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Welcome to some very famous people you've never really heard
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of Bite Sized Biographies of the famous, the infamous and
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the quirky in less than an hour. My name is
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Philip D. Gibbons, and there is more information about me
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this podcast and a bibliography at bite sized biographies dot com.
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There are also photographs of many of the individuals and
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items mentioned in this podcast. At the conclusion of part
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two of this presentation, there will be additional suggestions concerning
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further information about today's subject, Bobby Sands and the IRA
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plot to kill Margaret Thatcher. If you have enjoyed this presentation,
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please make us at our Facebook page bite Sized Biographies,
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subscribe to my YouTube page at noblesse oblige. Please note
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that all of bite Sized Biographies are now available on
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Spotify and tell a friend about Bite Sized Biographies. Now,
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let's continue with our story about Bobby Sands and the IRA.
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At approximately twelve noon on September fifteenth, nineteen eighty four,
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a man stepped off a British rail train at Brighton, Sussex, England.
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He took a taxi to one of the largest hotels
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in the tourist city, the Grand which overlooked the Esplanade,
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English Channel itself. Brighton was a resort in vacation destination
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the shore front, featuring pubs, t shirt shops, a carnival
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pier and a promenade for the throngs that packed the
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town during the summer months. At the Grand, he exited
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the cab the Cabby, recalling an especially heavy suitcase that
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was removed from the taxi trunk into the custody of
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a hotel bellhop one hundred and twenty years old at
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the time, The Grand previously hosted several British Prime Ministers
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John F. Kennedy, Napoleon the Third, Ronald Reagan, the Duke
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of Windsor, and even Aba, but as this guest crossed
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the hotel foyer, he was hoping to remain as inconspicuous
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as possible. Stepping up to the reception area, he greeted
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the female clerk and requested a room on an upper
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floor with a view of the water. Having ascertained previously
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by telephone that there were ample rooms available, the man
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was pleased to be offered rooms six twenty nine. Speaking
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with an accent to described as British Midlands, he mentioned
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that he would like to stay for three nights. Asked
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his name, he responded Roy Walsh, and subsequent to a
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registration card being presented to him, he filled it out
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with this name and address twenty seven Brasfield Road, London,
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se four. For nationality, he added English. He omitted a
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passport number in place of passport issue, acceptable as he
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was ostensibly not visiting from a foreign country. Although the
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clerk did not notice at the time, he carefully avoided
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touching the card, excessively anchoring the piece of paper to
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the desk with the side of his right hand. The
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charge for three nights and two meals a day was
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one hundred and eighty pounds, which was settled in cash
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a large metal key provided. Moments later, this individual was
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standing in room six twenty nine, admiring the marvelous view,
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perhaps a little taken aback by the rather worn and
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faded appearance of the carpet and furnishings, he would not
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have dwelled on this aspect of the establishment, The room
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and its location perfect for what he intended to undertake.
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He quickly left six twenty nine and headed downstairs for
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a lunch with a male individual who has never been identified.
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This individual would return to the hotel several times in
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the next few days, as well as two other well
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dressed female visitors to room six twenty nine. The individual
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in question had no interest in the usual tourist activities
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of most visitors to Brighton. In fact, once his associates
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dropped off various small suitcases and packages, he would not
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even leave the room, even for meals. He even left
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the do not disturb sign on the door for the
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next three days. When the chambermaid attempted to enter, he
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told her that he would not require any service until
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he checked out. He had no interest in tourism because
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he was not a tourist. He was an experienced member
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of the Provisional IRA named Patrick McGhee, intent on installing
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a large explosive device and anticipationation of the annual British
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Conservative Party Conference scheduled to take place in less than
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a month beginning on October tenth, nineteen eighty four. Although
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much of the bomb was previously assembled and transported to
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Britain from Ireland, there was still a great deal of
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preparation left to undertake. The most crucial component of the
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apparatus was the timer. Meticulously tested, it was already set
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for twenty four days, six hours and thirty six minutes
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detonation at about three a m. On the morning of
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October twelfth. This was no arbitrary selection. Margaret Thatcher would
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close the conference with a final address to her party
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associates on the last day of the event, the twelfth.
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Typically spending several days at this annual meeting, she would
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almost certainly be sleeping in her room in the Napoleon
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Suite on the first floor. The choice of the attack
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was also no accident. Only on two occasions was the
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location of Margaret Thatcher a certainty. On election night in
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her home borrow of faes Inchley and at the annual
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Conservative Conference. The IRA spent years probing the Grand Hotel
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and observing the specifics of the conference itself Election night security,
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making such an attack on that occasion unfeasible. To ensure
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that the bomb went off as scheduled, McGee needed to
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complete his preparations by eight twenty pm on September seventeenth.
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There were two separate integrated components, containing both a primary battery,
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timer and circuitry, as well as a backup. If the
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first unit failed, McGee would then place the bomb behind
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a panel under the room's bathtub, concealing both the electronics
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and a connected carefully plastic wrapped payload of one hundred
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pounds of gelignite explosive. Later British authorities estimated the bomb
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to be about twenty five pounds. They were mistaken McGee
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must have been done on time and satisfied that the
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device was properly functioning at ten pm on September seventeenth,
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and the order was placed for room service for six
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twenty nine a bottle of vodka and three Coca Colas.
