On 4 December 1971, the
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign ...
(UVF), an
Ulster loyalist
Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a uni ...
paramilitary group, detonated a bomb at McGurk's Bar in
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 ...
,
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 ...
. The
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
was frequented by
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...
s/
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
s. The explosion caused the building to collapse, killing fifteen Catholic civilians—including two children—and wounding seventeen more. It was the deadliest attack in Belfast during
the Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...
.
Despite evidence to the contrary, the British security forces asserted that a bomb had exploded prematurely while being handled by
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...
(IRA) members inside the pub, implying that the victims themselves were partly to blame. A report later found that the
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...
, the police force in Northern Ireland at the time, were biased in favour of this view, and that this hindered their investigation. The victims' relatives allege that the security forces deliberately spread
disinformation
Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate.
The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the L ...
to discredit the IRA. In 1977, UVF member Robert Campbell was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the bombing and served fifteen years. He died in 2013.
The bombing sparked a series of tit-for-tat bombings and shootings by loyalists and
republicans, which contributed to making 1972 the bloodiest year of the conflict.
Background
Tramore Bar, commonly called McGurk's Bar, was a two-storey
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
on the corner of North Queen Street and Great George's Street, in the
New Lodge New Lodge may refer to:
*New Lodge, Winkfield near Windsor, Berkshire, England
*New Lodge, South Yorkshire, England
*New Lodge, Belfast, an area of North Belfast, Northern Ireland
*New Lodge, Billericay, association football ground in Billericay, E ...
area to the north of Belfast city centre. This was a mainly
Irish nationalist
Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of c ...
and Catholic neighbourhood, and the pub's regular customers were from the community.
The pub was owned by Patrick and Philomena McGurk, who lived on the upper floor with their four children.
The
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign ...
(UVF) was formed in Belfast in 1966, declaring "war" on the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...
(IRA).
Until 1971, however, its actions were few and it "scarcely existed in an organisational sense". The
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
was deployed in Northern Ireland following the
August 1969 riots, which are usually seen as the start of
the Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...
. In December 1969 the IRA split into two factions: the
'Official' IRA and
Provisional IRA
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...
. Both launched armed campaigns against the British Army, the
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...
(RUC) and the
government of Northern Ireland
The government of Northern Ireland is, generally speaking, whatever political body exercises political authority over Northern Ireland. A number of separate systems of government exist or have existed in Northern Ireland.
Following the partitio ...
.
During 1971, the violence gradually worsened. There were daily bombings and shootings by republicans, loyalists and the security forces. 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 prison
HMP Belfast, also known as Crumlin Road Gaol, is a former prison situated on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since 1996 it is the only remaining Victorian era former prison in Northern Ireland. It is colloquially known as ' ...
, not far from McGurk's. Security was tightened and there was a heavy RUC and British Army presence in the area over the next two days.
[Police Ombudsman's Report, p.9] Eyewitnesses asserted that the checkpoints around McGurk's were removed just an hour before the attack.
Bombing
![McGurk's plaque](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/McGurk%27s_plaque.png)
On the evening of Saturday 4 December 1971, a four-man UVF team met in the
Shankill area of Belfast and were ordered to bomb a pub on North Queen Street. According to the only convicted bomber—Robert Campbell—they were told not to return until the job was done.
[Police Ombudsman's report, pp.44–45] Campbell said that their target had not been McGurk's, but another pub nearby.
[Police Ombudsman's report, p.76] It is believed this was a pub called The Gem, which was allegedly linked to the Official IRA.
[McAleese, Deborah]
"Recriminations still fly over McGurk's Bar massacre"
'' Belfast Telegraph'', 9 July 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2012.["McGurk’s Bar Bombing"](_blank)
, ''Hansard'', 14 July 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2009 The bomb was disguised as a brown parcel, which they placed in a car and drove to their target. Campbell says they stopped near The Gem at about 7:30pm,
but could not gain access to it because there were security guards outside.
After waiting for almost an hour, they drove a short distance to McGurk's.
