McGurk's Bar bombing
Encyclopedia
On 4 December 1971, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist
paramilitary group, exploded a bomb at McGurk's Bar in Belfast
, Northern Ireland
. The pub was in a mainly Catholic
and nationalist
area. The explosion caused the building to collapse, killing fifteen Catholic civilians and wounding seventeen more. It was the highest death toll from a single incident in Belfast during the Troubles
.
on the corner of North Queen Street and Great George's Street, in the New Lodge
area to the north of Belfast city centre. This was a mainly Irish nationalist
and Catholic area, and the pub's regular customers were from that community.
The UVF formed in Belfast in 1966, declaring war on the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and anyone helping it. Until 1971, however, its actions were few and it "scarcely existed in an organisational sense". The British Army
was deployed in Northern Ireland during the August 1969 riots
, which are usually seen as the start of the Troubles. In December 1969, the IRA split giving rise to the establishment of the rival Official IRA and Provisional IRA. Both sides then launched armed campaigns against the Army, the Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) and the Government of Northern Ireland.
During 1971, the violence gradually worsened. There were daily bombings and shootings by both republicans and loyalists. During the first two weeks of December, there were about 70 bombings and about 30 people were killed. On 2 December, three republican prisoners escaped from Crumlin Road gaol, not far from McGurk's. Security was tightened and there was heavy Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) and Army presence in the area over the next two days. Eyewitnesses claim, however, that checkpoints around McGurk's were removed within an hour before the attack.
. The bomb (disguised as a brown parcel) was placed in a car, which they then drove to their target. They stopped outside the pub at about 8:30pm but then drove a short distance to McGurk's. At about 8:45pm one of them placed the bomb in the porch
entrance on Great George's Street and rushed back to the car. It exploded just moments after they drove off. One of the UVF members later claimed that they had been unable to gain access to their intended target and had instead chosen McGurk's because it was nearby. He implied that McGurk's had been an arbitrary target. It has been argued that McGurk's was chosen only because it was "the nearest Catholic pub".
The blast caused the building to collapse. Bystanders immediately rushed to free the dead and wounded from the rubble. Firefighters, paramedics, police and soldiers were quickly on the scene. Fifteen Catholic civilians had been killed and another seventeen wounded.
Within two hours of the blast, disorder had erupted in the area. At one point the RUC and Army were shot at and had to withdraw. An Army officer, Major Jeremy Snow, was shot by the IRA and died of his wounds on 8 December.
Meanwhile, the UVF team had stopped on Donegall Street where they were picked up by another car. They met the man who had ordered the attack in a west Belfast Orange hall
and told him that "the job has been done".
Philomena and Maria McGurk, wife and 12-year-old daughter of the landlord, Patrick McGurk, were among those who were killed; Mr McGurk and his three sons were seriously injured. Shortly after the attack, McGurk appeared on television calling for no retaliation: "It doesn't matter who planted the bomb. What's done can't be undone. I've been trying to keep bitterness out of it."
The second and third were known as the "own goal" theory. Claims that the pub was associated with the IRA were denied by survivors and relatives. A British Military Intelligence (MI) summary covering the period 1–7 Dec 1971 also said that the pub was not known to be an IRA meeting place. On Monday 6 December, both wings of the IRA condemned the attack, denied responsibility and blamed the UVF and security forces.
On Tuesday 7 December, a youth claimed to have seen a man acting oddly at a phone kiosk the night before. He said the man was wearing a jacket with a UVF badge on it. The youth claimed to have checked the kiosk after the man left and found a torn bit of paper. When put together, it included the lines:
In the days following the bombing, the RUC received a letter signed by "Chief of Staff, UVF" claiming that the UVF bombed the pub because an IRA meeting was due to take place there. It said that two UVF members entered the pub, had a drink and asked the barman to mind a package while they "ran an errand". Witnesses told the RUC, however, that there had been no strangers in the pub and that nobody had left a package. Three other unsigned letters were sent to the RUC. They suggested that it was an IRA bomb "in transit" and that two "Provos" were killed.
RUC duty officers' reports were made daily. Their purpose was to brief the Chief Constable and others at HQ about events that happened during the foregoing 24 hours. The reports were also made available to the Army's General Officer Commanding for Northern Ireland. The 4–5 December 1971 report said of the bombing: "Just before the explosion a man entered the licensed premises and left down a suitcase, presumably to be picked up by a known member of the IRA. The bomb was intended for use on other premises. Before the 'pick-up' was made the bomb exploded..."
