Enniskillen Bomb 1987 by Vincent McKenna
The final decision to bomb Enniskillen was made at a house in Mullaghmatt Council Housing Estate, in Monaghan Town. Those who attended the meeting as shown here.
Provisional IRA Chief of Staff, Kevin McKenna, seen here carrying the coffin of MI6 Agent, Martin McGuinness. McKenna given an Amnesty to attend McGuinness's funeral, Amnesty sought by Gerry 'Royal Pardon' Kelly. Kelly and McGuinness had secret meetings with MI6/MI5 in 1993.
JB O'Hagan, former Assistant Chief of Staff of the Provisional IRA, seen here on the right of Caoimhghin O Caolin (Sinn Fein TD, 1997), at the time of the Enniskillen Bomb, Caoimhghin O Caolin was a Runner (Confidential Messenger) between Kevin McKenna and Martin McGuinness who was Head of Northern Command. JB O'Hagan was PIRA Quarter Master in Monaghan (see, Exiled by Tommy McNulty). JB was also recruiting Officer and Internal Security.
Brendan McKenna, PIRA Adjutant, OTR from south Derry, lived in Mullaghmatt Housing Estate.
Henry 'Hensey' McKenna, former PIRA OC south Derry, OTR Monaghan (Smithborough), Internal Security.
Barry McHugh, OTR Tyrone, lived in Mullaghmatt Housing Estate. See Exiled by Tommy McNulty. Barry in this picture is to the far side of PIRA Sean Tierney.
Edward 'Ned' Hamill, PIRA OC in Monaghan Town, OTR from Tyrone, in the picture above, Ned, is to the rear in PIRA uniform and behind Gerard Harte (shot dead by SAS in 1988).
Charlie Caufiled who was PIRA OC on the Enniskillen Bombing is seen here to the left of PIRA Seamus McElwaine's coffin in 1986, as can be seen Charlie has fingers missing due to a bomb exploded prematurely on another occasion as Charlie was preparing it. Sean Tierney is far right black tie, Sean was to detonate the second bomb that was under the command of Martin McGuinness. Martin McGuinness had taken personal control of the second bomb team at Tullyhommon, however, Kevin McKenna insisted that Tierney detonate the bomb, which failed to explode.
It is often claimed that Charlie Caufield was reared in Scotstown, this is untrue, Charlie was reared in Tully Housing Estate in Monaghan Town and next door to Jim Lynagh's family, Charlie had an Uncle in Scotstown/Knockatallon, where Charlie spent a good deal of time and where he befriended Seamus McElwaine.
PIRA John Joe McGirl seen walking and talking with Martin McGuinness behind Jim Lynagh's coffin in 1987, would with his brother Francie McGirl provide the bomb that was planted by Charlie Caulfield in the Reading Rooms in Enniskillen. Charlie Caulfield set the bomb himself, it done exactly what it was meant to do. The bomb had been transported from Leitrim by the Monaghan Town based Unit lead by Charlie Caufield.
NOTE: Charlie Caufield was the OC on the Enniskillen Bombing, Charlie Caufield was well known to me in Monaghan Town, and I had reported to Charlie Caufield upon my release from Crumlin Road Jail in 1985 as Jim Lynagh was in Prison. Charlie Caufield had been delegated OC for the Enniskillen Massacre, by Kevin McKenna, as Charlie had been closely associated with Seamus McElwaine and Jim Lynagh before both were killed by the SAS in 1986 and 1987 respectively. Charlie Caufield collected the bomb from John Joe McGirl in Leitrim before planting the bomb in Enniskillen.
While some of the Enniskillen Bombers were arrested by Gardai in Monaghan Town, two hours before the bomb exploded, Charlie Caufield had not returned to Monaghan Town with the bomb team, this was due to the fact that Charlie was in a sexual relationship with a female in Fermanagh and may have decided to stop for tea and to watch the bomb explode on TV, it was not unusual for Sinn Fein/PIRA to play the hero in front of those that they were in relationships with.
