a peace settlement and argued “it is sheer folly to return to the old agenda of excluding Sinn Féin and seeking to isolate republicans”.
On 20 June 1996, the IRA claimed responsibility for the bombing, and stated that it “sincerely regretted” causing injury to civilians.
The IRA statement continued:
The British Government has spent the last 22 months since August ’94 trying to force the surrender of IRA weapons and the defeat of the republican struggle. We are still prepared to enhance the democratic peace process […] but if there is to be a lasting peace […] then the British Government must put the democratic rights of all of the people of Ireland before its own party political self interest.
The bombing came five days after the beginning of the peace talks in Belfast, and represented the IRA’s opposition to talks which excluded republicans. The attack was part of a political strategy by the IRA to be included in negotiations on the IRA’s own terms. According to historian Richard English:
“What they were doing with their return to bombings like the Manchester bomb was saying, ‘We can still return to war if we want to. We can still put off a huge bomb in your cities and devastate them and therefore you have to deal with us'”.
In an effort to allay fears that Manchester’s considerable Irish community might be subjected to reprisal attacks, Councillors Richard Leese and Martin Pagel – leader and deputy leader of Manchester City Council respectively – made a public visit to the Irish World Heritage Centre in Cheetham Hill. In the event there were only a few incidents, the most serious of which occurred on the evening of the bomb when a gang of ten men rampaged through an Irish-themed bar in the centre of Middleton shouting the Ulster loyalist slogan “No surrender” and smashing furniture and windows.
Seven days after the bombing, Manchester Council held a ‘family fun day’ in front of the Town Hall in Albert Square to encourage shoppers and visitors back into the city centre, the first of a “series of events and entertainments”.
The Euro ’96 football match between Russia and Germany at Old Trafford went ahead as planned the day following the bombing, after the stadium had been heavily guarded overnight and carefully searched; the game, which Germany won 3–0, was watched by a capacity crowd of 50,700.[43]
Investigation
A damaged traffic light that stood on the corner of the junction between Cross Street and Market Street at the time of the explosion, now in the Museum of Science and Industry
In an effort to trace the route of the Ford Cargo truck, police examined CCTV footage from every major road and motorway taken in England within two days of the bombing. Footage revealed that the truck was driven south along the M1 motorway into London on the Friday afternoon before the attack.
It was seen again heading north along the motorway at 7:40 pm, accompanied by the Ford Granada. Detectives surmised that the truck had been loaded with explosives in London and that the Granada was intended to be the getaway vehicle. The truck was last recorded travelling east along the M62 motorway towards Manchester at 8:31 am on the morning of the explosion.
Police in Manchester were aware that their Metropolitan Police colleagues in London were investigating a suspected IRA unit based in the capital, and wondered whether the London unit was responsible for the Manchester bombing. On 15 July, Metropolitan police arrested six men suspected of IRA membership: Donal Gannon, John Crawley, Gerard Hanratty, Robert Morrow, Patrick Martin, and Francis Rafferty. Each was tried and convicted of “conspiracy to cause explosions at National Grid electricity stations”, and sentenced to 35 years in jail. Police in Manchester meanwhile worked to establish if the men were also responsible for the Manchester bomb.
Their investigation was led by Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Mutch of the Greater Manchester Police (GMP), “astonishingly … the only person ever charged with a criminal offence in connection with the Manchester bomb”.
The truck’s last registered owner told police that he had sold it to a dealer in Peterborough, who had in turn sold the truck on to a man calling himself Tom Fox, two weeks before the bombing. After the purchase price was delivered in cash by a taxi driver, the dealer was instructed to take the truck to a nearby lorry park, and leave it there with the keys and documents hidden inside.
On checking records of telephone calls made to the dealer, the police found that some had been made from a mobile phone registered in Ireland, and on further checking the records of that phone it appeared that the calls were made from locations consistent with the known whereabouts of the Ford truck. One call was to a known IRA member.
The phone was last used at 9:23 am on the morning of the bombing, just three minutes after the bombers had parked their truck in Corporation Street. On 27 June, the phone’s registered owner reported that it had been stolen 17 days earlier, but the police felt they had gathered enough evidence to bring a prosecution against the six IRA men held in London.
