Donegall Arms shooting

Donegall Arms' shooting
Part of the Troubles
Volunteers from the IPLO, the group who carried out the attack
Location	Donegall Arms, Roden Street, Village, Belfast
Coordinates	54°35′07.8″N 5°55′22.7″W / 54.585500°N 5.922972°W / 54.585500; -5.922972Coordinates: 54°35′07.8″N 5°55′22.7″W / 54.585500°N 5.922972°W / 54.585500; -5.922972
Date	21 December 1991 18:30 (GMT)
Target	Ulster Loyalists Protestant civilians
Attack type	Mass shooting
Deaths	2 civilians
Non-fatal injuries	3
Perpetrator	Irish People's Liberation Organisation

The Donegall Arms shooting took place on the 21 December 1991 when gunmen from the small Irish Republican paramilitary group the Irish People's Liberation Organisation (the IPLO) burst into the Donegall Arms public house and sprayed it with gunfire, killing two Protestant civilians and injuring several others in the bar. The attack happened at a time when Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries (like the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)) were engaged in a large number of tit-for-tat sectarian killings.

Background

The IPLO was formed by former members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) in 1986. Unlike other Republican groups the IPLO was more willing to engage in sectarian killings of Protestant civilians.

During the late 1980s/early 1990s the Loyalist paramilitaries in particular the UVF and the UFF of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) stepped up their sectarian campaign of attacks against Catholic civilians and known Republican activists. For example the UVF carried out just two attacks in 1985 by 1990 their attacks had increased to around 20 per year and rising by each year passing, the UDA was following a similar pattern to the UVF.^[1][2] The Provisional IRA the main Irish Republican paramilitary organisation did not want to get involved in a tit-for-tat sectarian campaign as it would damage their claim to be non-sectarian and it would also damage their political wing – Sinn Fein's election prospects if they were seen supporting the murder of random Protestants. Instead the IRA concentreated their efforst on targeting Loyalist paramilitary members in retaliation for the killings of Catholic civilians Some IRA units did involve themselves in sectarian killings without the permission of the IRA Army Council.^[3]

Events leading up to the shooting

On the 12 August 1991 the UDA shot dead Pádraig Ó Seanacháin (33), who was a Sinn Féin member, later on that same week on the 16 August the UDA shot another Sinn Fein member Thomas Donagh (38), later on that same day IPLO Volunteer Martin O'Prey (28) was killed by the UVF. These killings of prominent Republicans caused a backlash of a series of violent of events that would end the year with the Donegall Arms attack in December. The Loyalists had killed two important members of the IRA's political wing and a high ranking member of the IPLO.^[4][5]

On the 10 October the IPLO shot dead a Protestant civilian in a pub on the Shankill road, hours later the UDA shot dead a Catholic civilian in another part of Belfast.^[6] On the 9 November two Catholic civilians Kathleen Lundy (40) and her son Colin Lundy (16), were burned to death when Loyalists carried out a petrol-bomb attack on their home in Glengormley, County Antrim an attack which shocked Northern Ireland.^[7] Four days later in retaliation the IRA carried out several attacks around Belfast killing four Protestants, two of them were Protestant civilians, one was a UDA member and the other a Red Hand Commando volunteer.^[3] One day later on 14 November in retaliation for the IRA Belfast killings the UVF shot dead three civilians in Armagh, two Catholics and one Protestant.

As twenty people had been killed since the 10 October 1991 the British government on the 14 November introduced measures to try & stop the killings, they announced that the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) would be allowed to recruit an additional 440 members and that 500 additional soldiers would be sent to Northern Ireland. In addition soldiers were moved into Belfast from other areas of the region and 1,200 part-time Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) members were put on full-time duty.^[8]

On the 24 November the IRA smuggled explosives into Crumlin Road jail. They planted a homemade bomb in the Loyalists wing of the prison killing a UVF and a UDA volunteer.^[9]

The shootings

On Saturday 21 December, a 19-year-old Protestant college student and son of a former RUC member who was at home for Christmas was shot and killed by the INLA in a gun attack in the border village of Moy, County Tyrone.^[10]

Later that same night on the 21 December The IPLO Volunteers carried out their attack. The attackers knew the pub would be packed on a saturday night with customers. Three IPLO Volunteers seemed to be involved in the attack, 2 gunmen & a getaway driver. According to witness' two gunmen entered the bar one with an automatic rifle and the other with a hand gun, The gunman with the rifle just shot at anything that moved in the bar while terrified patrons scrambled for cover. The shooting only lasted about a minute but it left two Protestant civilians dead (Thomass Gorman (55) and Barry Watson (25)) who both died almost instantly. Three other people were injured in the attack, all civilians as well. A few hours after the attack the UDA shot dead a Catholic civilian just less than 2 miles from the Donegall Arms.^[11]

Aftermath

The year 1992 started of with more sectarian killings of Protestants & Catholics. On 3 January the UVF shot dead 2 Catholic civilians Kevin McKearney (32) and his uncle John McKearney (69) in the family butcher shop.^[12] Three of of Kevin's brothers were in the IRA, his brother Tommy went on the 1980 Hunger Strike which was led by Brendan Hughes and his other brother Padraig was killed in a SAS ambush at Loughgall with seven other IRA Volunteers.^[13] in 1987. But Kevin McKearney had no links to the IRA or even Sinn Fein and was an innocent civilian. Two weeks later in one of the most horrific actions to take place in the North since the 1987 Remembrance Day bombing the IRA killed eight Protestant workmen in a land mine attack on their mini bus at Teebane and seriously injured several more.^[14] Then three weeks later as revenge for the Teebane Bombing the UFF of the UDA went into Sean Grahams Bookmakers on the Ormeau Road and shot dead five Catholic civilians.^[15]

The tit-for-tat attacks continued up until the 1994 IRA and Loyalist ceasefires. The Loughinisland massacre carried out by the UVF which killed 6 civilians & then the IRA killings of top UDA members Joe Bratty & Raymond Elder both attacks in the summer of 1994 were some of the last major tit-for-tat killings during the conflict. ^{[16] [17]}

See Also

• Darkley killings
• Orange Cross shooting

References