Within one-hour of the bomb exploding, I meet with Caoimhghin O Caolain (Sinn Fein TD, 1997) at 21 Dublin Street, Monaghan Town, and Caoimhghin O Caolain told me that Charlie Caufield had not returned after planting the bomb and that Charlie may be one of the causalities, this was Caoimhghin O Caolain's only concern about the aftermath of the bomb. In the summer of 2001, Caoimhghin O Caolain, put forward Charlie Caufield's name for an Amnesty at Weston Park were Sinn Fein/PIRA were having talks with their British Government contacts.
Charlie Caufield front left with his hand on Seamus McElwaine's coffin in 1986, Charlie had lost fingers in an earlier premature explosion.
Loughgall was the key
motivating factor for bombing Enniskillen, however, Kevin McKenna had also just
lost the Eksund gun ship, Kevin had lost his A-Team and his weapons within a
few months, he wanted, as did all others, to strike hard at the Prods or as
Kevin called them "Orange Bastards".
Those who directed Enniskillen
were Kevin McKenna (Chief of Staff - Dead), JB O'Hagan (Army Council/Quarter
Master-Monaghan/East Tyrone - Dead), Brendan McKenna (Adjutant - still alive),
Hensey McKenna (Internal Security - Dead), Edward 'Ned' Hamill (OC Monaghan -
Still alive), John Joe McGirl (provided the bomb - Dead), Michael McKevitt
(Quarter Master General - Dead), Thomas 'Slab' Murphy - alive).
Operatives: Charlie Caufield
(OC on the operation - Still alive), Laurence McNally (Dead), John 'Dinger'
Bell (Still alive), John Joe Coyle (Dead), these were some of the operatives directly involved in transporting and planting the bomb that exploded. Sean Tierney who was detained in Gough Barracks with me in 1986 under a 7 Day Detention Order was to detonate the second bomb that failed to explode.
Sean Tierney carrying Seamus McElwaine's coffin 1986, Sean is shoulder to shoulder with Charlie Caufield and in front of Gerry Adams.
In the aftermath of
Enniskillen, the backlash was expected to be the usual mantra from unionists,
nobody expected the backlash to go international and include Gadhafi
withdrawing support, Kevin McKenna and those around him, simply did not
understand the meaning and significance of Remembrance Sunday, they considered
Remembrance Sunday to be parochial RUC/UDR, Prods remembering their dead, not
the world being thankful for its freedom.
It was due to this unexpected
International dimension, and utterances from Dublin and London about increased
cooperation, that Owen Smyth wrote the bogus letter to Brian Lenihan TD and
others, claiming that he was an MI5 Agent who was disillusioned with the
tactics of MI5 including changing the timer on the Enniskillen Bomb, pure
nonsense, yet nonsense that has to be put right.
In the letter Smyth claims that MI5 "became aware" of the local PIRA in Fermanagh preparing to bomb Enniskilleen, only Walter-Mitty would say such a thing when dogs on the street knew that the entire operation was planned, directed and carried out from Monaghan Town.
The Enniskillen Bomb on Remembrance
Day/Poppy Day 8th November, 1987, has been well covered by
journalists, and the grievous stories of those families who lost loved ones,
and the dozens of people injured. I thank God that some years later I had the privilege
to meet Gordon Wilson, whose daughter Marie was murdered on that grievous day.
I was a member of Sinn
Fein/PIRA in Monaghan Town in 1987 and I would like to offer a view from within
Sinn Fein/PIRA at that time.
Jim Lynagh and I
I had many roles within Sinn Fein/PIRA, and that probably explains the great lengths that some have went to over decades to try and silence me. Two days before Jim Lynagh was shot dead by The SAS at Loughgall, I spoke to him at Dublin Street in Monaghan Town. Our meeting was being observed by two Garda Special Branch Officers sitting outside Jim Lynagh’s flat at the bottom of Dublin Street, a flat Jim shared with fellow Sinn Fein/PIRA operative John ‘Dinger’ Bell.