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To not seem out of the ordinary, McGhee stayed in
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the room that night and checked out at nine am.
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He eventually made his way back to Ireland without detection
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or incident. All he and his associates could do now
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was wait the provisional. IRA's latest British incursion was a
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continuation of the strategy of expanding its bombing campaign to
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the British mainland. Among the most deadly attacks, two bombs
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were detonated on July twentieth, nineteen eighty two, in both
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Hide and Regent's Park and the Hyde Park bombing. Fifteen
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soldiers on horseback were on their way to a changing
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of the Guard at Buckingham Palace when a car bomb
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was detonated by remote control. Four cavalrymen and seven horses
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were killed. Early that same afternoon, at a lunchtime concert
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given by thirty military musicians at a Hyde Park bandstand,
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a bomb detonated beneath the sit structure, killing six of
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the performers immediately. A seventh subsequently died of his injuries.
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Numerous civilians were also injured. Six months later, at the
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landmark London department store Harrod's, a bomb was detonated and
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despite a warning phone call, three policemen and three civilians
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were killed. The IRA officially denied connection to these bombings,
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perhaps because the killing of civilians during the holiday season
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and the gruesome death of animals greatly reduced support for
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the IRA, especially in the US and even in the
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Republic of Ireland. Nevertheless, the IRA, after some introspection, decided
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to attempt to assassinate Margaret Thatcher. Initially, Patrick McGhee would
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not have immediately come to mind as the top operative
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to undertake such a mission. Although McGhee was born in Belfast,
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his family emigrated to the British Mainland when he was
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four years old. His father was a blue collar worker
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who sought steady employment in the northeastern city of Norwich, England.
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As was typical of most Irish of the time period
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and circumstance, there was difficulty for Patrick and his siblings
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to fit in socially, and in his teens McGee responded
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with rebellious anti social behavior, frequently truant. He also engaged
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in various petty crimes, and at age fifteen, he was
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arrested for breaking and entering a butcher's shop, an act
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which resulted in his fingerprints being taken and his assignment
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to a London halfway house for juveniles. Allowed to work
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during the day, he still remained involved in petty crime,
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including vehicle theft, and upon his return to Norwich, he
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was again arrested for stealing a motor scooter. Incarcerated, he
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seems to have stabilized, achieving some semblance of high school equivalency.
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Attracted back to Belfast by the unfolding political strife, he
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returned nineteen seventy one. His entire family soon followed, Catholics
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living in an enclave surrounded by Protestants and subjected to
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both the mob violence of their Unionist neighbors and the
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harassment of British paratroopers. Eventually, his family moved back to Kent, England,
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McGee eventually losing touch. Despite his accent a remnant of Norwich,
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McGhee was eventually accepted into the IRA. From the beginning,
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he developed a propensity for assembling and utilizing explosive devices
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of all kinds, including nail bombs and incendiary devices. However,
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his education in this field was not without incident, although
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we never disclosed how and when he blew off the
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tip of the pinky on his right hand. He also
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did not escape the wholesale internment that swept through Northern
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Ireland in the early seventies. In June nineteen seventy three,
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he was sent to Long Kesh, where he joined hundreds
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of other like minded individuals, many not charged with any
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specific crime. McGee was released in nineteen seventy five, by
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then a completely politicized member of Shinfein and acolyte of
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Jerry Adams, who he interacted with behind bars, and with
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an hour of returning to his neighborhood an active member
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of his local IRA unit, he became an ongoing participant
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in the numerous bombings that occurred throughout mostly Belfast, and
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despite a furtive existence involving frequent movement among various IRA safehouses,
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he became involved with and married a woman named Eileen McGreevy,
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and in January nineteen seventy eight they had a son
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named Pedrague. McGee was well known to British and Northern
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Irish authorities, and while they occasionally were able to detain him,
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they were unable to connect him to any illicit activities.
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Shortly after his marriage, McGee joined what was then known
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as the England Unit, the IRA sector involved with actively
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initiating bombings and attacks within Britain itself. He spent almost
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a year in Great Britain, successfully carried out several successful
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bombings and most importantly, avoided capture. When it was felt
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that he was on the verge of arrest, he returned
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to ultimately the Republic of Ireland and the town of Shannon,
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reuniting with his wife and son. Tradecraft required that he
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have no contact with his relatives, and during his stint
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in Britain he had no contact with his wife for
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the entire nine month period. Promising his spouse that he
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was done with such behavior, McGee initially settled into civilian life,
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working a factory job. It didn't last. McGhee's marriage eventually crumbled,
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and he decided to emigrate to the Netherlands, a country
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tolerant of political dissidence. He briefly considered the US, but
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was told that the British government had an active warrant
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for his arrest. McGee's Dutch sojourn began well, although traveling
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under his own name and passport, he found work and
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residence on a farm with a hospitable family. His plan
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was to reunite with his wife and son and try
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and put his Irish experience behind him. This concept was
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suddenly dashed when, while bicycling to work one morning, McGee
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was detained at gunpoint by Dutch intelligence, acting on a
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request from Great Britain via inter The British suspected McGee
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of participating in terrorist bombings and wished to indict and
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try him for these offenses. His case attracted national attention
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in the Netherlands. His farm hosts and factory bosses had
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nothing but positive things to say about him. Perhaps this
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had some influence on the Dutch three judge panel that
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ruled that there was not enough evidence to extradite McGee
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to the UK. He was immediately released from detention and
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taken under the wing of a group of Dutch leftists
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who gave him a place to stay. But the h
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Bloc hunger strikes were now in full swing and before
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long McGee, also fearing another attempt at extradition or even kidnapping,
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headed back to the Republic of Ireland, which ignored any
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British warrants for the arrest of what was deemed political offenses.
