Remembrance Day bombing

Infobox terrorist attack
title=Remembrance Day Bombing


caption=The aftermath of the bombing showing the destroyed gable wall of the Reading Rooms in the background
location=Enniskillen, Northern Ireland,
United Kingdom
coordinates=coord|54|20|39|N|7|38|3|W|region:GB_scale:5000|display=inline,title
target=Remembrance Sunday commemoration ceremony
date=8 November 1987
time=10:43 a.m.
timezone=UTC
type=Bomb
fatalities=12
injuries=63
perps=Provisional Irish Republican Army

The Remembrance Day bombing, also known as the Enniskillen bombing or the Poppy Day massacre, [cite web |url= http://www.entemp.ie/press/2001/180901.htm |title= Dail Remarks by Mary Harney, T.D., Tánaiste and Leader of the Progressive Democrats in Response to the Recent Terrorist Attacks on the United States |accessdate=2008-05-07 |author=Mary Harney |date= 2001|work= |publisher=DETE press release,] [cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/apr/23/uk.northernireland |title=Gadaffi sued by 160 victims of IRA |accessdate=2008-05-07 |author=Henry McDonald |date= |work= |publisher=Guardian Unlimited] occurred on 8 November 1987 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. A bomb placed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) at the town's war memorial (cenotaph) exploded during a Remembrance Sunday commemoration ceremony for those killed in all conflicts involving the British Army, resulting in eleven deaths. The bombing has been described by the BBC as a turning point in The Troubles, and an attack that shook the IRA "to its core" [http://www.bbcactive.com/BroadcastLearning/MediaSupportFiles/Age%20of%20Terror%20synopses.pdf] cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/age_of_terror/7306395.stm |title="Age of Terror" |accessdate=2008-05-07 |format=Television Documentary |work=BBC ]

Target

The bomb was thought by British and Irish authorities to have been coordinated and organised by up to three units of the IRA from both sides of the border,cite web |url=http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/Sunday_Tribune/arts2007/oct28_Enniskillen_airbrush__SBreen.php |title=Attempt to airbrush Enniskillen from history |accessdate=2008-05-07 |author=Suzanne Breen |date=28 October 2007 |work=Sunday Tribune |publisher=Nuzhound] and of such magnitude that it must have been sanctioned by IRA Northern Command. The IRA and Sinn Fein deny this, with Danny Morrison describing himself as "shattered" on hearing that the IRA was involved at all. It has been suggested that Martin McGuinness had prior knowledge of the attack,cite web |url=http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=561187&in_page_id=1770 |title=Martin McGuinness 'knew of IRA's plan to bomb Enniskillen' |accessdate=2008-05-07 |author=Olinka Koster |date=22 April 2008 |work= |publisher=Mail on Sunday] , and that he and three other IRA members had been stopped while travelling through County Donegal three days earlier, and that he had travelled to Fermanagh in the hours after the bombing, to "question members of the local IRA unit to find out what had gone wrong".cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7356159.stm |title=Who knew about Enniskillen plans? |accessdate=2008-07-16 |work= |publisher=BBC |date=Monday, 21 April 2008] , claims which he denies. cite web |url=http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=561187&in_page_id=1770 |title=Martin McGuinness 'knew of IRA's plan to bomb Enniskillen' |accessdate=2008-05-07 |author=Olinka Koster |date=22 April 2008 |work= |publisher=Mail on Sunday] . The IRA released a statement claiming that a "Crown Forces patrol" with the civilian deaths deemed acceptable collateral. On the same day a bomb four times larger than the Eniskillen bomb was placed at a similar but smaller parade convert|20|mi|lk=on away at Tullyhommon, where the parade was conducted by members of the Boys Brigade, Girls Brigade and "three of four members of the security forces in uniform there to lay a wreath". That bomb failed to explode.

In Enniskillen, politicians Sammy Foster and Jim Dixon were among the crowd; the latter received extensive head injuries but recovered. The device, having been made in Ballinamore, County Leitrim and transported to the town over 24 hours by up to 30 IRA men, was placed the evening before against the gable wall of the inside of the towns Reading Rooms, and exploded at 10:43 am.House of Commons Official Report 9 November 1987 Column 19] The explosion destroyed the wall, a vantage point of the parade favoured by several of the victims, blowing masonry towards the gathered crowd, many of whom were standing nearby.

Casualties

Eleven people were killed in the Enniskillen bombing; all except one were civilians. One of the dead, Marie Wilson, was the daughter of Gordon Wilson. Wilson went on to become a peace campaigner and member of the Seanad Éireann. One further person, Ronnie Hill, died after spending 13 years in a coma. Sixty-three people were injured. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/1093598.stm |title=IRA bomb victim buried |accessdate=2008-07-16 |work= |publisher=BBC |date=Saturday, 30 December 2000] . Local business man Raymond McCartney captured the immediate aftermath of the bombing on video camera while at the scene. His footage, showing the effects of the bombing, was broadcast on international television. [http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2007/nov5_Enniskillen_anniversary.php Newshound: Daily Northern Ireland news catalog - Irish News article ] ] All the victims were Protestants.

Reactions

The bombing led to an outcry among politicians in the Republic of Ireland and the UK. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tom King denounced the "outrage" in the House of Commons, as did the Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Brian Lenihan in Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament), [ref|Dáil1] while in Seanad Éireann Senator Maurice Manning spoke of peoples' "total revulsion". [Seanad Éireann - Seanad Éireann - Volume 117 Column 1346 - 11 November, 1987]

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the attack the IRA insisted that its leadership had not sanctioned the bombing, and its Fermanagh Brigade was stood down. The incident is now seen as a major tactical error by the IRA. In killing people honouring their war dead the IRA created a backlash which was perceived to have undermined its claim to be a non-sectarian organisation defending nationalists.Fact|date=May 2008 The bombing also had a negative impact on Sinn Féin's electoral support.In 1989, in the first local elections held in Fermanagh after the bombing, Sinn Féin lost four of its eight council seats and was overtaken by the SDLP as the largest Nationalist party. [http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/85-89lgfermanagh.htm ARK elections] ] It was not until 2001, 14 years after the Enniskillen bomb, that Sinn Féin support returned to its 1985 level. [ [http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/lgfermanagh.htm ARK] ]

The site of the bomb, which was owned by the Catholic Church, was rebuilt as a Youth Hostel in 2002. The hostel was opened by and named after former US President, Bill Clinton [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/1354320.stm |title=Clinton 'optimistic' about peace in NI |accessdate=2008-07-16 |work= |publisher=BBC |date=Sunday, 27 May 2001 ]

In 1997 Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams apologised for the bombing on behalf of the republican movement. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/25480.stm |title=Adams apologises for Enniskillen bombing |accessdate=2008-07-16 |work= |publisher=BBC |date= Saturday, 8 November 1997 ]

ee also

*The Troubles in Enniskillen

References

External links

* [http://www.emigrant.ie/article.asp?iCategoryID=200&iArticleID=9388 "Irish Emigrant" newspaper report of the bombing.]