Christmas Card from Jim Lynagh to Vincent McKenna, 1985.
At this point in 1987 my job was gathering and corelating intelligence for Sinn Fein/PIRA, however, Lynagh wanted me to start planting under-car booby traps. Not only did he want me to plant them, but he wanted me to construct them. I was to construct the booby-trap bombs by getting the component parts across the border, assembling them, and then, on Command planting them.
As Jim and I stood chatting on Dublin Street in May 1987, Jim explained that the Semtex that had been supplied to Sinn Fein/PIRA by Libya smelled like marzipan, I think that was the first time I had heard about marzipan. Jim said that I would be taking a couple of ounces of Semtex into Tyrone at any given time. The Semtex would be wrapped in cling-film, and I would place it in my under-pants (that is a diplomatic description of what he said) and simply walk through the British Army Check-point.
As implausible as this might sound, I was already in position, by training with a local GAA Team in Tyrone and walking in and out through the British Army check-point with regularity. To the point that the British Army did not bother searching me, I was polite to the Soldiers at the check-point and they simply let me go through without any problem.
Enniskillen Bomber
A couple of days later Lynagh was dead, and while I remained within Sinn Fein/PIRA, I never heard another word about booby-traps, I was then under the command of another member of East Tyrone PIRA and Intelligence was my core role. In fact, my new PIRA commander said:
“We have enough killers, we need good intelligence”.
Semtex from Libya
Libya had resumed its aid to
the Provisional IRA and had provided $2 million to Sinn Fein in the Irish
Republic (Irish Times, 18 and 19 June 1986). This money was secured by Fr Patrick Ryan, Joe Cahill and Ted Howell.
In an interview on RTE TV on
28 October, 1986: Colonel Qadhafi said that Libya should be thanked for its position
on Ireland:
"If I was leader of the south of Ireland, I would consider
that the north was colonised and fight to liberate that part of the country".
British Press reported that
two senior Sinn Fein officials (Ted Howell and Joe Cahill) had visited Libya in April for a ceremony to
mark the American raids on Libya which was addressed by Colonel Qadhafi's
teenage son, Sadi, and that Colonel Qadhafi had supplied the IRA with large quantities
of plastic explosives.
Mr Collins, told the Dail on
10 November that the Irish police were urgently examining reports that two
landings of arms had been made in 1985 and two in 1986, all arranged by the PIRA. He said later on RTE that there was "reason to worry" (Irish
Press, 11 November 1987).
Anonymous letter claimed
British knew of Enniskillen bomb plans?
In the 1987, General Election,
held on 17th February, in the Irish Republic, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
was the candidate in the Cavan/Monaghan constituency. Owen Smyth was in charge
of Public Relations for Sinn Fein/PIRA in the Monaghan Electoral area, as he had
been for the 1985 Local Government Elections, in which he was also a candidate.
In the aftermath of the
Enniskillen Bombing, it was Owen Smyth who wrote an anonymous letter to then
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Lenihan TD, claiming that he was an MI5
Officer who had prior knowledge of the Enniskillen Bomb. Smyth never made any
secret of the under-hand things that he engaged in. Smyth had sent the letter
to Muddy the Waters. In reality, Smyth had a very large chip on his shoulder, as he had turned Informer when arrested by the RUC in 1981. Smyth like many other informers (Eamon Collins - Newry etc) in the 1980s was allowed to return to the community as he had not taken the stand against Sinn Fein/PIRA members.
It is highly unlikely that the
British had any prior knowledge of Enniskillen, as the operation was planned in
Monaghan by a very tight circle of people and the operational detail would not
have been known, even to some of those who offered support services. There would
have been no need for anyone to change the timing on the bomb, as it was always
meant to Murder civilians.
Provisional IRA Chief of Staff, Kevin McKenna, who was based in Monaghan, had lost his A-Team at Loughgall and he intended making the Protestant community pay dearly for that loss. Rather than reassess his own role and position, it was easier to keep everyone happy with a good sectarian kill.