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There he was given an office job by the IRA
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in public housing, and his wife and son joined him again.
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This didn't last, as McGee volunteered for frontline operations in
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Great Britain a response to the culmination of the hunger
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strikesineteen eighty one. Like much of McGee's IRA career, what
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he did specifically in nineteen eighty two has never been determined,
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but it was enough to cause the final breakup of
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his marriage, his wife returning to Belfast. In April of
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nineteen eighty three, McGee and another IRA operative made their
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way to Blackpool, England, most likely to plan and carry
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out a public house bombing, but only a few weeks
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into the operation, both men became convinced that they were
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being tailed by British authorities. Another secondary reason for the
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mission was the reconnaissance of sites that would be involved
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in the annual Conservative Party conference announced at that location
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for later in nineteen eighty three, and once IRA men
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undertook an operation, it was not to be broken off
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without very good reason. Nevertheless, McGee and his accomplice on
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April twenty sixth got into their Ford compact and began
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to flee down a major roadway southeast away from Blackpool
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towards Preston. Their suspicions were confirmed when several vehicle gave chase.
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McGee's car was abandoned near the Preston train station. With
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local help from another IRA sympathizer, McGhee and his associate
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were driven immediately to Wales and a ferry back to Dublin.
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When they got there, they faced internal IRA skepticism. McGee
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had been working extensively in Blackpool with a longtime IRA
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operative named Raymond O'Connor, who got word back to Ireland
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that McGee and his partner had not been under surveillance,
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that they merely panicked and ruined a perfectly secured mission
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McGee's suspicion concerning O'Connor's possible status as an informer was
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one of the reasons he fled, but his IRA counterparts
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were reluctant to admit that they had sent two individuals
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into such harm's way, and O'Connor's explanation was accepted. Years later,
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it would be determined that, in fact, Raymond O'Connor was
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an informer for the British government. For the moment, McGee
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was in fact sidelined as an operative in the England unit.
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But the plot concerning Margaret Thatcher gained momentum when in
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September nineteen eighty three, two unknown IRA operatives of male
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and female were able to successfully register at the Imperial
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Hotel in Blackpool, the site of the October Conservative Party
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conference the Thatcher would attend. This couple only stayed for
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one evening, but their ability to check in weeks in
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advance indicated that such access would be possible at future conferences.
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The focus became Brighton and the party conference in October
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nineteen eighty four. One by one, the experienced individuals most
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likely to be a part of that mission were detained,
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typically when they re entered Northern Ireland, either out of
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homesickness or bravado. Eventually it was decided to include Patrick McGee,
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his loyalty and experience never in question. There were few
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others with a demonstrated ability to access and operate in
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Great Britain and avoid detection, and so it was that
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McGhee was given the green light to undertake histems trip
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to the Grand Hotel. On October ninth, nineteen eighty four,
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Margaret Thatcher left ten Downing Street in her limousine, intent
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on the fifty mile ride to the coastal town of
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Brighton and the first day of the Conservative Party Conference.
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Her security team deemed the event to be officially categorized
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as a low security threat. There was no information from
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the vast network of British intelligence operatives and even informants
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that any major operation was in the offing. In fact, instead,
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an informant recently provided information concerning a shipment of millions
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of dollars worth of weapons via a fishing boat bound
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from the United States. The boat, originating from Massachusetts and
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bankrolled by American gangster James Whitey Bulger, was intercepted on
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September twenty ninth when the entire crew arrested. Without any
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major terrorist incidents in recent months, the various elements of
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British law enforcement seemed to be on top of things.
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In fact, a British coal minor strike, now entering its
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eighth month, seemed far likelier to disrupt the proceedings with unrest.
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For Thatcher. The next few days would be a whirl
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of speeches, receptions and glad handing, all leading up to
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her address on the final day of the conference. Many
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of the participants would use the get together as an
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excuse to party hard, but Thatcher spent most of her
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free time in the Napoleon Suite of the hotel, meticulously
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reworking her address with speech writers and handling the demands
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of everyday government. Just prior to the Prime Minister's arrival,
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an officer with a bomb sniffing dog had performed a
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00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:40.200
sweep of the entire first floor, but this effort was perfunctory.
