HORRIBLE SIMILARITIES TO THE OMAGH ATROCITY
Horrible similarities to the Omagh atrocity
By ALAN ERWIN
THE violence in Northern Ireland reached its bloody height in 1972 and even the sleepy village of Claudy was plunged right into the mayhem.
At a time when the public was becoming horribly accustomed to almost daily murders by loyalist and republican paramilitaries, this bomb attack plumbed new depths.
The strike - which had horrible similarities to the Omagh atrocity a quarter of a century later - killed nine people and ripped a rural community apart.
Children and adults, Protestants and Catholics were all among the victims.
In the aftermath, the coroner who oversaw the inquests said: "This was sheer, unadulterated, cold, calculated, fiendish murder."
Even though the IRA was widely believed to have planted the three separate devices, the organisation denies any involvement to this day.
The first car bomb exploded without warning outside McElhinney's bar in Main Street, killing three people and fatally wounding another three.
As police moved in, a second bomb was discovered in the back of a van at the post office.
Officers immediately began to evacuate the area by moving people towards the Beaufort Hotel.
Unknown to them, a third bomb had been left in a vehicle parked outside.
Just like the tragic events in Omagh, the public were unwittingly being shepherded closer to danger rather than to safety.
Shortly after the first bomb went off a woman went into the RUC station in the nearby town of Dungiven and said she had been asked to tell police three bombs had been planted in Claudy.
By the time officers on the ground were informed, the second device had been found.
But the third bomb did explode, killing another three people.
A detective told the inquest that the terrorists had tried to telephone through a warning from Dungiven, but the phone box was out of order because of bomb damage to the exchange.
Another attempt to alert people was made by informing shop assistants in the town but crucial time was lost because one of them had to deliver the warning to police in person as the phone lines were down.
The dead were: Elizabeth McElhinney, 59; Joseph McCluskey, 39; Kathryn Eakin, nine; David Miller, 60; James McLelland, 65; William Temple, 16; Rose McLaughlin, 52; Patrick Connolly, 15; Arthur Hone, 38.
By ALAN ERWIN
THE violence in Northern Ireland reached its bloody height in 1972 and even the sleepy village of Claudy was plunged right into the mayhem.
At a time when the public was becoming horribly accustomed to almost daily murders by loyalist and republican paramilitaries, this bomb attack plumbed new depths.
The strike - which had horrible similarities to the Omagh atrocity a quarter of a century later - killed nine people and ripped a rural community apart.
Children and adults, Protestants and Catholics were all among the victims.
In the aftermath, the coroner who oversaw the inquests said: "This was sheer, unadulterated, cold, calculated, fiendish murder."
Even though the IRA was widely believed to have planted the three separate devices, the organisation denies any involvement to this day.
The first car bomb exploded without warning outside McElhinney's bar in Main Street, killing three people and fatally wounding another three.
As police moved in, a second bomb was discovered in the back of a van at the post office.
Officers immediately began to evacuate the area by moving people towards the Beaufort Hotel.
Unknown to them, a third bomb had been left in a vehicle parked outside.
Just like the tragic events in Omagh, the public were unwittingly being shepherded closer to danger rather than to safety.
Shortly after the first bomb went off a woman went into the RUC station in the nearby town of Dungiven and said she had been asked to tell police three bombs had been planted in Claudy.
By the time officers on the ground were informed, the second device had been found.
But the third bomb did explode, killing another three people.
A detective told the inquest that the terrorists had tried to telephone through a warning from Dungiven, but the phone box was out of order because of bomb damage to the exchange.
Another attempt to alert people was made by informing shop assistants in the town but crucial time was lost because one of them had to deliver the warning to police in person as the phone lines were down.
The dead were: Elizabeth McElhinney, 59; Joseph McCluskey, 39; Kathryn Eakin, nine; David Miller, 60; James McLelland, 65; William Temple, 16; Rose McLaughlin, 52; Patrick Connolly, 15; Arthur Hone, 38.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/457
Published Date: 21-Dec-02
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