At about 8:45pm, one of them placed the bomb in the
porch
A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...
entrance on Great George's Street and rushed back to the car.
It exploded just moments after they drove off.
Campbell implied that McGurk's had been 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—including two children
[Sutton Index of Deaths: 4 December 1971](_blank)
''CAIN''.—and a further seventeen wounded. The rescue effort lasted many hours.
Within two hours of the blast, a sectarian clash had erupted nearby at the New Lodge–Tiger's Bay
interface
Interface or interfacing may refer to:
Academic journals
* ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society
* '' Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics''
* '' Int ...
.
[McKittrick, David. ''Lost Lives: The stories of the men, women and children who died as a result of the Northern Ireland Troubles''. Mainstream, 1999. p.127.] The British Army and RUC moved in and a gun battle developed.
[ A British Army officer, Major Jeremy Snow, was shot by the IRA on New Lodge Road and died of his wounds on 8 December.][ Two RUC officers and five civilians were also wounded by gunfire. Eventually, five companies of troops were sent into the district and they searched almost 50 houses.][
Meanwhile, the UVF team had driven to a nearby pickup point where they dumped their car. They walked to the area of St Anne's Cathedral and were picked up by another. They were driven back to the Shankill and met the man who had ordered the attack in an ]Orange Hall Orange Hall may refer to:
;in Ireland
* Orange Institution
The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protes ...
, telling him that "the job has been done".
Among those killed were Philomena and Maria McGurk, wife and 14-year-old daughter of the pub owner Patrick McGurk. Patrick and his three sons were seriously injured. In a television statement shortly afterward, McGurk asked that there be 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."
Investigation
Responsibility
After the bombing, the media reported various theories about who was responsible. The main theories were:
*that it had been planted by loyalists;
*that it had exploded prematurely while being prepared by IRA members inside the pub;
*that it had exploded prematurely while "in transit", an IRA member having left it in 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 security forces promoted the idea that it was an IRA bomb which exploded prematurely (an "own goal
An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...
"). Survivors and relatives denied this. They said the pub was not associated with the IRA and there had been no suspicious people or activity in the pub that night. An Intelligence Corps document from December 1971 also said that the pub was not known to have IRA associations. On 6 December, both wings of the IRA condemned the attack, denied responsibility and blamed the UVF and security forces.[Police Ombudsman's report, p.42]
Claims of responsibility
That same day, several newspapers received telephone calls from someone claiming to be a spokesman for the "Empire Loyalists". Their statement to the '' Belfast Telegraph'' was:We he Empire Loyalistsaccept 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.[Police Ombudsman's report, pp.27–28]
The "Empire Loyalists" had made only one other claim of responsibility; for bombing a community centre on 12 November. The RUC, however, had no intelligence about such a group; suggesting that it may have been a covername.
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".[Police Ombudsman's report, p.37] 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, claiming it was an IRA bomb "in transit" and that two IRA members 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 British Army) were unsure and gave conflicting opinions.[Police Ombudsman's report, pp.20–21]
RUC duty officers' reports were made daily. Their purpose was to brief the Chief Constable and others at HQ about events that had happened that day. The reports were also made available to the British 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". The origin of this information could not be established.
On 6 December, however, the RUC took a witness statement from an 8-year-old boy. He said that a car had stopped outside the pub with four men inside and "a wee Union Jack
The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
stuck in the back window". He said one left a package in the Great George's Street doorway and ran back to the car, which sped off just moments before the package exploded. A man and a woman backed up his story, although they did not witness as much as the boy.[Police Ombudsman's report, pp.24–25]
Despite this, the security forces and the government stood behind the "own goal" theory. A British Intelligence Corps document covering the period 8–15 December said: "It has been confirmed that it was a rovisional IRAbomb which was destined for another target, but exploded prematurely." A Ministry of Defence (MOD) document dated 14 December said that this "should be publicised".[Police Ombudsman's report, p.49] On 23 December, the British 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 RA'saccident in the McGurk’s bar."[Police Ombudsman's report, p.55]
Arrest and conviction of Robert Campbell
In March 1976, the RUC received intelligence that linked UVF member Robert 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. Campbell's story matches that given by the young boy witness.
