On This Day PIRA

I have previously blogged about how the PIRA often didn’t claim murders which they obviously carried out because they believed admitting to them would damage their campaign and the image they sought to present, particularly outside Northern Ireland. That is not to say that they never owned up to murders which they recognised might damage their cause. In fact, throughout the terror campaign they quite often issued statements apologising for murders. The idea for this blog came to me when I recently tweeted about the bombing of Newry customs office in 1972. I noted that on that occasion that the PIRA apologised for the “unintentional loss of life” but seemed more concerned with responding to a statement issued by the Official IRA which criticised the bomb: “In their very prompt statement condemning this morning’s accidental explosion in Newry, the National Liberation Movement (Official IRA) have once more joined in the Imperialist chorus led by British Government mem...

There have been a few times in the course of this project when I have thought that the PIRA murders committed across the decades looked particularly poignant when listed together in an “On This Day” format. Looking at the cases in this format can also prove instructive when it comes to PIRA tactics. As I prepared tweets for 2nd August I thought that date was just one of those days, particularly when it came to the PIRA campaign against the RUC. 1978 Shot on Duty - Reserve Constable John Lamont Reserve Constable John Lamont 21 year old John Lamont was on beat duty in George Street Ballymena. He had just escorted a young female officer back to the station after she had patrolled the town. Shortly before midnight a car pulled up behind him which had been hijacked in Toomebridge and he was short four times. Reserve Constable Lamont was given first aid by customers at the nearby Coach and Horses bar but was dead on arrival at Waveney Hospital. ...