Bloody Sunday, Bloody Friday, and the IRA

1. Bloody Sunday, Bloody Friday, and the IRA • Available online at: http://msbeenen.wikispaces.com

2. Sunday Bloody Sunday • In the 1960’s anger and violence mounted after attacks on civil rights marchers by protestant loyalists. 1969 the Battle of Bogside occurred in the aftermath of an Apprentice Boys of Derry march. Barricades were erected around the area to resist police intrusion and only when order could not be restored was the British Army called in. • The Catholics welcomed the Army, but soon that relationship fell apart. July 8th Seamus Cusack and Desmond Beattie were shot and killed in Bogside by British soldiers. The soldiers claimed the pair were armed but locals stated otherwise.

3. Due to escalating violence through Northern Ireland, people could now be held in prison without trial also all marches and parades were banned. This did not sit well with the people of Northern Ireland, 21 people ended up being killed in riots against the internment. August 10th the first British Soldier was killed by the Provisional IRA in Derry. Six more soldiers were killed, 1932 rounds were fired at the British Army, 180 nail bombs and 211 explosions. • Provisional IRA violence increased across NI resulting in 30 more deaths, they had also established barricades and no-go areas for the British Army.

4. The March • January 1972 a march was organized in Derry to protest against internment. Authorities who knew about the march agreed to let it happen but would stop it from reaching Guildhall Square. 1st Battalion travelled to Derry to arrest rioters during the march. • The march was redirect to Free Derry Corner but a group of teenagers broke off from the march and insisted that they should continue to march to Guildhall Square by breaking through barricades. They attacked the British Army barricades with stones and were met with tear gas and rubber bullets. • Reports of an IRA sniper in the area were apparently given to the Army command centre which allowed the british army to go into Bogside. They were ordered to fire live rounds and ended up killing a man as he ran away from the troops. Jackie Duddy was a part of the crowd running away, he ran alongside a priest when he was shot in the back. The british troops continued their violent streak and were told to mobilize for arrests.

5. More than 100 live rounds were fired directly at fleeing crowds, twelve more were killed. Some were killed as they attempted to help people who were already shot. Fourteen people were wounded.

6. Victims • Jackie Duddy was shot in the chest and back in the car park of Rossville Flats. Shot in the chest in the car park of Rossville flats. • • Patrick Joseph Doherty was shot from behind while attempting to crawl to safety in the forecourt of Rossville flats. • • • • Bernard McGuigan was shot in the back of the head when he went to help Patrick Doherty. He wanted the soldiers to know he meant no harm so he waved a white handkerchief in the air.

7. •Hugh Pious Gilmour was shot through his right elbow, the bullet then entering his chest as he ran from the paratroopers on Rossville Street • • Kevin McElhinney. Shot from behind while attempting to crawl to safety at the front entrance of the Rossville Flats. • • Michael Gerald Kelly. Shot in the stomach while standing near the rubble barricade in front of Rossville Flats. • • John Pius Young. Shot in the head while standing at the rubble barricade.

8. • William Noel Nash. Shot in the chest near the barricade. Nash was attempting to aid a wounded person when he was shot • • Michael M. McDaid. Shot in the face at the barricade as he was walking away from the paratroopers. • • James Joseph Wray. Wounded then shot again at close range while lying on the ground. • •Gerald Donaghy. Shot in the stomach while attempting to run to safety between Glenfada Park and Abbey Park. • • Gerald (James) McKinney. Shot just after Gerald Donaghy. Witnesses stated that McKinney had been running behind Donaghy, and he stopped and held up his arms, shouting "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!", when he saw Donaghy fall. He was then shot in the chest.

9. •William Anthony McKinney. Shot from behind as he attempted to aid Gerald McKinney (no relation). He had left cover to try to help Gerald. • • John Johnston. Shot in the leg and left shoulder on William Street 15 minutes before the rest of the shooting started.

10. Even though thirteen people were killed, the British Army was backed up saying they were just responding to possible nail bomb attacks. No marchers that were shot were armed, and all were fleeing. No soldiers were fired upon. • Following this attack, crowds burned down the British embassy and the relationship between England and Ireland disintegrated. • Bloody Sunday marked a turn of events in Northern Ireland and the PRIA, no longer were the british trusted, • The Troubles began which claimed thousands of lives through bombings, nail bombings, snipers etc

11. Bloody Friday • Who? Belfast Brigade of the IRA • Where? Belfast Northern Ireland • When? 1972 • What: Series of bombings

12. Bloody Friday • British Government led by William Whitelaw held secret talks with the Provisional IRA. The IRA agreed to a temporary ceasefire on June 26th because they thought it would be the start of a slow withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland. When no action towards a peace settlement occurred, the ceasefire stopped. • Bloody Friday was the IRA’s response to the breakdown of talks. They decided to cause financial harm. They wanted to send a message to the British Government that they were willing to create havoc unless demands were met. Some also saw it as payback for Bloody Sunday that occurred in Derry six months earlier.