On 6 December, however, the RUC spoke to an 8-year-old who witnessed the blast. He said that he saw three men in a car that had "a wee Union Jack
stuck in the back window". He said that one of the men left a parcel in the Great George's Street doorway and then ran back to the car. A man and a woman backed up his story, although they did not witness as much as the boy.
Despite this, the security forces and the Government stood behind the "own goal" theory. A British Military Intelligence summary covering the period 8–15 December said: "It has been confirmed that it was a [Provisional IRA] bomb which was destined for another target, but exploded prematurely." A Ministry of Defence
(MOD) document dated 14 December said that that this "should be publicised". On 23 December, the Army sent a letter (signed by a lieutenant colonel) to people living in north Belfast. It said that when the IRA in the area is destroyed, "we can look forward to…a period in which you will not lose your friends in a repetition of the 'Provos' accident in the McGurk’s bar."
On 29 July 1977, Campbell was charged with the 15 murders and 17 attempted murders. On 6 September 1978 he pleaded guilty to all charges and received life imprisonment with "a recommendation to serve no less than 20 years". He is the only person to have been charged for the bombing.
or Military Reconnaissance Force (MRF) was involved in the bombing. It has been speculated that the MRF ordered the UVF team to bomb "The Gem" and make it look like a republican attack—starting a feud between the two IRA factions. However, as the UVF team could not get close to The Gem, it bombed McGurk's instead.
On 21 February 2011, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland published a report about the bombing and the RUC's investigation of it. The report said that there is no evidence that the RUC helped the UVF bombers. However, it found that the RUC investigation was biased in favour of the view that the IRA was responsible. It failed to give enough thought to the possible involvement of loyalists. This bias hindered the investigation. The report also found that RUC gave "selective" and "misleading" briefings to the Government and media, which furthered the idea that it was an IRA bomb. The Ombudsman has not found an explanation why successive Chief Constables have not addressed this mistake. Ombudsman Al Hutchinson
said: "Inconsistent police briefings, some of which inferred that victims of the bombing were culpable in the atrocity, caused the bereaved families great distress, which has continued for many years".
a memorial was unveiled on the site of McGurk's bar to mark the 30th anniversary of the bombing. Relatives of the victims called for an investigation into allegations of crown-force collusion in the bomb attack. Almost a thousand people attended a service at St Patrick's Church on Donegall Street, after which fifteen wreaths, one for each victim, were carried by relatives leading a silent candlelit procession to a new memorial at Great George's Street.
Patrick McGurk died on 15 December 2007
, having forgiven those responsible for the explosion and having prayed for the men who carried out the attack.
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
paramilitary group, exploded a bomb at McGurk's Bar in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. The pub was in a mainly Catholic
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
and nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
area. The explosion caused the building to collapse, killing fifteen Catholic civilians and wounding seventeen more. It was the highest death toll from a single incident in Belfast during the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
.
Background
McGurk's (also called Tramore Bar) was a two-storey public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
on the corner of North Queen Street and Great George's Street, in the New Lodge
New Lodge, Belfast
The New Lodge is an urban, working-class Catholic community in Belfast, Northern Ireland, immediately to the north of city centre. The landscape is dominated by several large tower blocks. The area has a number of murals, mostly sited along the New Lodge Road...
area to the north of Belfast city centre. This was a mainly Irish nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
and Catholic area, and the pub's regular customers were from that community.
The UVF formed in Belfast in 1966, declaring war on the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and anyone helping it. Until 1971, however, its actions were few and it "scarcely existed in an organisational sense". The British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
was deployed in Northern Ireland during the August 1969 riots
1969 Northern Ireland Riots
During 12–17 August 1969, Northern Ireland was rocked by intense political and sectarian rioting. There had been sporadic violence throughout the year arising from the civil rights campaign, which was demanding an end to government discrimination against Irish Catholics and nationalists...
, which are usually seen as the start of the Troubles. In December 1969, the IRA split giving rise to the establishment of the rival Official IRA and Provisional IRA. Both sides then launched armed campaigns against the Army, the Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) and the Government of Northern Ireland.
During 1971, the violence gradually worsened. There were daily bombings and shootings by both republicans and loyalists. During the first two weeks of December, there were about 70 bombings and about 30 people were killed. On 2 December, three republican prisoners escaped from Crumlin Road gaol, not far from McGurk's. Security was tightened and there was heavy Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) and Army presence in the area over the next two days. Eyewitnesses claim, however, that checkpoints around McGurk's were removed within an hour before the attack.