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Hotel workers and political staff members occupying the same areas
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in haste to prepare for Thatcher and other political officials arrival,
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disruptive to any true assessment. Still, there were over one
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thousand police officers manning barricades rooftops and other strategic vantage
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points in the proxy of the waterfront of the hotel,
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and specific colored identification name tags for participants, as well
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as the typical Thatcher security entourage. On October eleventh, in
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the afternoon, another high ranking Conservative government official, Secretary of State,
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Norman Tebbitt, gave a typically spirited address. Tebbitt, a proponent
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00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:25.200
of privatization and a critic of powerful British trade unions,
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00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:29.119
considered more of a thatcheright than Margaret Thatcher. Tebbitt was
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also perceived within Conservative circles as a rising star and
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potential political successor to the Prime Minister. His speech was
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greeted with the standing ovation. The conventioneers then proceeded enthusiastically
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to pursue the evening's dinner and entertainment, the final night
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of revelry before the PM's finale ended the conference at
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ten thirty pm, Margaret Thatcher made an obligatory appearance at
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a nearby nightclub with over one thousand attendees, who cheerfully
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sang Hello Maggie to the tune of Hello Dolly, now
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a Conservative Party tradition by eleven fifteen. She was quickly
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00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:10.039
escorted back to her suite at the hotel. Gradually, as
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00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:13.039
the evening wound down, the revelers made their way back
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to their rooms. Not all of these individuals were high
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profile prominent politicians. Many received invitations as a reward for
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00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:24.799
mid level efforts on behalf of their local party associations
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00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:29.839
were chaired a local Conservative party entity. However, despite last
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00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:34.599
call at the hotel's Victoria bar at approximately two thirty am,
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some of these guests were still finishing up their drinks
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as the clock inched closer to three am. Even at
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two forty five, Margaret Thatcher had not changed out of
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00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:48.039
her ball gown and was completing the last edits to
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00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:51.680
her speech the writers now dismissed for the evening. Her
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00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:54.839
husband Dennis was asleep in the suite's bedroom next door.
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After the speech was finished, her main administrator, Robin Butler,
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00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:03.920
officially designated as the principal Private Secretary, suggests that they
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00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:06.839
call it a night, but Thatcher requested that the two
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00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:09.640
of them, the only two left in the sweets drawing room,
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press on with some additional minor governmental paperwork review. She
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00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:17.240
excused herself to use the bathroom and returned to two
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00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:21.880
fifty two am sitting down across from Butler, hundreds of
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miles away in a remote area near Cork, Ireland. Patrick
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McGhee was also wide awake. After spending some time in Dublin,
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00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.119
he and the select few who knew of the plot
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00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:36.240
decided that they better secret themselves in secluded safe houses
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00:21:36.279 --> 00:21:39.599
as far away from their normal haunts as possible. If
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Thatcher was killed or seriously injured, no telling what the
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British or even Irish government response would be. Only days earlier,
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McGhee specifically explained to his IRA superior exactly where the
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00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:55.720
bomb was placed in the Grand, even sketching a diagram.
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In his estimation it would definitely cause serious damage if
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a debt. The hope that masonry and other heavy parts
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of the framework of the hotel would descend on the
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lower floors and crush the occupants. There was no talk
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of warning ahead of time. As far as the conspirators
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00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:15.319
were concerned. These were not innocent civilians, but members of
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the Thatcher government and Margaret Thatcher herself, the very individuals
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they considered to be their chief adversaries. They also decided
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not to warn anyone else within the IRA, understanding that
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any number of informers might get wind of such a
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warning indicating a massive operation. Even this general info might
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00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:37.680
also lead to the plot's discovery. McGee was in such
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a distant area that has transistor radio, the only means
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of accessing any news reports could only pick up a
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small station that kept repeating a canned overnight news summary
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every hour on the hour, with pre recorded music and
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no djay. McGee's worst fear was that some glitch or
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malfunction or even discovery would prevent the bomb from detonating.
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Others might only perceive success as the assassination of Thatcher herself.
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McGhee merely wanted to demonstrate that he was a capable operative,
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able to pull off one of the most audacious attacks
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in the history of the movement. At precisely two fifty
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four and one second, McGee got his wish. Unlike the
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multiple prevalence of the devices today, the lone exterior hotel
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surveillance camera recorded a blinding white flash that dominated the
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lenses entire visual perspective. A bright, fiery wave simultaneously expanded
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outward and upward, shattering walls, brick, and concrete. Most importantly,
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the blast dislodged one of the two massive chimney stacks
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of the hotel. In earlier times, when fireplaces were the
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primary source of heat, these two vents were architectural necessities.
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Subsequently obsolete, they still remained a major portion of the
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superstructure of the hotel. Only seconds after the blast, one
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00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:05.920
of these stacks, weighing five tons, began to rapidly descend
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toward the foundation of the building and crashed through all
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rooms numbered with A twenty eight, either immediately killing some
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of the occupants or dragging them in massive amounts of
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debris on a downward path of complete destruction. Because the
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stack shifted slightly sideways, those directly beneath the rooms numbered
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with A twenty nine were only partially affected. In the
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case of Margaret Thatcher's Napoleon Sweet, other than glass breaking
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onto the rug of her sitting room, her immediate proximity
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00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:38.599
remained intact, and she and butler were not hurt in
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any way. She then went into the bedroom to check
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00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:45.119
on her husband, despite the still audible sound of falling debris.
