Glenanne barracks bombing

Infobox terrorist attack
title=Glenanne barracks bombing

350px|caption=The_UDR_barracks_after_the_attack.
location=Glenanne
near Mountnorris,
County Armagh
target=UDR barracks
date=31 May 1991
time-begin=2330
time-end=
timezone=GMT
type= Truck-bomb
fatalities=3 soldiers
injuries=10 soldiers
4 civilians
perps=Provisional IRA The Glenanne barracks bombing was a large truck-bomb attack carried out by the IRA against a UDR base at Glenanne, near Mountnorris, County Armagh, on 31 May 1991.

Background

The bombing took place at a time when the Northern Ireland Office arranged Multi-party talks on the future of the province (known as the Brooke/Mayhew talks).

Sinn Fein members were not invited to attend because their links with the IRA, which prevented them from being recognized as a 'constitutional' party. The talks ended in a stalemate soon after.The attack would also show a change of tactics regarding the Proxy Bombs, which proved to be a political setback for the Republicans due to the revulsion they caused among the whole Irish nationalist community, including IRA supporters.

Built in 1972 the barracks housed two companies of the 2nd County Armagh battalion of the Ulster Defence Regiment. Seen as an outpost it sat on the dividing line between a Protestant area and Catholic area. Seven UDR soldiers from the base had already been killed in The Troubles. It had outlived its operational usefulness and a decision had already been taken to close it down. [Furniss Potter, page 351] However, the lack of interest in rebuilding the compound after the bombing raised up some controversy among Unionist circles. [http://www.victims.org.uk/glenanne.html#prof Fair website] ]

The bombing

At 11:30 PM, a truck loaded with 2,000 lb (almost 1 ton.) of high explosive was left on the slope of a hill at the rear of the barracks. Then, the truck was set to roll down to the base. The vehicle crashed through the perimeter fence and came to rest against the main building, the bomb then detonated.The entire compound was shattered by the explosion, which could be heard over 30 miles away.The blast shook windows as far as Dundalk, well inside the Irish Republic. [ [http://www.emigrant.ie/article.asp?iCategoryID=200&iArticleID=56153#prof The Irish Emigrant, June 1991 issue] ] Three members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (Paul Blakely (30), Robert Crozier (46), Sidney Hamilton (44)) were killed, and 14 people were wounded. At first, a massive mortar attack was suspected.

The truck-bomb was triggered either by automatic fire, according to some witnesses [Geraghty, page 209. The author describes an IRA technique which primed the explosive devices by shooting at two copper plates inside the vehicle -separated only by a few millimeters- which then made contact and triggered the bomb inside.] or by a radar beacon, which the IRA employed in order to prevent radio-jamming countermeasures. [Geraghty, page 210.] The UDR base was never reopened.

References

Links

* [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1991.html CAIN site]

ources

*Geraghty, Tony: "The Irish War". Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. ISBN 0801864569
*Furniss Potter, John: "A Testimony to Courage - The Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 - 1992". Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2001. ISBN 0850528194