NationMaster - Encyclopedia: 1985 Newry mortar attack

The 1985 Newry mortar attack was an attack carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) station, which killed nine RUC officers. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Downpatrick Area: 2,448 kmÂ² Population (est. ... Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official languages English (de facto), Irish, Ulster Scots 3, BSL, NISL, ISL Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP - First Minister Ian Paisley - Deputy First Minister... The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For alternate meanings of GMT, see GMT (disambiguation). ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through the use of violence, to achieve three goals: (i) British withdrawal from Ireland, (ii) the political unification of Ireland through the merger of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and (iii) the creation of an all... Provisional Irish Republican Army (Irish name: Ã“glaigh na hÃ‰ireann) (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the Army or the RA) is an Irish Republican left-wing paramilitary organisation that, until the Belfast Agreement, sought to end Northern Ireland... The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ...

Background

The IRA, in particular the South Armagh Brigade, had repeatedly used home-made mortars but with little success. Between 1973 and early 1978 a total of 71 mortar attacks were recorded, which failed to kill a single member of the security forces.^[1] The IRA only conducted two successful mortar attacks prior to 1985. The first was on 19 March 1979, when a British soldier was killed at Newtownhamilton army base in County Armagh.^[2] The second was on 12 November 1983, when a police officer was killed and several injured when Carrickmore police station was attacked.^[1]^[3] The Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade was the most elite and experienced IRA brigade during the Troubles. ... March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ... Newtownhamilton is a small village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Armagh Area: 1,254 kmÂ² Population (est. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Carrickmore (Irish: An Charraig MhÃ³r) is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. ...

The attack

The attack was jointly planned by members of the South Armagh Brigade and an IRA unit in Newry.^[4] In the early evening of 28 February 1985, nine shells were launched from a Mark 10 mortar bolted onto the back of a Ford lorry that had been hijacked in Crossmaglen.^[1] Eight shells overshot the station, but one 50-lb shell landed directly on a Portakabin containing a temporary canteen. Nine police officers were killed, including a cousin of Unionist politician Jeffrey Donaldson, and 37 people were injured including 25 civilian police employees.^[5] The death toll was the highest inflicted on the RUC in its history.^[6] February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Barrack buster is the colloquial name given to several improvised mortars, developed in the 1990s by the engineering group of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. ... Crossmaglen (Irish:Crois Mhic LionnÃ¡in) is a village in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the border with the Republic of Ireland. ... A Portakabin is a relocatable, stackable temporary building, most often used as site offices on a building site, or anywhere else where constructing an office is not practicle or is pointless. ... Jeffrey Mark Donaldson (born 7 December 1962) is a Northern Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley. ...

Aftermath

The day was dubbed "Bloody Thursday" by the British press. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher described the attack as "barbaric", while Irish Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald said it was "cruel and cynical", and pledged the help of Irish security forces to catch those responsible.^[5] Although not involved in the attack, Newry IRA member Eamon Collins was arrested shortly afterwards and interrogated. After five days of questioning, Collins broke under interrogation and turned supergrass, leading to more than a dozen arrests of other IRA members.^[7] Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (born October 13, 1925), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office from 1979 to 1990. ... Dr. Garret FitzGerald (Irish name: GearÃ³id MacGearailt) (born February 9, 1926) was the seventh Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, serving two terms in office; July 1981 to February 1982, and December 1982 to March 1987. ... Eamon Collins, was a Provisional Irish Republican Army activist in the late 1970s and 1980s. ... The term supergrass is used in Northern Ireland to refer police informers, typically the arrested paramilitaries who divulged the identities of their compatriots to the Royal Ulster Constabulary in exchange for immunity from prosecution and in many cases substantial sums of money. ...

References

Categories: 1985 in Northern Ireland | Provisional IRA actions | Terrorism in Northern Ireland | Terrorist incidents in the 1980s Faber and Faber is a celebrated publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing the poetry of T. S. Eliot. ... In stories common to the Abrahamic religions, Cain or KÃ¡yin (×§Ö·×™Ö´×Ÿ / ×§Ö¸×™Ö´×Ÿ spear Standard Hebrew QÃ¡yin, Tiberian Hebrew QÃ¡yin / QÄyin; Arabic Ù‚Ø§ÙŠÙŠÙ† QÄyÄ«n in the Arabic Bible; Ù‚Ø§Ø¨ÙŠÙ„ QÄbÄ«l in Islam) is the eldest son of Adam and Eve, and the first man born in creation... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini era. ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini era. ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... Toby Harnden (born 1966) is a British journalist and author He is currently the Washington DC Bureau Chief of The Sunday Telegraph of London. ... Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hodder Headline. ... Time, (whose trademark is capitalized TIME) is a weekly American newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report. ... March 11 is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (71st in leap years). ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini era. ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GBÂ£4 billion... October 31 is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 61 days remaining. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini era. ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 181 days remaining. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini era. ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ...

Contents

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The attack

Aftermath

References

Background