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Most of that sound emanated from the bathroom, which was
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already the sight of large amounts of broken glass, shards
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00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:56.319
of cement, and other dangerous debris. As Denis Thatcher pulled
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00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:59.359
on some outer clothes and the couple emerged from the bedroom.
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All three individuals exited into the corridor. Had Margaret Thatcher's
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00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:07.039
trip to the John been just minutes later, the outcome
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of the Brighton blast may have been quite different. The
390
00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:13.839
shards of glass that cascaded into the bathroom dangerous enough
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to seriously injure or even kill her. Instead, she walked
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away unscathed. Others were not so lucky. The occupants of
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room six twenty nine, Sir Donald and Muriel MacLean, were
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heavily impacted by the blast, which emanated from their bathroom.
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Both were eventually rescued from the wreckage alive, but Muriel
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died a month later. In the adjoining room six twenty eight,
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Gene Shattuck had the misfortune of being in the bathroom
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00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:44.400
when the bomb detonated, killing her instantly. Her husband descended
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from the sixth floor into the basement, but was able
400
00:25:47.799 --> 00:25:50.240
to crawl out of the debris under his own power,
401
00:25:50.359 --> 00:25:54.240
accompanied by Jennifer Taylor, an occupant of Room five twenty eight.
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00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:58.079
Her husband Eric was killed. The occupants of room four
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00:25:58.079 --> 00:26:02.359
to twenty eight, John and Reberda Wakem were also impacted.
404
00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:06.079
ROBERTA was killed. In three twenty eight, Sir Anthony Berry
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00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:10.400
MP was killed. His seriously injured wife, Lady Sarah Berry,
406
00:26:10.519 --> 00:26:14.319
was rescued from the wreckage. Perhaps the most prominent politician
407
00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:18.000
to be injured was Norman Tebbitt, who was dramatically extricated
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00:26:18.039 --> 00:26:21.920
by Stretcher. His rescue broadcast live on early morning British
409
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television occupants of Room two twenty eight. He and his
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00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:29.640
wife survived, but Margaret Tebbitt was left paralyzed, spent two
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00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:33.359
years in rehabilitation and required a wheelchair for the rest
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of her life. And all five people died. Over thirty
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00:26:36.759 --> 00:26:41.440
were injured. Local firefighters ignored warnings that the hotel might collapse,
414
00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:45.680
continually sifting through the wreckage at any sign of additional victims.
415
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A huge slice of the building's interior was visible to
416
00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:53.839
brea evident throughout the hotel's facade within minutes of the blast.
417
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Margaret Thatcher was already back in statesman mode. At four am,
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a little more than an hour after the Blome last
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she held a press conference outside of the Brighton police
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station where she was initially transported. The building considered the
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area's most secure. To the BBC and other press, she
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00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:13.839
proclaimed that the conference would go on and her speech
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was to be delivered on schedule. She entered the hall
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promptly at nine am and retired to a private office
425
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for the obviously necessary speech revisions for security reasons. The
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00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:28.880
convention center area remained mostly empty, many participants having to
427
00:27:28.920 --> 00:27:32.480
wait to be screened by now very tight security. However,
428
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at two pm, when the Prime Minister appeared on schedule
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and delivered the closing address, her mood utterly defiant, she
430
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was accorded a lengthy standing ovation, acknowledging such rhetoric as
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00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:47.960
the fact that we are gathered here now shocked, but
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composed and determined is a sign that not only has
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this attack failed, but all attempts to destroy democracy by
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00:27:55.400 --> 00:28:00.400
terrorism will fail. The IRA was equally confrontational, showing a
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00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:04.960
statement that included additional malevolence. Today we were unlucky, but
436
00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:08.039
remember we only have to be lucky once, you will
437
00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:12.799
have to be lucky always. The investigation into who specifically
438
00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:17.000
was responsible for the Brighton bombing began immediately, although officially
439
00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:20.079
headed by Jack Reese, the head of the Sussex Criminal
440
00:28:20.119 --> 00:28:24.000
Investigation Department. In truth, a manhunt would be undertaken by
441
00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:28.240
a postiche of various British law enforcement units. There was
442
00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:31.720
no overall federal investigative bureau like in the US, but
443
00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:36.079
the Anti Terrorist branch of the Metropolitan London Police also
444
00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:40.680
became involved. Unlike Sussex, they had extensive experience with similar
445
00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:44.599
bomb blasts. It was decided immediately that the explosion was
446
00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:48.160
caused by a timing device planted by an individual who
447
00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:51.480
stayed in the hotel at some point. Within three days,
448
00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:55.240
investigators sifting through the wreckage were able to locate the
449
00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:59.599
entire files of hotel registrants, the paper records still intact.
450
00:29:00.279 --> 00:29:04.839
The Anti Terrorist branch also incorporated information from their investigation
451
00:29:05.319 --> 00:29:08.799
of a cache of buried IRA armaments that was accidentally
452
00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:13.319
discovered months earlier in a remote forested area in central England.
