Bloody Friday Research Paper

Another one of the major catastrophes was called ‘Bloody Friday’ which occurred on July 21st, 1972 after ‘Bloody Sunday’ in January of the same year (No Author. “History - Bloody Friday, Belfast.”). 1972 is known as “the bloodiest year of the conflict, the violence between Protestants and Catholics was out of control” (No Author. “History - Bloody Friday, Belfast.”). What had seemed like it would be a normal Friday afternoon quickly turned into one of the largest bombings the Irish Republican Army would set off (No Author. “History - Bloody Friday, Belfast.”). The bomb exploded in Belfast, Ireland and in the span of just an hour the Irish Republican Army set off nearly 20 more bombs that killed nine people while severely injuring one hundred

“October 12, 1984”). The hotel was called The Grand Hotel and this bombing was carried out in order to try to kill Margaret Thatcher who was the Prime Minister at the time (Mann, Andrea. “October 12, 1984”). Margaret Thatcher was preparing to give her speech at a Conservative party conference that was held yearly (Mann, Andrea. “October 12, 1984”). This bombing was a long time in the making with it being planted inside the hotel three weeks before it was set to explode in the early morning hours around 3am (Mann, Andrea. “October 12, 1984”). The bombs explosion is said to have barely missed Margaret Thatcher’s space where she was working on her speech at the time but it did hit the rest of her hotel suite (Mann, Andrea. “October 12, 1984”). As soon as the bomb exploded, both Margaret and her husband were rushed to the local police station and news came out that there were a large amount of deaths and nearly thirty people had been severely injured (Mann, Andrea. “October 12, 1984”). But this did not scare Margaret Thatcher she still insisted that her speech go on as well as the conference but right before she made it to saying her speech the Irish Republican Army made an announcement over the news saying “Today, we were unlucky. But remember, we only have to be lucky once; you will have to be lucky always. Give Ireland peace and there will be no war.” (Mann, Andrea. “October 12,

Northern Ireland after.. Pg. 4). “By March 1995, the British government had paid 814.219 million pounds in personal injuries compensation, and a further 300.516 million pounds for damages to property” (Morrissey, Mike, and Marie Smyth. Northern Ireland after.. Pg. 4). This shows how much stress Ireland and Britain was now under mentally, physically and financially, everyone was struggling. The Good Friday agreement would be officially completed in 1998 and ensures a peaceful consensus for both of the governments of Britain and Ireland (No Author. “The Belfast/ Good Friday Agreement.”). The agreement stated a compromise on how Ireland would be governed and ensured that everyone would have a fair voice and no longer had to worry (McGarry, John. “Online ResourcesSingle Sign On.”. Pg. 16) Ireland would be picked on how it was governed by what the majority of the population wanted and everyone could vote (No Author. “The Belfast/ Good Friday