45 th Anniversary Memorial Lecture 6 th December 2016 St Marys College mcgurks45 Bombing took place at 847pm on the 4 th December 1971 15 civilians killed the largest loss of life in a single incident since the Belfast Blitz ID: 625071
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Slide1
Cover-up of McGurk’s Bar Bombing
45th Anniversary Memorial Lecture6th December 2016St. Mary’s College #mcgurks45Slide2
Bombing took place at
8.47pm on the 4th December 197115 civilians killed – the largest loss of life in a single incident since the Belfast Blitz
At least
16 people injured
in the bar that night.
The
lie about the location of the bomb and who planted
it has set the narrative for this case which the families have worked tirelessly to correctSlide3Slide4
The InjuredPatrick McGurk
Gerard McGurk John McGurk Seamus Kane Roderick McCorley William Griffin •Malachy McLaughlinMrs McAlorum John Irvine James MontgomeryAn anonymous 50 year old manAn anonymous man aged 47 Slide5
5th December 1971
“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 Provisional I.R.A. The bomb was intended for use on other premises. Before the ‘pick-up’ was made the bomb exploded.”RUC Duty Officers’ Report at 8.00amSlide6
5th December 1971
Director of Operations to GOC Harry Tuzo at 8.00am“A bomb believed to have been planted outside the bar was estimated by the A.T.O. [Ammunition Technical Officer] to be 30/50lb of HE [High Explosive].”Slide7
5th December 1971
“ATO [Ammunition Technical Officer] is convinced bomb was placed in entrance way on ground floor. The area is cratered and clearly was the seat of the explosion.”British Army Headquarters NI Log Sheet at 11.10amSlide8
6th December 1971
NI prime Minister, Brian Faulkner, meets the British home Secretary, Reginald Maudling“Mr Faulkner said that Mr. McGurk… had said that there were no strangers in the bar on the night of the explosion. The army also discovered that the bomb went off on the ground floor. Both point strongly to the likelihood that the bomb was carried by the IRA rather than Protestant extremists. Mr. Faulkner had asked the RUC to find out whether anything was known about the associations of the people who were killed or injured.”Slide9
7th December 1971
John Taylor, Minister of State for home affairs, at Stormont“The premises are at 83 Great George’s Street… The plain fact is that the evidence of the forensic experts supports the theory that the explosion took place within the confines of the walls of the building”Slide10
9th December 1971
“Forensic and EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) reports tend to indicate that the explosion was caused accidentally inside the public house by premature detonation amongst a group which contained an identified IRA victim”British army/MI5 - Head Quarters Northern Ireland Intelligence Summary (HQNI INTSUM)Slide11
14th December 1971
“The forensic evidence now available shows quite clearly that five of the victims were killed by blast – indicating that the explosion must have been inside the bar and raising the very strong presumption that it was caused by the accidental detonation of a bomb being carried by one of the customers – as has seemed likely all along.”British Ministry of Defence: Current Situation reportSlide12
14th December 1971
“The Minister of State for Defence is being invited to consider whether to make this point public in a written answer… In the view of Headquarters Northern Ireland it is important to put this point on record, in order to discourage continuing speculation about who was responsible for the explosion.”British Ministry of Defence: Current Situation reportSlide13
16th December 1971
“Circumstantial evidence indicates that this was a premature detonation and two of those killed were known IRA members, at least one of whom had been associated with bombing activities. Intelligence indicates that the bomb was destined for use elsewhere in the city.”RUC Chief Constable Graham Shillington, and his Head of Special Branch to Brian Faulkner, John Taylor, and the General Officer Commanding Lt. General Sir Harry Tuzo:Slide14
Accomplices to mass murder?
Why McGurk’s bare cover up?Slide15
December 1972
“Protestants are not, as the policy stands, arrested with a view to being made subject to Interim Custody Orders”Arrest Policy for Protestants by the General Officer CommandingSlide16
1st December 2016
PSNI statement regarding the McGurks bar atrocity“The atrocity has been subject of investigation by our Serious Crime Branch and unfortunately there are currently no new lines of enquiry which would assist us in bringing to justice the accomplices of the UVF terrorist who was convicted in connection with the atrocity”Slide17Slide18Slide19
What we wantFor the existing HET reports to be scrapped
A fresh and independent investigation via an Inquest or new mechanism if availableSlide20
Further InformationCampaign Website –
www.mcgurksbar.com Facebook – www.facebook.co/campaignfortruth Twitter @ciaranmacairtFlickr - www.flickr.com/photos/campaignfortruth/ Youtube www.youtube.com/user/ciaranmacairt Leaflet available today
The Book