453
00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:16.960
The IRA would bury such weapons dumps, typically in a
454
00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:21.880
large garbage bin, until an operative needed them. Among the weapons, ammunition,
455
00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:26.400
and various other contraband were found six timing mechanisms that
456
00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:31.079
were similar to those used to prime explosive devices. All
457
00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:35.160
were set for the same time twenty four days, six hours,
458
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and thirty six minutes. These implements were labeled in sequence,
459
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and one of the timing mechanisms was missing from that sequence.
460
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Investigators deduced that the missing device was used in the
461
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Brighton bombing using the twenty four day time frame that
462
00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:55.039
meant that the bomb was installed on approximately September seventeenth.
463
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Investigators also knew that the location of the bomb was
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somewhere in the upper floor among rooms five twenty eight,
465
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five twenty nine or six twenty eight or six twenty nine.
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There was no higher floors in the area where the
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building collapsed. All registration cards were pulled for that day
468
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September seventeenth. Did not take long to determine that one registrant,
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Roy Walsh, was completely unknown at his given address twenty
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seven Brasfield Road. Within only days of the blast, investigators
471
00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:29.759
had a piece of physical evidence attached to a potential suspect.
472
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It was thoroughly examined for fingerprints via microscope but turned
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up nothing. Scotland Yard did have additionally sophisticated fingerprint technology
474
00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:43.160
and using a chemical known as ninhydron, it was hoped
475
00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:48.079
that some previously latent print might emerge. The only downside
476
00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:51.240
was that ninhydron was a complex element that took ten
477
00:30:51.319 --> 00:30:55.519
days to induce anything of value, and the interim investigators
478
00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:58.799
sifted through other dates and registrations in an attempt to
479
00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:03.160
locate other guests registering under a bogus name. This process
480
00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:07.279
became unproductive as several individuals were identified who were at
481
00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:12.079
the hotel pursuing extramarital affairs. Jack Reese also employed an
482
00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:15.680
ingenious roost to determine if the Roy Walsh in question
483
00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:19.200
was also the actual culprit they should be searching for.
484
00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:23.559
Reese appeared on a national BBC program called Crime Watch,
485
00:31:24.200 --> 00:31:27.880
asking that the Grand Hotel Roy Walsh make himself known
486
00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:31.839
to authorities. The program received dozens of calls, but none
487
00:31:31.880 --> 00:31:35.559
claimed to be the actual Roy Walsh. They merely maintained
488
00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:38.440
that they thought they knew who he was. That was
489
00:31:38.519 --> 00:31:41.359
exactly what Reese wanted, believing that if a Roy Walsh
490
00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:44.279
did not step forward, it was because he did not
491
00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:47.319
wish to identify himself, because his presence at the Grand
492
00:31:47.759 --> 00:31:51.759
was no mere romantic assignation. It was not until November
493
00:31:51.799 --> 00:31:55.240
thirteenth the technicians turned up four viable prints from the
494
00:31:55.240 --> 00:32:00.000
specially treated registration card. Two were from the hotel receptionists,
495
00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:03.359
only one of the two other prints seemed promising a
496
00:32:03.400 --> 00:32:06.440
palm print that could not be linked to any hotel personnel.
497
00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:09.799
This print was delivered to the expert fingerprint unit at
498
00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:13.039
Scotland Yard, as well as the fingerprints of known IRA
499
00:32:13.240 --> 00:32:17.880
members or suspected operatives, over two hundred in all. Each
500
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:20.480
fingerprint card would have to be compared to the print
501
00:32:20.519 --> 00:32:24.960
from the registration card from the Brighton Hotel, a painstaking,
502
00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:28.839
time consuming process. It was also quite possible if the
503
00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:31.319
print was a dead end or the bomber who left
504
00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:35.279
it was not among the two hundred potential suspects. In
505
00:32:35.319 --> 00:32:39.039
two months, the fingerprint unit of six individuals was only
506
00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:43.039
able to eliminate fifty suspects. The work was done visually
507
00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:47.599
an identification as much, relying on experience and intuition. On
508
00:32:47.720 --> 00:32:51.359
January seventeenth, nineteen eighty five, a technician thought that he
509
00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:56.720
had identified the legally required sixteen similarities from the unidentified
510
00:32:56.799 --> 00:32:59.799
print from the grand to a suspects card on file.
511
00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:03.200
This occurred after eight o'clock at night. A coworker and
512
00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:07.359
supervisor verified the identification the next day. The head of
513
00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:10.000
the unit was then notified and he also examined and
514
00:33:10.039 --> 00:33:15.200
agreed with the assessment. Finally, investigators had a suspect. Oddly,
515
00:33:15.319 --> 00:33:18.079
the card was from Prince taken not in Ireland but
516
00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:20.839
in Norwich, England, for a fifteen year old breaking and
517
00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:26.640
entering suspect named Patrick Joseph McGhee. Diligent police on that
518
00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:30.440
occasion not only inked fingers but also McGee's palms. In
519
00:33:30.519 --> 00:33:35.160
approximately sixty days, Patrick McGhee was now a known quantity.