The bombing
On the evening of Saturday 4 December 1971, a three-man UVF team met in a building near the Shankill Road and were ordered to bomb a pub on North Queen Street. They were told not to return until the job was done. It is believed that their target was a pub called "The Gem", which was allegedly frequented by members of the IRAProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
. The bomb (disguised as a brown parcel) was placed in a car, which they then drove to their target. They stopped outside the pub at about 8:30pm but then drove a short distance to McGurk's. At about 8:45pm one of them placed the bomb in the porch
Porch
A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...
entrance on Great George's Street and rushed back to the car. It exploded just moments after they drove off. One of the UVF members later claimed that they had been unable to gain access to their intended target and had instead chosen McGurk's because it was nearby. He implied that McGurk's had been an arbitrary target. It has been argued that McGurk's was chosen only because it was "the nearest Catholic pub".
The blast caused the building to collapse. Bystanders immediately rushed to free the dead and wounded from the rubble. Firefighters, paramedics, police and soldiers were quickly on the scene. Fifteen Catholic civilians had been killed and another seventeen wounded.
Within two hours of the blast, disorder had erupted in the area. At one point the RUC and Army were shot at and had to withdraw. An Army officer, Major Jeremy Snow, was shot by the IRA and died of his wounds on 8 December.
Meanwhile, the UVF team had stopped on Donegall Street where they were picked up by another car. They met the man who had ordered the attack in a west Belfast Orange hall
Orange Institution
The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...
and told him that "the job has been done".
Philomena and Maria McGurk, wife and 12-year-old daughter of the landlord, Patrick McGurk, were among those who were killed; Mr McGurk and his three sons were seriously injured. Shortly after the attack, McGurk appeared on television calling for no retaliation: "It doesn't matter who planted the bomb. What's done can't be undone. I've been trying to keep bitterness out of it."
Responsibility
After the bombing, there were conflicting theories about who was responsible and these were spread via the media. The main theories were:- that it had been planted by loyalists;
- that it had exploded prematurely while being prepared by republicans inside the pub;
- that it had exploded prematurely while "in transit", an IRA member having left it at the pub to be collected by another IRA member; and
- that it had been planted as part of a feud between the Provisional IRA and Official IRA.
The second and third were known as the "own goal" theory. Claims that the pub was associated with the IRA were denied by survivors and relatives. A British Military Intelligence (MI) summary covering the period 1–7 Dec 1971 also said that the pub was not known to be an IRA meeting place. On Monday 6 December, both wings of the IRA condemned the attack, denied responsibility and blamed the UVF and security forces.
Claims of responsibility
That same day, several newspapers received phone calls from someone claiming to be a spokesman for the "Empire Loyalists". Their statement to the Belfast Telegraph was:We [the Empire Loyalists] accept responsibility for the destruction of McGurk's pub. We placed 30lb of new explosives outside the pub because we had proved beyond doubt that meetings of IRA Provisionals and Officials were held there.The "Empire Loyalists" had made only one other claim of responsibility – that was for the bombing of Colin Youth & Community Centre in Belfast on 12 November 1971. The RUC, however, had no intelligence about such a group.
On Tuesday 7 December, a youth claimed to have seen a man acting oddly at a phone kiosk the night before. He said the man was wearing a jacket with a UVF badge on it. The youth claimed to have checked the kiosk after the man left and found a torn bit of paper. When put together, it included the lines:
We the Empire Loyalists wish to state that we did not destroy McGurk's public house as an act of retaliation ... Furthermore we do not require the forensic experts of the Army to cover up for us ... We shall not issue any further statements until we exterminate another rebel stronghold.
In the days following the bombing, the RUC received a letter signed by "Chief of Staff, UVF" claiming that the UVF bombed the pub because an IRA meeting was due to take place there. It said that two UVF members entered the pub, had a drink and asked the barman to mind a package while they "ran an errand". Witnesses told the RUC, however, that there had been no strangers in the pub and that nobody had left a package. Three other unsigned letters were sent to the RUC. They suggested that it was an IRA bomb "in transit" and that two "Provos" were killed.
Location of the bomb
For the RUC, the location of the bomb (whether it exploded inside or outside) became the key to finding who was responsible. However, investigators (both RUC and Army) were unsure and gave conflicting opinions.RUC duty officers' reports were made daily. Their purpose was to brief the Chief Constable and others at HQ about events that happened during the foregoing 24 hours. The reports were also made available to the Army's General Officer Commanding for Northern Ireland. The 4–5 December 1971 report said of the bombing: "Just before the explosion a man entered the licensed premises and left down a suitcase, presumably to be picked up by a known member of the IRA. The bomb was intended for use on other premises. Before the 'pick-up' was made the bomb exploded..."
