McGurk's Bar bombing

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McGurk's Bar
Location	North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Target(s)	McGurk's Bar
Date	December 4, 1971
Attack Type	time bomb
Fatalities	15
Injuries	17
Perpetrator(s)	Ulster Volunteer Force

The McGurk's Bar bombing was one of the first major atrocities of The Troubles, which occurred on December 4, 1971.

A large bomb exploded in the doorway of a predominantly Roman Catholic bar named "McGurk's" on North Queen Street in Belfast, collapsing the building and killing fifteen people, injuring 17. The explosion caused the biggest loss of life in Belfast in one incident during the whole of the Troubles.^[1] Although the preceding two years had seen increasing tensions and violence in Northern Ireland between the Catholic and Protestant communities, this was the first major attack on civilians by any of the regions paramilitary organisations, and as a result provoked a huge political and public reaction and became the precursor for many similar atrocities. Following the attack, riots and fighting broke out across Belfast, and over a dozen people were injured, including several soldiers and police.

Initial police speculation was that Provisional Irish Republican Army members had either planted the device as part of an internal feud between the OIRA and the PIRA, or that the bombers had stopped off for a drink in the pub, and their bomb had accidentally detonated. This theory meant that the explosion was never properly investigated at the time.

It later transpired that the PIRA had nothing to do with the attack, which was committed by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a Protestant paramilitary organisation. They had actually been seen setting the bomb and had claimed the bombing the following day, but were steadfastly ignored by investigators.

Seven years after the attack Robert Campbell, a self-professed UVF member, admitted being the getaway driver for the team who set the bomb, as well as an unrelated sectarian murder. He received fifteen life sentences, but due to the seven year delay in evidence collection, nobody else has ever been arrested in connection with the attack.

Today the site of McGurk's bar is now a memorial to those who lost their lives, but the community of the New Lodge area have demanded fresh inquires.