State papers: Self-proclaimed
operative sent Brian Lenihan letter six days after IRA bomb killed 12
An anonymous letter-writer to
the Irish government 30 years ago claimed that British intelligence knew in
advance about the Enniskillen bombing but chose to do nothing about it as they
believed it would create a “massive backlash”.
The Enniskillen bombing on
Remembrance Sunday, November 8th, 1987, was one of the worst atrocities of the
Troubles. Twelve people were killed when an IRA bomb blew out the walls of a
building beside the cenotaph in the town, burying dozens of spectators in
rubble.
Six days after the bombing, an
anonymous, typed letter was sent to then Tánaiste and minister for foreign
affairs, Brian Lenihan. It has now been released as part of the 1988 State
papers.
The letter was sent by a man
who claimed that he was so scared that he drove across the Border to post it.
He claimed that he was an MI5
agent operating in Northern Ireland for 18 months and that he worked in the
special section which was set up to infiltrate paramilitary organisations.
Remembrance Day parade
He listed ways in which
British intelligence sought to target republican paramilitaries including the
manipulation of Dessie “The Border Fox” O’Hare, “a psychopath”, through his
wife.
He went on to state that his
section of MI5 knew in advance of plans to bomb the Remembrance Day parade in
Enniskillen.
British intelligence knew when
and where the IRA gang were going to plant the bomb, its size and technical
make-up, he claimed.
“Our section decided to change
the timing device and let the explosion take place so that the IRA would score
an own goal and create a massive backlash against itself,” he wrote.
“Our section also calculated
that in the climate of a backlash against the IRA all kinds of security
measures could be implemented including extradition.”
The self-proclaimed operative
also suggested that MI6’s involvement in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings had
been “well-established” in MI5.
“If I had more courage, I
would come out openly and prove with more what I am now saying,” he wrote.
The anonymous letter generated
only one piece of correspondence in the files. It was from an official in the
Department of Foreign Affairs to an official in the Department of Justice.
It noted that the letter was
sent in an envelope to the Tánaiste but was addressed to “Dear sir or madam”.
The official suggested that perhaps the letter was meant for a wider
circulation including the press.
Other Top Stories
The Enniskillen Bomb Why and
Who
The Enniskillen Bomb was
planned in Monaghan Town and the Commanding Officer of The PIRA Unit that
carried out that attack was from Monaghan Town, Charlie Caufield. Many of the bomb team were actually arrested in Monaghan as they returned from planting the bomb, the bomb exploded two hours later while they were still in custody in Monaghan Garda Station.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP, told
The House of Commons that he was satisfied that Charlie Caufield was the PIRA
member responsible for the Enniskillen Bomb.
Seamus McElwaine's funeral 1986. Front left, Charlie Caufield, front right Sean Tierney (arrested by RUC with this author 1986), Gerry Adams (Army Council) far right, Jim Lynagh (balaclava rolled up as monkey hat).
Following the shooting dead of
Seamus McElwaine in Fermanagh in 1986, Charlie Caufield from Monaghan Town was
appointed OC South Fermanagh, to replace Seamus McElwaine who had been OC
(Officer Commanding) of South Fermanagh Brigade of the Provisional
Irish Republican Army. Sean Lynch who was with McElwaine on the night that he
was killed survived.
To be fair to Charlie Caulfield,
I found him to be a sober, intelligent and committed member of The PIRA.
Charlie was a close friend of Seamus McElwaine who was shot dead in Fermanagh
in 1986, Seamus McElwaine would have sought no apology from The SAS for the
manner in which he died.
On the 8th May 1987,
Charlie Caufield lost another life long friend Jim Lynagh, who was the
Commanding Officer of the 8-man PIRA Unit wiped out by The SAS at Loughgall,
again Lynagh would have sought no apology from The SAS for the manner in which
he was killed.
Lynagh was ruthless and had emptied 6 rounds into a Protestant
man in Tynan in 1980 while that man lay injured on the ground. In 1981 Lynagh
would murder Sir Norman Stronge in cold blood. Lynagh had many sectarian kills under his
belt.
