Shankill Road bombing

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Shankhill Road bombing
Location	Shankhill Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Target(s)	Loyalist paramilitary leaders
Date	October 23, 1993
Attack Type	bomb
Fatalities	10 (incl. bomber)
Injuries	Unknown
Perpetrator(s)	Provisional Irish Republican Army

The Shankill Road bombing in Belfast, sometimes referred to as the Shankill bomb, was one of the most notorious incidents of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The Shankill Road had been the location of several other bomb and gun attacks, but the 1993 bombing had the largest loss of life^{[citation needed]} and resulted in numerous revenge attacks.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 The bombing 2 Begley funeral 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] The bombing

On October 23, 1993, a meeting between senior loyalist faction leaders, including several senior members of the Ulster Defence Association and Johnny Adair, one of the leaders of the Ulster Freedom Fighters, had been scheduled to take place in a flat above Frizzell's Fish Shop on the Shankill Road in the afternoon.^[1] For an unknown reason, the details were changed. Some sources claim that the location was moved, others suggest that it was rescheduled for another time or day.

The Provisional Irish Republican Army had heard about the original time, location and date of the meeting, and saw an opportunity to remove several of their most senior enemies in one blow.^[2] To this end, Thomas Begley and Sean Kelly, two relatively junior IRA operatives, entered the fish shop dressed as deliverymen with a large bomb hidden under a cover on a plastic tray.^[2] They intended to leave the time bomb in the shop, where it would detonate once they had made their getaway. It was late afternoon on a Saturday so the shop was crowded, and as the two men made their way through the people inside the bomb detonated prematurely. However the bomb only had an 11 second fuse, with Kelly since claiming that they would have given a warning to the shop's customers as the fuse was activated, giving them this short period of time to escape.[1]^{[citation needed]} Thomas Begley and nine other people, including two children and the owner John Frizzell, with his daughter Sharon McBride, were killed in the subsequent explosion.^{[citation needed]}

The building collapsed, crushing many of the survivors under the rubble, where they remained until rescued some hours later by volunteers and emergency services. Many people were very seriously injured in the explosion.^{[citation needed]} Also at the scene during the rescue operation were several senior loyalist paramilitaries, including Adair.^[2]

[edit] Begley funeral

Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein was criticised widely after acting as a pallbearer at the funeral of Thomas Begley.^{[citation needed]} Begley was afforded a well attended republican funeral in West Belfast.^[3][4]

The aftermath prompted more bloodshed, as nineteen people were killed by the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Freedom Fighters in the next two months, mostly at random, including seven in the Greysteel massacre on October 30.^[2]

Sean Kelly, the surviving IRA activist, was badly wounded in the explosion, but on his release from hospital was arrested and convicted of nine counts of murder, each with a corresponding life sentence. In July 2000, he was released under the Belfast Agreement.

[edit] See also

• Directory of the Northern Ireland Troubles
• Chronology of Provisional IRA Actions
• Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997

[edit] External links

• BBC interview with victim of the attack
• BBC on Johnny Adair
• BBC on Sean Kelly
• CAIN:Sutton Index: Information on previous attacks

1. ^ A Secret History of the IRA, Ed Moloney, 2002. 9PB) ISBN 0-393-32502-4 (HB) ISBN 0-71-399665-X p.415] p.415
2. ^ ^{a b c d} BBC News, 'Johnny Adair: Feared Loyalist Leader', 6 July 2000, Retrieved on 27 February 2007
3. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,162636,00.html]
4. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/294812.stm