What happened on Bloody Friday?
This Sunday will be the 30th anniversary of Bloody Friday – when the IRA planted more than 20 bombs around Belfast. Twenty of them exploded, killing nine people and injuring more than 100 others. The people who died were both Catholics and Protestants – four bus drivers and two soldiers at a bus depot, two women and a 14-year-old boy at a row of shops. The victims came from all sections of the community. Why have the IRA released the statement now? The anniversary is one reason but the IRA is also trying to create a climate in which progress can be made. The statement also says the IRA remains totally committed to the peace process. We can also look back to 4 July when Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern met the pro-Good Friday Agreement parties at Hillsborough Castle. We heard a lot of talk that if paramilitaries on both sides did not show more commitment to the peace process the devolved government at Stormont could run into trouble. Finally, earlier this year, Republicans at an event in Dub
