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1996 Docklands bombing
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1996 Docklands bombing
The London Docklands bombing (also known as the South Quay bombing or erroneously referred to as the Canary Wharf bombing) occurred on 9 February 1996, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a powerful truck bomb in South Quay (which is outside Canary Wharf). The blast killed two people and devastated a wide area, causing an estimated £150 million worth of damage. The IRA had sent warnings 90 minutes beforehand, but the area was not fully evacuated. As well as the two people who were killed, more than 100 were injured, some permanently.
The attack marked an end to the IRA's seventeen-month ceasefire, and came just over an hour after its declaration to Irish broadcaster RTÉ. The IRA agreed to the ceasefire in August 1994 on the understanding that Sinn Féin would be allowed to take part in peace negotiations, but resumed its campaign with the Docklands bombing when the British government demanded a full IRA disarmament as a precondition for talks. After the bombing, the British government dropped its demand. A few months later, the IRA detonated another, more powerful truck bomb in Manchester.
IRA member James McArdle was convicted of the bombing in 1998. He had been a member of an IRA sniper team in South Armagh. He was released two years later, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
The Provisional IRA's campaign began in 1969 and in 1973 spread to England, where it included many bomb attacks. As well as attacking military and political targets, it also bombed infrastructure and commercial targets. The goal was to damage the economy and cause severe disruption, which would put pressure on the British government to negotiate a withdrawal from Northern Ireland. In the early 1990s, the IRA began another major bombing campaign in England. In February 1991 it launched a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street, official residence and office of the British Prime Minister, as John Major, then Prime Minister, was holding a Cabinet meeting. The mortars narrowly missed the building and there were no casualties. In April 1992, the IRA detonated a powerful truck bomb in the Baltic Exchange bombing in the City of London, the UK's main financial district. The blast killed three people and caused £800 million worth of damage; more than the total damage caused by all IRA bombings before it. In November 1992, the IRA planted a large van bomb at Canary Wharf, London's second financial district. However, security guards immediately alerted the police and the bomb was defused. In April 1993, the IRA detonated another powerful truck bomb in the City of London. It killed one person and caused £500 million worth of damage.
In December 1993 the British and Irish governments issued the Downing Street Declaration. It allowed Sinn Féin, the political party associated with the IRA, to participate in all-party peace negotiations on condition that the IRA called a ceasefire. The IRA called a ceasefire on 31 August 1994. Over the next seventeen months there were a number of meetings between representatives of the British government and Sinn Féin. There were also talks—among representatives of the British and Irish governments and the Northern Ireland parties—about how all-party peace negotiations could take place.
By 1996, John Major's government had lost its majority in the British parliament and was depending on Ulster unionist votes to stay in power. Irish nationalists accused it of pro-unionist bias as a result. The British government began insisting that the IRA must fully disarm before Sinn Féin would be allowed to take part in full-fledged peace talks. It argued that the IRA could use violence, or the threat of violence, to influence negotiations. The IRA rejected this demand, seeing it as a demand for total surrender. Sinn Féin said that the IRA would not disarm before talks, but that it would discuss disarmament as part of an overall solution. On 23 January 1996, the international commission for disarmament in Northern Ireland recommended that Britain drop its demand, suggesting that disarmament begin during talks rather than before. The British government refused to drop its demand. Responding to the commission, Major said in parliament that, for there to be talks, either the IRA would have to disarm or there would have to be an election in Northern Ireland. Irish republicans and nationalists wanted talks to begin swiftly, but noted that it would take months to organize and hold an election. Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams argued that the British government and unionists were erecting "one obstacle after another to frustrate every attempt to sit down around the negotiating table". Adams warned American diplomats that the British government's actions were "threatening the ceasefire".
The bombing had been planned weeks beforehand. During the ceasefire the IRA had continued to make explosives, stockpile weapons and gather intelligence. The IRA's South Armagh Brigade was tasked with planning and carrying out the attack. The 3,000-pound (1,400 kg) bomb consisted of plastic sacks filled with a mix of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and sugar. These sacks were packed around 'booster tubes' consisting of metal scaffolding poles drilled with holes and stuffed with 10 lb (4.5 kg) of Semtex high explosives required to initiate the explosive train. Attached to the booster tubes were lengths of makeshift detonating cord filled with PETN and RDX, the constituent elements of Semtex. The bomb was hidden in the back of a blue Iveco Ford Cargo flatbed truck. It was modified to look like a flatbed tow truck and a compartment for the bomb was built into the back.
On 7 February, two days before the attack, the truck bomb was transported from Northern Ireland to Scotland on a Stena Line Larne–Stranraer ferry. It was then driven more than 300 miles (480 km) south to Barking in east London. There, a timer and power unit (TPU) in the cab was linked to the bomb compartment in the back. It was also fitted with a mercury switch anti-handling device, which would set off the bomb if it was tampered with. The bomb would be primed by the driver pressing a switch inside the cab, connected to a two-hour fuse. Three weeks before the attack, IRA members had carried out a 'dummy run' to familiarize themselves with the route and to test security.