Loughgall Martyrs and the Pressure
to Retaliate
Following the killing of 8
PIRA operatives at Loughgall on the 8th May 1987, by The SAS, the
PIRA leadership in Monaghan was under pressure, not personnel pressure as the
recruits just kept coming, but leadership pressure. Kevin McKenna who was PIRA
Chief of Staff from 1983-1997, was constantly watching over his shoulder as
Martin McGuinness tried to get his old job back as Chief of Staff. McKenna did not trust McGuinness, but had no choice but to work with McGuinness in many matters. By 1993 both McKenna and McGuinness would surrender the PIRA and this was communicated to MI6 by Brendan Duddy.
History now tells us that
McGuinness was an MI6 Agent from 1986 and his enthusiasm at this point in 1986 to
retake his title as Chief of Staff is probably explained by the fact that MI6
wanted him back at the top. McGuinness had sanctioned an official policy of Ethnic Cleansing in 1986, and this policy was in keeping with the British policy of Ulsterisation/Normalisation. Protestants would bare the brunt of the new polices adopted by Sinn Fein/PIRA and British securocrats.
As we waited at the County
Monaghan side of the Moy Bridge near Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, in 1987, for
Jim Lynagh’s body to be returned by The RUC, there was real anger in the crowd
gathered.
Senior members of Sinn
Fein/PIRA had gathered at the Moy Bridge and there was already talk about
retaliation for Loughgall. Senior members of Sinn Fein/PIRA such as J.B. O’Hagan
(OTR Lurgan) and John Joe McGirl (Leitrim) talked in quiet whispers, that what
ever was going to happen it had to send shock waves through the Protestant
population of Northern Ireland.
Choosing the target that would
be Enniskillen
The PIRA in Monaghan under the
leadership of Kevin McKenna talked more often about “Orange Bastards” (slang
term for Protestants) and “Black Bastards” (slang term for Protestants) than
they ever did about “Brits” and so forth. By the mid-1980s the Sinn Fein/PIRA
leadership were satisfied that The British Government would do business with
Sinn Fein/PIRA and it was Protestants that were the obstacle to their demands
for British withdrawal.
In 1986 Martin McGuinness had
delivered a message to Kevin McKenna from Northern Command in Belfast,
sanctioning a campaign of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’. Retaliation for Loughgall would
be sectarian, yet it would have to be given ‘Political camouflage’. This meant
that just as The British Army followed ‘The Yellow Card Rule’, Sinn Fein/PIRA
would follow The Green Book Rule:
“Get
your defensive right, before your offensive”.
What this Green Book Rule
means is that you have a cover story for your actions, for example, many
victims of Sinn Fein/PIRA rapists were subject to various Human Rights abuses
to ensure their silence, in some cases murder. Sinn Fein/PIRA would let it be
known in the community that such a young person was ‘anti-social’ or whatever
before shooting, beating or on occasion murdering them.
Retaliation for Loughgall was
going to be sectarian, but there had to be a political cover story. Remember
back in 1987 there was no Google, all Intelligence had to be gathered manually.
In 1987, newspapers from previous years and from a number of areas were
sourced, including Enniskillen, to establish who would normally be standing
where, on Remembrance Day.
These newspaper photographs would be the core
sources of information to determine where to plant the bombs. There was no
eyes-on intelligence as neither civilian Catholics nor Sinn Fein/PIRA would be
out and about when Remembrance Day was held in Enniskillen.
Enniskillen was chosen as it
was an historic town that had been used as a garrison by the English and was
viewed in 1987 by Sinn Fein/PIRA as a Protestant town. An attack on the
Protestants of Enniskillen would fit in well with the newly sanctioned campaign
of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’. Prior to the Poppy Day massacre, several bomb attacks had taken place in Enniskillen, so it was a well tested target.