13. The IRA Belfast Brigade organized the attack, a total of 22 bombs were planted and the explosions killed 9 people and injured 130 civilians. During the bombing the city resembled a war torn country. Of the injured 77 were women and children. • The Belfast Brigade claimed responsibility for the bombings and said they gave warnings that it would happen. This showed that they did not aim to harm people but effect the financial organizations belonging to the British. Thirty years after the attack the IRA formally apologized for harming civilians.

14. TIMELINE • • ~2:10 pm (Smithfield Bus Station) : Car bomb explodes • • ~2:16 pm (Brookvale Hotel): Bomb explodes containing 50lbs of explosives exploded at the Brookville Hotel. Area was cleared and there were no injuries. • • ~2:23 pm Railway station: Suitcase bomb 30lbs of explosives. Wrecked the inside of the station and blew the roof off. • • ~2:45 pm Crumlin Road: car bomb explodes at a Taxi depot, nearby were houses of prison wardens.

15. Oxford Bus Bombing • 2:48 pm (Bus depot, Oxford Street): Car bomb explodes at bus depot, busiest bus station in Northern Ireland. Resulted in the greatest loss of life and most casualities. Some victims were torn to pieces which led authorities to believe that 11 people had actually died. Ages of the victims included 19, 27, 15, 39, 45 and 18. Many were killed outright by the blast, bus driver Jackie Gibson was killed by flying shrapnel after completing his route.

16. •~2:48 pm Railway station on Great Victoria Street: van bomb explodes, four buses are wrecked and 44 damaged. • • ~2:50 pm (Ulster Bank, Limestone Road): Car bomb explodes, area had not been cleared and several injuries occurred. • • ~2:52 pm : Railway station Botanic Avenue: car bomb explodes outside the states. Damaged the property but no injuries occurred. • • ~2:55 pm : Queen Elizabeth Bridge: Car bomb explodes, damages the structure of the bridge. • • ~2:57 pm (Liverpool ferry terminus, Donegall Quay): Car bomb explodes and damages Liverpool Bar

17. • ~2:57 pm (Gas Department offices, Ormeau Avenue) : Car bomb explodes causing extensive damage to the offices of the Gas Department • • ~2:59 pm (Garmoyle Street): Parcel bomb explodes and wrecks the building of John Irwin seed merchants. • • ~3:02 pm (Agnes Street): A car bomb explodes outside a group of houses, no warning was received but only minor injuries occurred. • • ~3:04 pm (M2 motorway bridge, Bellevue): Car bomb explodes but only partially detonates thus nearby buildings were not damaged. • • ~3:05 pm (Filling station, Upper Lisburn Road): Car bomb explodes and sets the gas pumps on fire. • • ~3:05 pm (Electricity substation): Van bomb explodes and damages the substation • • ~3:05 pm (Railway bridge, Finaghy Road North): Lorry bomb explodes on the railway bridge. • • ~3:09 (Railway footbridge) : bomb explodes on footbridge. No injuries

18. • ~3:12 pm (Eastwood's Garage, Donegall Road): Car bomb explodes destroying Eastwood’s Garage. Several people were injured • • ~3:15 pm (Stewartstown Road): Bomb explodes. No injuries. • • ~3:15 pm (Cavehill Road): car bomb explodes outside a row of shops, no bomb warning was given. Two women and man die in the blast, a mother of seven dies in her car, her 11 year old daughter who is also in the car at the time is badly injured. An elderly woman (65) and teenage boy (14) were also killed in the blast. The boy’s remains were so badly damaged that his father could only identify him but the items in his pocket. • • ~3:25 pm (Railway line near Lisburn Road): Bomb explodes on the railway. • • ~3:30 pm (Grosvenor Road): Bomb explodes at carrier depot, only minor injuries occurred.