520
00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:38.440
That was the good news. The bad news was that
521
00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:41.119
most likely he was hiding out somewhere in the Republic
522
00:33:41.160 --> 00:33:45.680
of Ireland, save from many British extradition requests ignored by
523
00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:49.640
Irish courts, again for what was deemed political offenses. In
524
00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:52.319
any case, they determined that it would be productive to
525
00:33:52.359 --> 00:33:56.759
at least try and locate Patrick McGhee. Surprisingly, this process
526
00:33:56.839 --> 00:34:03.039
was relatively simple. Belfast RUC invent instigators began telling Eileen McGhee,
527
00:34:03.079 --> 00:34:07.000
still legally married to Patrick, and noticed occasional rail trips
528
00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:10.679
to Ireland. They requested that their counterparts with the Irish
529
00:34:10.679 --> 00:34:13.639
Guarda follow her to determine if she was visiting the
530
00:34:13.679 --> 00:34:17.440
wanted Patrick McGee. They did not disclose that McGhee was
531
00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:21.000
wanted for the Brighton bombing. When Eileen led surveillance to
532
00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:23.880
the housing unit known to be a former residence of
533
00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:27.119
Patrick McGee, it was clear that McGee was not particularly
534
00:34:27.159 --> 00:34:31.079
disguising his location, but British authorities did not attempt to
535
00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:35.119
request extradition. This would reveal that they suspected McGee for
536
00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:39.119
the Grand bombing. Instead, they chose to wait, hoping McGee
537
00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:42.360
might be brash enough to either attempt to enter Northern
538
00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:46.599
Ireland or even engage in another operation on the British mainland.
539
00:34:47.159 --> 00:34:50.760
There he was subject to immediate arrest. The England unit
540
00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:54.480
was immensely encouraged by the Grand Hotel bombing. It achieved
541
00:34:54.519 --> 00:34:58.440
worldwide attention, demonstrated that no one in Britain was safe
542
00:34:58.480 --> 00:35:02.199
and that the IRA was capable of bold and ingenious operations.
543
00:35:02.800 --> 00:35:05.960
It was resolved that continuing to attack British targets on
544
00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:10.320
the mainland itself was the appropriate way forward. This time
545
00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:13.480
a series of British tourist locations would be the goal
546
00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:18.159
bombs detonated by timing devices in a rapid succession of
547
00:35:18.199 --> 00:35:21.000
a dozen or so objectives scheduled for the summer of
548
00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:25.079
nineteen eighty five. Surprisingly, one of the individuals who agreed
549
00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:30.360
to participate in the operation was Patrick McGee. Despite local surveillance,
550
00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:32.559
he was able to slip out of Ireland and in
551
00:35:32.599 --> 00:35:35.239
early May it was clear that not only was he
552
00:35:35.320 --> 00:35:37.760
no longer in Dublin, but no one in any relevant
553
00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:41.440
law enforcement capacity had any idea where he was. It
554
00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:44.400
was felt appropriate at that time to release McGee's name
555
00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:48.480
and photographed every outpost of British law enforcement, although again
556
00:35:48.599 --> 00:35:52.519
McGee's role in the Brighton bombing was not mentioned. McGee
557
00:35:52.519 --> 00:35:55.280
had already been in Great Britain for two months with
558
00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:59.920
the female associate Ella O'Dwyer. They chose Glasgow as their base,
559
00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:03.199
renting a flat. They were joined by another couple in May.
560
00:36:03.880 --> 00:36:07.000
In June, McGhee and O'Dwyer went to London to install
561
00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:11.800
a timed bomb in central London's Reuben's Hotel, near Buckingham Palace.
562
00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:15.880
It was activated and set to explode on July twenty ninth.
563
00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:19.320
O'Dwyer returned to Glasgow and the group there began to
564
00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:23.199
put together at the schedule of locations to bomb. McGee
565
00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:26.119
stayed in London, presuming that the anonymity of some of
566
00:36:26.119 --> 00:36:30.000
the UK's largest cities would obscure their presence, but things
567
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:33.519
began to unravel when the England unit decided to involve
568
00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:38.559
a fifth operative. Peter Sherry smuggled from Belfast into Scotland
569
00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:42.159
aboard a merchant ship. Sherry was under surveillance from RUC
570
00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:47.840
intelligence implicated in recent IRA activity. The RUC followed Sherry,
571
00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:50.360
having no idea what he was up to, but patient
572
00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:54.559
enough to see where his trail led. Sherry seemed unworried
573
00:36:54.599 --> 00:36:57.400
and immediately booked a train ride from the Scottish port
574
00:36:57.480 --> 00:37:00.760
town of Ayr to Glasgow. From the Mary boarded a
575
00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:03.559
London bound train, but got off at the first stop
576
00:37:03.639 --> 00:37:07.559
over the Scottish border, Carlisle, England, and then checked into
577
00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:12.239
a hotel. The RUC kept him under observation, now accompanied
578
00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:17.079
by British Metropolitan Special Branch detectives who had jurisdiction in Britain.