On 6 December, however, the RUC spoke to an 8-year-old who witnessed the blast. He said that he saw three men in a car that had "a wee Union Jack
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
stuck in the back window". He said that one of the men left a parcel in the Great George's Street doorway and then ran back to the car. A man and a woman backed up his story, although they did not witness as much as the boy.
Despite this, the security forces and the Government stood behind the "own goal" theory. A British Military Intelligence summary covering the period 8–15 December said: "It has been confirmed that it was a [Provisional IRA] bomb which was destined for another target, but exploded prematurely." A Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
(MOD) document dated 14 December said that that this "should be publicised". On 23 December, the Army sent a letter (signed by a lieutenant colonel) to people living in north Belfast. It said that when the IRA in the area is destroyed, "we can look forward to…a period in which you will not lose your friends in a repetition of the 'Provos' accident in the McGurk’s bar."
Arrest and conviction of Robert Campbell
In November 1975, the RUC received intelligence that a man called Robert Campbell was a high-ranking UVF member. They began enquiries to find where he lived. In March 1976, the RUC received further intelligence that linked Campbell and four others to the McGurk's bombing. Campbell was arrested on 27 July 1977 and held at Castlereagh RUC base. He was interviewed seven times during 27 and 28 July. He admitted his part in the bombing but refused to name the others.On 29 July 1977, Campbell was charged with the 15 murders and 17 attempted murders. On 6 September 1978 he pleaded guilty to all charges and received life imprisonment with "a recommendation to serve no less than 20 years". He is the only person to have been charged for the bombing.
Police Ombudsman's investigation
The victims' relatives campaigned for an independent investigation of the bombing. They believed that the RUC's investigation was flawed from the outset. Moreover, they wished to disprove the claim that the victims were IRA members killed by their own bomb (the "own goal theory"). Even after Campbell's conviction, the "own goal" theory remained officially unchallenged. Relatives argued that this theory was promoted as part of a "government policy to avoid publicly acknowledging the loyalist campaign of violence". Another argument is that it was promoted to undermine the IRA's support and stir tension between the two IRA factions. Relatives also asked how the bombers were able to plant the bomb and flee despite the tight security. Some alleged that the security forces helped the bombers by removing checkpoints and allowing free movement in and out of the area. The book Killing For Britain claims that a British undercover unit called the Military Reaction ForceMilitary Reaction Force
The Military Reaction Force was a paramilitary unit utilised by the British during The Troubles in Belfast. The MRF ran plainclothes patrols in the city, ran agents and debriefed informants...
or Military Reconnaissance Force (MRF) was involved in the bombing. It has been speculated that the MRF ordered the UVF team to bomb "The Gem" and make it look like a republican attack—starting a feud between the two IRA factions. However, as the UVF team could not get close to The Gem, it bombed McGurk's instead.
On 21 February 2011, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland published a report about the bombing and the RUC's investigation of it. The report said that there is no evidence that the RUC helped the UVF bombers. However, it found that the RUC investigation was biased in favour of the view that the IRA was responsible. It failed to give enough thought to the possible involvement of loyalists. This bias hindered the investigation. The report also found that RUC gave "selective" and "misleading" briefings to the Government and media, which furthered the idea that it was an IRA bomb. The Ombudsman has not found an explanation why successive Chief Constables have not addressed this mistake. Ombudsman Al Hutchinson
Al Hutchinson
Al Hutchinson is a former RCMP Assistant Commissioner, who served as the Police Oversight Commissioner in Northern Ireland, who in November 2007 became the second Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland....
said: "Inconsistent police briefings, some of which inferred that victims of the bombing were culpable in the atrocity, caused the bereaved families great distress, which has continued for many years".
Remembrance
In 20012001 in Northern Ireland
-Events:*29 April - 2001 Census carried out. Northern Ireland population: 1,685,267.*15 June - Dispute arose between local loyalist and republican activists on the Crumlin Road peace line in North Belfast over the flying of loyalist paramilitary flags. Loyalists began to picket the nearby Holy...
a memorial was unveiled on the site of McGurk's bar to mark the 30th anniversary of the bombing. Relatives of the victims called for an investigation into allegations of crown-force collusion in the bomb attack. Almost a thousand people attended a service at St Patrick's Church on Donegall Street, after which fifteen wreaths, one for each victim, were carried by relatives leading a silent candlelit procession to a new memorial at Great George's Street.
Patrick McGurk died on 15 December 2007
2007 in Northern Ireland
-Events:*22 January - report by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland states that the Special Brunch of the then Royal Ulster Constabulary had colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a number of murders and attempted murders in Northern Belfast between 1989 and 2002...
, having forgiven those responsible for the explosion and having prayed for the men who carried out the attack.