The 2010 Newry car bombing occurred on the night of 22 February 2010. It

explode An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...

d outside a

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, damaging the building and others in the area. There were no fatalities or injuries.

Bombing

The

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...

ing happened in the evening of 22 February 2010. Seventeen minutes before it exploded, a telephone warning was received saying it was in the centre of Newry and would go off in half an hour. The

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

evacuated people from their homes and the town centre. The car was a

Mazda 6 , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one mi ...

loaded with 115 kg of

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

s. The car exploded next to the gates of the courthouse. The bomb was felt and heard from two miles away. The blast damaged the courthouse and other buildings in the area.''"Sheer miracle" that Newry court bomb did not kill''

BBC News, 2010 A 170-year-old church had its windows blown out; three people were inside the church when the bomb exploded, but they were uninjured."Dissidents 'sent warning' before car bomb exploded outside Northern Ireland court,"
24 February 2010, Brisbane Times, Brisbane, Australia. The bombers phoned in a warning that police should clear the area because a bomb would go off in 30 minutes, in fact it went off in 17 minutes. Because of the size of the bomb, the police termed it a "sheer miracle" that no one was injured. According to the

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, it is thought that this was the first "large car bomb" to have exploded in Northern Ireland since the 2000 bombing of the Stewartstown

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

. Other car bombs have failed to explode, or have only partially exploded. The bombing is thought to have been an attempt to undo the 2010

Hillsborough Castle Agreement The Hillsborough Agreement was an agreement reached in Northern Ireland that allowed the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Executive. The agreement was made on 5 February 2010 and included an agreement on controv ...

, although the fact that it came two weeks after the Agreement was signed is thought to reflect the

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

s' limited operational capacity. According to

Fachtna Murphy Fachtna Murphy (born 26 June 1947) is a former Irish Garda who served as Garda Commissioner from 2007 to 2010. Prior to his appointment he was the Deputy Commissioner with responsibility for operational policing strategies in the Garda Síochá ...

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

of the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

, this was "the first bomb that exploded in the North in 10 or 11 years.""Dissident threat growing – Ahern,"
Coner Laly, 3 October 2010, Irish Times. A warning call was made prior to the explosion, no one was hurt in the attack, several buildings were damaged, and arrests were made, including that of a man suspected of driving the taxi used to transport the bomb. Local residents and politicians expressed shock and anger over the attack.

Aftermath

The next day the area was sealed off as police investigated. Shops were closed and traffic backed up on the motorway between Newry and

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. The large explosion caused "traffic chaos" across the city."Dissidents are 'aiming to murder'"
5 April 2010, Belfast Today. The church was reopened in February 2011, after £350,000 of repairs and restoration.

Arrests

The

Real Irish Republican Army The Real Irish Republican Army, or Real IRA (RIRA), is a dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a United Ireland. It formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members, who rejected the ...

was blamed for the bombing in Newry. On 27 May, a 32-year-old man was arrested for the bombing. A day before that a 51-year-old man appeared in the same court charged with the car bombing. A 45-year-old man was jailed in 2017 for being a member of the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

, because of DNA evidence he left on the car bomb.

Responses and impact

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, the

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

, condemned the bombing but insisted that it would "not destabilise the

peace process A peace process is the set of political sociology, sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict. Definitions Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of ...

". The Newry car bombing is taken as evidence that "hardline

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

" continue to have the ability to carry out

terror attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

s in Northern Ireland,"Analysis: Deadly copycat campaign right out of IRA’s manual,"
Brian Rowan, 23 April 2010, Belfast Telegraph. although they no longer have the operational strength to do so in Britain itself.
Cormac O’Keeffe, 18 September 2010, Irish Examiner."Murphy says attack on Britain 'a strong possibility'"
BBC, 28 September 2010. The Newry car bombing was one of several cross-border attacks into Northern Ireland in 2009–10. Others included a car bombing of the

Northern Ireland Policing Board The Northern Ireland Policing Board ( ga, Bord Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Polisin Boord'') is the police authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Nor ...

.Dissident republicans blamed for 400lb bomb after Christmas 'spectacular' threat
''The Times'', 23 November 2009. There are fears that the

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

will be able to use these "successful" bombings to recruit."Dissident threat level increases,"
Vincent Kearney, 22 April 2010, BBC. The operational strength of

dissident republican Dissident republicans, renegade republicans, anti-Agreement republicans or anti-ceasefire republicans ( ga, poblachtach easaontach) are Irish republicans who do not support the current peace agreements in Northern Ireland. The agreements follow ...

groups as demonstrated by this bombing continues to concern

Irish security forces Irish security forces are the various security forces of the Republic of Ireland aimed at undermining the ongoing dissident Irish Republican campaign since The Troubles. They consist of the following organisations; ;Department of Defence * Defen ...

as of September 2010. According to Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy, "A bomb exploded in Newry some months ago and that's the first bomb that exploded in the North since Omagh. That is significant in itself in that it tells us they are endeavouring to improve their capability all the time."''Garda chief warns of threat posed by republicans''
Conor Lally, 29 September 2010, Irish Times. Politically, the attack was alleged by the ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...

'' to have led some loyalists "to believe the older leadership called it wrong—that they decommissioned far too soon.""Dissident attacks provoke growing loyalist unrest,"
15 April 2010, ''Belfast Telegraph''. Writing in the

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

Kevin Cullen Kevin Cullen (born May 1, 1959) is an American journalist and author. He was a member of ''The Boston Globes 2003 investigative team. ''The Boston Globe'' as an institution won a Pulitzer Prize for ''Public Service'' for coverage of the sexu ...

cited the Newry court bombing as evidence not only of the continued existence of an "

irredentist Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...

rump", but of the continuation of a social situation in which the two groups are still "bitterly divided" and "deeply segregated."''A segregated peace – Is this how Northern Ireland was supposed to turn out?''
Kevin Cullen, 14 March 2010, ''The Boston Globe''.

References

External links

Car bomb explodes at Newry courthouse

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...