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", in part for a separate conviction for the murder of a Protestant delivery driver in 1976. He is the only person to have been charged for the bombing. He eventually served fifteen years in prison and was released on 9 September 1993.
Collusion claims and Police Ombudsman's investigation
The victims' relatives campaigned for an independent investigation of the bombing as 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).[Police Ombudsman's Report, p.10] 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 usually heavy security presence. Some alleged that the security forces helped the bombers by removing checkpoints. The 2009 book ''Killing For Britain'', written by former UVF member 'John Black', claimed that the British undercover unit known as the Military Reaction Force
The Military Reaction Force, Military Reconnaissance Force or Mobile Reconnaissance Force (MRF)Taylor, Peter (2001). ''Brits: The War Against the IRA''. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 128–130. was a covert intelligence gathering and counterinsurgenc ...
or Military Reconnaissance Force (MRF) organised the bombing and helped the bombers get in and out of the area. The bombers' original target, The Gem, was associated with the Official IRA. It is claimed that the MRF ordered the team to bomb The Gem, with the intention of blaming it on the Provisional IRA. The plan was allegedly to start a feud between the two IRA factions, which would both divert them from their campaign against British forces and drain their support. However, as The Gem had security outside, they bombed the nearest 'Catholic pub'.["Collusion and Cover-Up"](_blank)
The McGurk's Bar Massacre.
On 21 February 2011, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland
The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI; ga, Ombudsman Póilíní do Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Owersman fur tha Polis o Norlin Airlann'') is a non-departmental public body intended to provide an independent, im ...
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, and 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 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.
A graduate of Carleton University and Quee ...
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".
On 6 December 2012, Scottish Labour MP Michael Connarty
Michael Connarty (born 3 September 1947) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament for Linlithgow and Falkirk East from 2005 until 2015, and Falkirk East (1992–2005).
Parliamentary career
He unsuccess ...
—whose uncle was killed in the bombing—claimed in Westminster that then-Prime Minister Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
"may have been involved" in wrongfully blaming the IRA and spreading the story. Connarty also urged David Cameron, prime minister at the time, to apologise to victims and launch a full investigation.
Remembrance
A memorial was erected at the site of the bombing for the 30th anniversary in 2001. The victims' relatives carried fifteen wreaths to the new memorial, and used the occasion to demand an investigation into alleged British involvement in the attack.
Patrick McGurk died on 15 December 2007. Surviving family members noted that he had forgiven the bombers.
Glasgow allegation
In 2012 it was alleged in a book that William "Big Bill" Campbell (no relation to Robert Campbell), leader of a UVF cell in Scotland who committed the Glasgow pub bombings in 1979, was behind the McGurk's bombing as he smuggled the explosives used in the bomb from Scotland to Northern Ireland. It was also alleged that the RUC received information about him from Glasgow police, but that they deliberately ignored them to avoid having to arrest Protestants.
See also
*Dublin and Monaghan bombings
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ce ...
*Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions
This is a timeline of actions by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group since 1966. It includes actions carried out by the Red Hand Commando (RHC), a group integrated into the UVF shortly after their formation i ...
References
External links
News Hound – McGurk's bombing
House of Commons debate on the bombing
{{Use dmy dates, date=December 2017
1971 in Northern Ireland
1971 murders in the United Kingdom
1970s in County Antrim
20th-century mass murder in Northern Ireland
Anti-Catholicism in Northern Ireland
Building bombings in Northern Ireland
Attacks on buildings and structures in 1971
Attacks on buildings and structures in Belfast
December 1971 crimes
December 1971 events in Europe
Improvised explosive device bombings in 1971
Improvised explosive device bombings in Belfast
Mass murder in 1971
Mass murder in Belfast
Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1971
1970s murders in Northern Ireland
The Troubles in Belfast
Ulster Volunteer Force actions
Attacks on bars in Northern Ireland