Sinn Fein/PIRA would offer up
many lies to a sometimes too willing to write media in relation to the
Enniskillen atrocity and other atrocities. Sinn Fein/PIRA would whisper that
Enniskillen was retaliation for The RUC attacking Sinn Fein/PIRA memorials, for
example, a week before the bombing, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) clashed
with mourners at the funeral of IRA volunteers Eddie McSheffrey and Paddy Deery.
However, nobody with any credible understanding of the logistics for bombing
Enniskillen would believe that the operation was thrown together in a week.
While many would argue that
Sinn Fein/PIRA had operated a campaign of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ from their
foundation in 1969-70 and evidence could be found to support this view, an
actual plan for ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ was not sanctioned until 1986. This newly
sanctioned plan would mean targeting non-military targets such as Enniskillen, while
ensuring that there was a political cover story. Sinn Fein/PIRA had political
ambitions and that meant keeping the campaign presented as one of David (Sinn
Fein/PIRA) facing up to Goliath (The British).
The PIRA would murder a
Protestant and Sinn Fein/PIRA would issue a statement of apology through P. O’Neil
saying that they believed the Protestant murdered was a member of the security
forces, when they knew that he/she was not. This was psychological as well as
physical terrorism, especially in remote rural locations. Kevin McKenna and those around him wanted to do what McKenna's ancestors had done to Protestants in 1641, kill them in large numbers and drive them out.
Kevin McKenna making the final
decision
The final decision to bomb
Enniskillen was with Kevin McKenna, although many wanted in on the attack.
Kevin McKenna, J.B. O’Hagan, Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy, Michael McKevitt, Brendan
McKenna, John Joe McGirl, were all at Command level that took the final decision
to bomb Enniskillen.
Charlie Caulfield would be OC
for the operation although there would be many PIRA members involved in the
two-bomb plan.
John Joe McGirl had trusted
PIRA men under him in Ballinamore, County Leitrim and they would prepare the bombs
to be used under the supervision of Charlie Caufield, who was himself a bomb
maker. The Enniskillen bomb, 40lb of explosives, planted close to the cenotaph
would be left on the night of the 7th November, 1987. The bomb was
planted at the gable wall inside Enniskillen’s Reading Rooms and set to explode
at 10.43am just as the largest number of people would be in the vicinity of the
bomb.
The bomb was intended to kill
Protestant civilians in large numbers anyone who thinks differently did not
know Sinn Fein/PIRA in Monaghan and they certainly did not know Kevin McKenna.
This intention to maximise the number of Protestants to be murdered was best
summed up by, RUC Detective Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter when he said:
"Their intention was to
inflict casualties. The only mistake in the operation was that the bomb went off
before the parade arrived".
If military personnel were
killed, they would be the collateral damage not the civilians. The second bomb
in the joint operation, a 150-pound (68 kg) bomb in Tullyhommon failed to
explode and would again have killed many innocent civilians.
As news broke about The
Enniskillen Bomb on the morning of the 8th of November, 1987, I made
my way to 21 Dublin Street in Monaghan Town which was/is the Sinn Fein/PIRA
Office and shop. I meet with one of the most senior members of Sinn Fein/PIRA,
who was the messenger between Kevin McKenna and Northern Command at that time.
This senior Sinn Fein/PIRA member was distressed about the Enniskillen Bomb,
not because of the numbers of casualties that grew with every news report, but
in his words:
“Charlie has not reported back”
This author, “Charlie
Caufield?”
“Yes, he has not reported
back, he could be one of the casualties, we don’t know”.
Remember back then there was no
mobile phones, and the majority of contact in such circumstances was person to
person. Whatever about the political fall-out for Sinn Fein/PIRA in the weeks
and months following, there was celebration in Sinn Fein/PIRA pubs in Monaghan
that day, both pubs belonging to members of Sinn Fein/PIRA.
There is a strong possibility
that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness did not have prior warning about the
Enniskillen attack and only reluctantly came on board in the aftermath in order
to keep Kevin McKenna on board. For Kevin McKenna and many others, it was a glorious
kill and the campaign of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ would continue.