19. Aftermath and Reaction • According to sources, republicans seemed rather impressed with the explosions. William Whitelaw called the bombings “appallingly bloodthirsty”. Catholic victims received a lot of attention moreso than protestant. Media outlets stated that anyone who supported the violence was as sick as the people who created it. • Firefighters were seen on TV shoveling body parts into bags at the bus station. A Police officer described the bombing site at the Oxford Bus station as: • "The first thing that caught my eye was a torso of a human being lying in the middle of the street. It was recognisable as a torso because the clothes had been blown off and you could actually see parts of the human anatomy. One of the victims was a soldier I knew personally. He'd had his arms and legs blown off and some of his body had been blown through the railings. One of the most horrendous memories for me was seeing a head stuck to the wall. A couple of days later, we found vertebrae and a rib cage on the roof of a nearby building. The reason we found it was because the seagulls were diving onto it. I've tried to put it at the back of my mind for twenty-five years.”[

20. 479 people died in the Troubles in 1972, more than in any other year of the conflict. • The City of Belfast Youth Orchestra set up a memorial trust for Stephen Parker, the teenager who was killed. • Irish republican reaction • The IRA believed that it was an operation gone wrong. They viewed the attack as a disaster and believed that not enough people were warned to stay clear of the bombing sites. They regretted their actions and in 2002 apologized for the casualties.

21. WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOSAssignment: Please write a reflective journal piece about your feelings during about the events. You can choose any side to write about. Does not need to be formal.

22. Bloody friday

24. Letters to the EditorFuneral with no shouted commands but only sobs of four small childrenTO-DAY (Monday) I went to a funeral-that of one of "Bloody Friday's" victims. It wasn't one of those funerals we know so well in Belfast, with the uniformed men, the ceremonial shots, the shouted commands, the graveside oration. The only uniforms were the black and white vestments of the clergy. The only arms were those of Christ crucified on the Cross which led the Cortege. No shouted commands- only the sobbing of four small children. No graveside oration, only the tears in the eyes of a husband as final tribute. If there is power in the sobs of children and the tears of husbands and fathers, wives and mothers then the cause espoused by the terrorist is on the point of death: its followers now are but walking. dead, animated husks, soulless and mindless. rejected and disowned by any creature capable of pity and compassion. The earth which thudded on that coffin covered only a body, not the bestial deed which sent it there, an ever-pointing finger of condemnation to all involved - the terrorists who planned the bombing campaign, the terrorists who made the bombs, the terrorists who planted them: the politicians who wouldn't talk until all their demands were met and the politicians who talked too much and too often said the wrongthing; the leading churchmen, who merely mouthed pious attitudes. condemning violence in general but never aiming at specific deeds and organisations: The trade unionists who permitted discrimination to be the unwritten rule in our industrial life and the industrialists and businessmen who bowed to this evil on their premises; the neighbours, who were true neighbours and friends-until intimidation entered their street. To-day's victim had the dignity and honour of innocence and motherhood to take to her grave and Maker, and leaves her legacy of a peace-loving, and In the course of time, happy family. Her killers will face their Maker with her blood and many others on their hands and can only leave a. their legacy hatred, sorrow and despair.A FACE IN THE CROWD, Belfast 13.

25. "A black sin ... that will never be erased" By the Editor of the Sunday Independent DublinThese are dark days for Ireland. We live in an age of cowardice, with the guilt spread evenly between the highest and the lowest in the land. We fostered the men who planned the murders of innocent men, women, boys and girls in Belfast on Friday. We fed these people with propaganda. We took advantage, when we could, of their exploits. And because we are not a morally courageous people, we never seriously tried to stop their terrible excesses. Those among us who could have acted to halt the course of tragedy preferred to do nothing. Those who could have spoken out, when words might have meant something, chose to hold their tongues. And the rest of us were content to let matters slide. Now all of us must pay the price for this neglect. There is a black sin on the face of Irish Republicanism today that will never be erased. Murder now lies at the feet of the Irish nation and there is no gain-saying that fact. We cannot change past, however much we regret its record. But if we wish to restore the honour of our people, now is the time to act. We must break the paralysis that leaves the good name of the Irish people in the hands of unscrupulous men. And we must find a way to make restitution for our failings. The gallantry of those who planted bombs in the middle of Belfast's shopping areas on Friday (and then ran like hell) will be sanctified by the almighty god of Irish republicanism and reverently embalmed- in what we are pleased to call our national heritage. We won't have a ballad to commemorate the butchered fragments of a woman we saw on the telly being shovelled up by a fireman. Who said Dan Breen is dead? His spirit is alive and well and looking forward to a cosy corner in whatever parliamentary system we are going to have for the next 50 years. Is nobody going to shout stop!