Droppin Well bombing
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| Droppin' Well bombing | |
|---|---|
| Location | Ballykelly, Northern Ireland |
| Target(s) | Droppin' Well nightclub |
| Date | December 6, 1982 |
| Attack Type | small time bomb |
| Fatalities | 17 |
| Injuries | 30 seriously |
| Perpetrator(s) | Irish National Liberation Army |
The Droppin Well bombing occurred on December 6, 1982 when a small bomb killed seventeen people in the Droppin Well disco and bar in the Northern Irish town of Ballykelly, County Londonderry. The RUC believed that the bomb was small enough to fit into a handbag, but because the building had been poorly constructed the weak supports for the heavy concrete roof gave way under the force of the blast, bringing tons of concrete down onto the people inside.
The disco was targeted because it was a routine location for British Army soldiers from the nearby Shackleton Barracks to unwind at a weekend and meet some local girls, who were predominantly Protestant (although at least one Roman Catholic was killed in the explosion). Following the blast, it took many hours to pull survivors from the rubble, as the club had been overfull with an estimated 150 patrons at the time of the blast. Ultimately, 17 people were found to have died, or died in hospital from their injuries, and over thirty seriously injured, some permanently.
Suspicion immediately fell upon the Provisional Irish Republican Army, who denied involvement. Shortly afterwards the Irish National Liberation Army, a smaller republican paramilitary group, admitted culpability, claiming:
"We believe that it is only attacks of such a nature that bring it home to people in Britain and the British establishment. The shooting of an individual soldier, for the people of Britain, has very little effect in terms of the media or in terms of the British administration."
The attack was criticised by many on both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland due to the high loss of civilian lives, six of whom were killed, none older than 26. Of the eleven soldiers who died, eight were from the 1st battalion, Cheshire Regiment, two of the Army Catering Corps[1] and one from The Light Infantry.
An INLA operation six days after the bombing in Armagh was stopped by RUC officers, who killed Seamus Grew and Rodney Carroll in a gun battle near a checkpoint.
Four years after the attack, five people were convicted of involvement in the explosion. Four were given life sentences for multiple murder charges, whilst the fifth, the daughter and girlfriend of two of the other suspects was given 10 years for manslaughter, as the court believed she had been coerced into involvement.
- Anna Moore, 40
- Helena Semple, 29
- Eamon Moore, 25
- Patrick Shotter, 40
- Jacqueline Ann Moore, 19 (received 10 years)
A memorial stone has been raised at the site of Shackleton Barracks to the seventeen fatal casualties of the attack.
[edit] The dead
- Private Terence Adams, 20
- Alan Callaghan, 17
- Private Paul Delaney, 18
- Ruth Dixon, 17
- Lance Corporal Steven Bagshaw, 21
- Lance Corporal Clinton Collins, 20
- Patricia Cooke, 21 (Died on the 16th in hospital)
- Angela Hoole, 19
- Lance Corporal Philip McDonough, 26
- Valerie McIntyre, 21
- Private David Murray, 18
- Corporal David Salthouse, 23
- Private Steven Smith, 24
- Carol Watts, 25
- Private Neil Williams, 18
- Private Anthony S. Williamson, 20
- Lance Corporal David Wilson-Stitt, 27