Although it was never
officially admitted, Gardai did detect suspicious activity and arrested a
number of the bomb team in Monaghan on the morning the PIRA bombed the
Remembrance Day ceremony in Enniskillen.
Three Co Tyrone men on the run
from the RUC and living in Monaghan were stopped in a car in Monaghan hours
before the explosion.
The woman believed to be the
joint-leader of the South Fermanagh Brigade of the IRA was also understood to
have arrived in Monaghan that morning. Gardai regarded the activity as
suspicious but thought little more of it until later in the morning when the
reports of the Enniskillen bombing arrived.
The men detained in the car
and a number of others were questioned and forensic tests taken but no evidence
of any kind was found to connect them with the bombing, according to officers.
However, intelligence reports
later indicated that it was almost certain that the eight IRA suspects whose
movements were detected in Monaghan that morning were involved in the bombing.
Gardai and RUC believe the
bombing operation was led by the woman, and that she was in the group that had
driven west from Enniskillen after they had finished planting the bomb in the
building owned by the Catholic Church beside the Cenotaph at around 10.43 a.m.
on Remembrance Sunday.
The woman, although still only
in her 20s, was known as an extremely hard-line figure who had risen rapidly
through the local IRA ranks. She was said by officers to have engaged in the
torture of at least one IRA man suspected of passing information to Gardai in
Monaghan.
Importantly, she and the man, Charlie Caufield, her co-leader of the bombing operation were close to the
IRA's Chief-of-Staff, Kevin McKenna, a County Tyrone man living in Smithborough.
Intelligence appraisals of the
Remembrance Sunday bombing put it in the context of a decade and-a-half of
assassinations of Protestants/security personnel along the Border by the IRA's
Border brigades. In the late 1980s IRA tactics had grown to include coordinated
"spectaculars", such as double or treble bomb attacks in different
locations.
At the same time as the
Enniskillen bomb was detonated, the west Fermanagh IRA was unsuccessfully
trying to detonate at second 400lb landmine at the site of the Remembrance Day
ceremony in the village of Tullyhomond, just across the Border from Pettigo in
Co Donegal. This event was attended by more than 100 members of the Boys and
Girls Brigade, the Protestant equivalents of the Catholic scouts and girl
guides.
If this bomb had exploded it
would have caused even worse carnage than the one at Enniskillen. Forensic
examination of the device showed that it was wrongly wired. It was never
ascertained if this was done intentionally or accidentally by the west
Fermanagh bombers, who must have been aware of the likely outcome of their
bomb.
The Tullyhomond bomb was
connected to a command wire running across the Border into Donegal. However,
the Enniskillen bomb was detonated by a timer. This meant that the Enniskillen
bombers knew they would have no sight of the likely target and could only
surmise what the impact of the bomb would be.
A report in The Irish Times
about a week after the Enniskillen bombing, that the device was detonated by a
timer, was denied privately to other journalists by a senior Sinn Fein figure
who acted as an unofficial IRA source to the media. However, British army
ordnance officers were able to reconstruct part of the timer, a device commonly
used in IRA bombs.
In its only official comment
about the bombing, the IRA said it had been a "mistake". The truth
was that it had been a success in Provisional IRA terms, it had struck back at
the Protestant community for the deaths of eight SF/PIRA members at Loughgall,
and was celebrated as such in two pubs in Monaghan Town owned by two members of
SF/PIRA. The Enniskillen Massacre brought much needed cohesion within the ranks
of the ‘Border’ IRA Brigades.
The event drew international
opprobrium down on the PIRA and the visit to the injured by Diana, Princess of
Wales, and Prince Charles drew international media attention to the event.
Privately, republican sources admitted that it had virtually reversed the
positive international image the organisation had built up at the time of the
hunger-strikes.
The woman who led the bombing
team with Charlie Caufield is in the US, where she has raised a family.
Enniskillen Bomb 1987, Charlie
Caufield, Kevin McKenna, Ethnic Cleansing