At a meeting attended by the commander of Special Branch in Manchester, a GMP assistant chief constable and a “senior officer” from the Royal Ulster Constabulary, it was decided, for reasons never made public, not to present the findings of the investigation to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS); the body responsible for undertaking criminal prosecutions in England.
The three may have felt that as the IRA suspects were already in police custody they were no longer a threat, or that to pursue the case against them may have jeopardised ongoing undercover operations. It was not until 1998 that the police finally sent their file to the CPS, who decided not to prosecute.
Leak
Early in 1999, Steve Panter, chief crime reporter for the Manchester Evening News, was leaked classified Special Branch documents naming those suspected of the bombing. The documents also revealed that the man suspected of organising the attack had visited Manchester shortly after the bombing and been under covert police surveillance as he toured the devastated city centre before returning to his home in South Armagh.
Suspicion fell on Mutch as the source of the leaked documents after an analysis of mobile phone records placed both him and Panter at the same hotel in Skipton, North Yorkshire, about 40 miles (64 km) from Manchester on the same evening.
On 21 April 1999, the Manchester Evening News named a man it described as “a prime suspect in the 1996 Manchester bomb plot”.
The newspaper reported that the file sent by Greater Manchester Police to the Crown Prosecution Service contained the sentence: “It is the opinion of the investigating officers of GMP that there is sufficient evidence to charge [him] with being a party in a conspiracy to cause explosions in the United Kingdom.”
The man denied any involvement.
The Attorney General wrote in a letter to a local MP that the advice given to the CPS by an independent lawyer was that “there was not a case to answer on the evidence available … a judge would stop the case”: the Attorney General further wrote that the decision not to prosecute was not influenced by the government. The newspaper also identified the six men arrested in London on 15 July as having planned the attack.
By July 2000 all six had been released under the terms of the 1998 Belfast Agreement.
As of 2016, Panter and Mutch are the only people to have been arrested in connection with the bombing. Mutch was tried for “misconduct in a public office” during an 11-day trial held in January 2002, but was acquitted. During the trial Panter was found in contempt of court for refusing to reveal his source, an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment without the right of appeal.
Greater Manchester Police announced in 2006 that there was no realistic chance of convicting those responsible for the bombing.[
Reconstruction
About twelve buildings in the immediate vicinity of the explosion were severely damaged. Overall, 530,000 square feet (49,000 m2) of retail space and 610,000 square feet (57,000 m2) of office space ere put out of use.
Insurers paid out £411 million (£700 million as of 2016) in damages for what was at the time one of the most expensive man-made disasters ever,and there was considerable under-insurance.
Victims of the bombing received a total of £1,145,971 in compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority; one individual received £146,524, the largest amount awarded as a result of this incident.
Close to the location of the blast, 2009
According to Home Office statistics, an estimated 400 businesses within half a mile (0.8 km) of the blast were affected, 40% of which did not recover.
The heaviest damage was sustained by the three buildings nearest the bomb: Michael House, comprising a Marks & Spencer store and a six-storey office block; Longridge House, offices for Royal and Sun Alliance, an insurance company; and the Arndale Centre, a shopping mall. Michael House was deemed beyond economic repair and demolished. Marks & Spencer took the opportunity to acquire and demolish the adjacent Longridge House, using the enlarged site for the world’s biggest branch of the store.
The company’s fortunes changed during construction, and Selfridges subsequently co-occupied the building; Marks & Spencer leased part of the Lewis’s store in the interim. The frontage of the Arndale was badly damaged and was removed in a remodelling of that part of the city centre.
Coming to Manchester [after the bombing] was a journey I shall never forget. I sat on the train obviously deeply shocked and horrified. I knew that questions would be asked about what we were going to do; what is the right solution. Then I knew what the right solution was – to see this event, horrific as it was, as an opportunity and, no mucking about, we must do things on the grand scale and to the best quality we can.
The glass domes of the Corn Exchange and the Royal Exchange were blown in. The landlord of the Corn Exchange invoked a force majeure condition in the lease to evict all tenants, and the building was converted into a shopping centre. The dome of the Royal Exchange shifted in the blast; its reconstruction took two and a half years and cost £32 million, paid for by the National Lottery.