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1996 Docklands bombing
The London Docklands bombing (also known as the South Quay bombing or erroneously referred to as the Canary Wharf bombing) occurred on 9 February 1996, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a powerful truck bomb in South Quay (which is outside Canary Wharf). The blast killed two people and devastated a wide area, causing an estimated £150 million worth of damage. The IRA had sent warnings 90 minutes beforehand, but the area was not fully evacuated. As well as the two people who were killed, more than 100 were injured, some permanently.
The attack marked an end to the IRA's seventeen-month ceasefire, and came just over an hour after its declaration to Irish broadcaster RTÉ. The IRA agreed to the ceasefire in August 1994 on the understanding that Sinn Féin would be allowed to take part in peace negotiations, but resumed its campaign with the Docklands bombing when the British government demanded a full IRA disarmament as a precondition for talks. After the bombing, the British government dropped its demand. A few months later, the IRA detonated another, more powerful truck bomb in Manchester.
IRA member James McArdle was convicted of the bombing in 1998. He had been a member of an IRA sniper team in South Armagh. He was released two years later, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
The Provisional IRA's campaign began in 1969 and in 1973 spread to England, where it included many bomb attacks. As well as attacking military and political targets, it also bombed infrastructure and commercial targets. The goal was to damage the economy and cause severe disruption, which would put pressure on the British government to negotiate a withdrawal from Northern Ireland. In the early 1990s, the IRA began another major bombing campaign in England. In February 1991 it launched a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street, official residence and office of the British Prime Minister, as John Major, then Prime Minister, was holding a Cabinet meeting. The mortars narrowly missed the building and there were no casualties. In April 1992, the IRA detonated a powerful truck bomb in the Baltic Exchange bombing in the City of London, the UK's main financial district. The blast killed three people and caused £800 million worth of damage; more than the total damage caused by all IRA bombings before it. In November 1992, the IRA planted a large van bomb at Canary Wharf, London's second financial district. However, security guards immediately alerted the police and the bomb was defused. In April 1993, the IRA detonated another powerful truck bomb in the City of London. It killed one person and caused £500 million worth of damage.
In December 1993 the British and Irish governments issued the Downing Street Declaration. It allowed Sinn Féin, the political party associated with the IRA, to participate in all-party peace negotiations on condition that the IRA called a ceasefire. The IRA called a ceasefire on 31 August 1994. Over the next seventeen months there were a number of meetings between representatives of the British government and Sinn Féin. There were also talks—among representatives of the British and Irish governments and the Northern Ireland parties—about how all-party peace negotiations could take place.
By 1996, John Major's government had lost its majority in the British parliament and was depending on Ulster unionist votes to stay in power. Irish nationalists accused it of pro-unionist bias as a result. The British government began insisting that the IRA must fully disarm before Sinn Féin would be allowed to take part in full-fledged peace talks. It argued that the IRA could use violence, or the threat of violence, to influence negotiations. The IRA rejected this demand, seeing it as a demand for total surrender. Sinn Féin said that the IRA would not disarm before talks, but that it would discuss disarmament as part of an overall solution. On 23 January 1996, the international commission for disarmament in Northern Ireland recommended that Britain drop its demand, suggesting that disarmament begin during talks rather than before. The British government refused to drop its demand. Responding to the commission, Major said in parliament that, for there to be talks, either the IRA would have to disarm or there would have to be an election in Northern Ireland. Irish republicans and nationalists wanted talks to begin swiftly, but noted that it would take months to organize and hold an election. Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams argued that the British government and unionists were erecting "one obstacle after another to frustrate every attempt to sit down around the negotiating table". Adams warned American diplomats that the British government's actions were "threatening the ceasefire".
The bombing had been planned weeks beforehand. During the ceasefire the IRA had continued to make explosives, stockpile weapons and gather intelligence. The IRA's South Armagh Brigade was tasked with planning and carrying out the attack. The 3,000-pound (1,400 kg) bomb consisted of plastic sacks filled with a mix of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and sugar. These sacks were packed around 'booster tubes' consisting of metal scaffolding poles drilled with holes and stuffed with 10 lb (4.5 kg) of Semtex high explosives required to initiate the explosive train. Attached to the booster tubes were lengths of makeshift detonating cord filled with PETN and RDX, the constituent elements of Semtex. The bomb was hidden in the back of a blue Iveco Ford Cargo flatbed truck. It was modified to look like a flatbed tow truck and a compartment for the bomb was built into the back.
On 7 February, two days before the attack, the truck bomb was transported from Northern Ireland to Scotland on a Stena Line Larne–Stranraer ferry. It was then driven more than 300 miles (480 km) south to Barking in east London. There, a timer and power unit (TPU) in the cab was linked to the bomb compartment in the back. It was also fitted with a mercury switch anti-handling device, which would set off the bomb if it was tampered with. The bomb would be primed by the driver pressing a switch inside the cab, connected to a two-hour fuse. Three weeks before the attack, IRA members had carried out a 'dummy run' to familiarize themselves with the route and to test security.