The possibility of rebuilding parts of the city centre was raised within days of the bomb. On 26 June 1996, Michael Heseltine, the Deputy Prime Minister, announced an international competition for designs of the redevelopment of the bomb-affected area. Bids were received from 27 entrants, five of whom were invited to submit designs in a second round.
It was announced on 5 November 1996 that the winning design was one by a consortium headed by EDAW.
Redevelopment
Much of the 1960s redevelopment of Manchester’s city centre was unpopular with residents. Market Street, near the explosion and at that time the second-busiest shopping street in the UK, was considered by some commentators a “fearful” place, to be “avoided like the plague”.
Until Margaret Thatcher‘s third consecutive election victory in 1987, the staunchly Labour-controlled Manchester Council believed that Manchester’s regeneration should be funded solely by public money, despite the government’s insistence on only funding schemes with a significant element of private investment. Graham Stringer, leader of Manchester City Council, later admitted that after the 1987 General Election result “there was no get out of jail card. We had gambled on Labour winning the General Election and we lost.”
Thatcher’s victory effectively put paid to Manchester’s “socialist experiment”, and Stringer shortly afterwards wrote a letter of capitulation to Nicholas Ridley, then Secretary of State for the Environment, saying, “in a nutshell; OK, you win, we’d like to work together with you”.
Efforts at improvement before the bombing had in some respects made matters worse, cutting off the area north of the Arndale Centre – the exterior of which was widely unloved – from the rest of the city centre. A large building nearby, now redeveloped as The Printworks and formerly occupied by the Daily Mirror newspaper, had been unoccupied since 1987.
Many locals therefore considered that “the bomb was the best thing that ever happened to Manchester” as it cleared the way for redevelopment of the dysfunctional city centre, a view also expressed in 2007 by Terry Rooney, MP for Bradford North. The leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition on Manchester City Council, Simon Ashley, responded that “I take exception to his [Rooney’s] comments about the IRA bomb.
No one who was in the city on that day, who lost their jobs or was scared witless or injured by the blast, would say the bomb was the best thing to happen to Manchester”.
Sir Gerald Kaufman, MP for Manchester Gorton, stated that the bomb provided the opportunity for redeveloping Manchester city centre, although it was not fully exploited. “The bomb was obviously bad but from a redevelopment point of view, it was a lost opportunity. While the area around St Ann’s Square and Deansgate is not disagreeable, if you compare it with Birmingham and its exciting development, we’ve got nothing to touch that in Manchester”.
Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, has been quoted as saying “people say the bomb turned out to be a great thing for Manchester. That’s rubbish.” There was already substantial regeneration and redevelopment taking place in the city centre before the bombing, in support of the Manchester bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, its second Olympic bid. Tom Bloxham, chairman of property development group Urban Splash and of the Arts Council England (North West), agreed with Bernstein that the bomb attack was not the trigger for the large-scale redevelopment that has taken place in Manchester since the early 1990s:
A pillar box that withstood the bomb blast. A memorial brass plaque commemorates the 1996 bomb.
For me the turning point for Manchester came before the bomb … it was the second Olympic Games bid [in 1992] when we lost but the city suddenly had a realisation. There was a huge party in Castlefield and people grasped the idea that Manchester should no longer consider itself in competition with the likes of Barnsley and Stockport. It was now up against Barcelona, Los Angeles and Sydney and its aspirations increased accordingly.
Memorials
A pillar box that survived the blast, despite being yards from the explosion, now carries a small brass plaque recording the bombing. It was removed during construction and redevelopment work, and returned to its original spot when Corporation Street reopened.
The plaque reads:
This postbox remained standing almost undamaged on June 15th 1996 when this area was devastated by a bomb. The box was removed during the rebuilding of the city centre and was returned to its original site on
November 22nd 1999
A Thanksgiving service for the “Miracle of Manchester” was held at Manchester Cathedral on 24 July 2002, to coincide with the arrival of the Commonwealth Games baton, attended by Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh. At 11:17 am on 15 June 2006, a candle was lit at a memorial held at Manchester Cathedral to mark the tenth anniversary of the bombing.
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