579
00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:20.800
On June twenty second, Sherry checked out of his hotel
580
00:37:20.920 --> 00:37:24.360
near the station and killed the early afternoon in a pub.
581
00:37:24.679 --> 00:37:26.880
At about two thirty pm, he made his way to
582
00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:30.159
the railway station and appeared to be waiting for someone.
583
00:37:30.599 --> 00:37:35.519
Shortly before three, an express train from London rapidly entered
584
00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:39.880
the station, stopping and disgorging a crowd of passengers. One
585
00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:42.639
of these individuals made his way towards Sherry and greeted
586
00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:46.480
him casually from a distance. The surveillance team was surprised
587
00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:50.199
by who appeared to have dropped into their midst Patrick McGhee.
588
00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:53.880
Two operatives went into the train station restaurant, where they
589
00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:57.360
were discreetly observed by members of the surveillance team, who
590
00:37:57.400 --> 00:38:01.119
became convinced that the new arrival was Patrick macan. The
591
00:38:01.159 --> 00:38:03.599
men on the ground now were faced with the paradox
592
00:38:03.639 --> 00:38:07.239
of immediately arresting both men or letting them continue to
593
00:38:07.320 --> 00:38:11.119
possibly lead them to additional accomplices. They were told to
594
00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:14.920
let the surveillance play out. Cherry and McGee finished their
595
00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:18.599
meal and boarded a train for Glasgow. When they arrived,
596
00:38:18.679 --> 00:38:22.719
they were greeted by additional Scottish surveillance most likely to
597
00:38:22.760 --> 00:38:26.199
detect any surveillance. The two men boarded a double decker
598
00:38:26.280 --> 00:38:29.280
bus and took a two miles into a quiet neighborhood.
599
00:38:29.880 --> 00:38:33.679
They got off and headed into a large park surveillance
600
00:38:33.719 --> 00:38:37.320
followed by numerous unmarked cars. A male and female team
601
00:38:37.400 --> 00:38:40.880
emerged from their vehicle and followed on foot, informing everyone
602
00:38:40.880 --> 00:38:44.440
else by radio to hang back they acted like a couple,
603
00:38:44.840 --> 00:38:48.639
keeping the IRA men in sight. McGee and Sherry left
604
00:38:48.679 --> 00:38:52.440
the park, stopped briefly at a cafe, walked back and
605
00:38:52.519 --> 00:38:55.360
forth for a few blocks, and then entered an apartment
606
00:38:55.400 --> 00:38:59.800
building at two three six Langside Road. The fourth story
607
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:03.760
the working class structure was quickly surrounded units in the rear,
608
00:39:03.880 --> 00:39:07.159
ascertaining that no one had left through the back part
609
00:39:07.159 --> 00:39:10.960
of the building. McGee and Sherry were somewhere within number
610
00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:14.079
two thirty six. The only decision was how to attempt
611
00:39:14.119 --> 00:39:17.320
to storm the building and arrest them. A swat team
612
00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:20.199
meant involving innocent neighbors in what could easily be a
613
00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:24.360
fight to the death shootout. Instead, another tactic was implemented.
614
00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:28.280
Sheer numbers would simultaneously knock on every door in the building,
615
00:39:28.920 --> 00:39:32.400
determined to be seven in all. At seven forty pm,
616
00:39:32.719 --> 00:39:37.079
twenty three policemen furtively pushed into the entrance corridor of
617
00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:40.639
the apartment. Six men remained quietly outside of the door
618
00:39:40.679 --> 00:39:44.000
of the ground floor residence. A wanted man most likely
619
00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:46.360
would not want to be trapped on an upper floor.
620
00:39:47.280 --> 00:39:50.519
Others quickly climbed the stairs and within seconds at least
621
00:39:50.519 --> 00:39:52.719
three men were in place. In front of every door.
622
00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:56.559
The signal the word go was given. All seven doors
623
00:39:56.599 --> 00:40:01.320
received a loud knock simultaneously. Five occupants of the ground
624
00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:04.320
floor apartment were just finishing dinner when they heard the knock.
625
00:40:05.039 --> 00:40:08.480
Lulled into a complete sense of Scottish security, McGee got
626
00:40:08.559 --> 00:40:10.960
up and answered the door. He presumed it was the
627
00:40:11.039 --> 00:40:14.519
landlord or some trivial inquiry. Even when he opened the
628
00:40:14.519 --> 00:40:17.920
door politely asking the two hulking policemen standing in the
629
00:40:17.960 --> 00:40:20.760
doorway if he could help them, he did not suspect
630
00:40:20.800 --> 00:40:23.639
the worst. The two cops grabbed him and hurled him
631
00:40:23.639 --> 00:40:26.039
into the hallway. He was subdued by others and it
632
00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:29.760
became clear that the ground floor was ground zero. The
633
00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:32.400
rest of the police presence quickly poured into the first
634
00:40:32.400 --> 00:40:35.880
floor apartment. In such a tiny space, the four other
635
00:40:35.960 --> 00:40:40.760
apartment occupants could barely react and were quickly subdued. Special
636
00:40:40.760 --> 00:40:43.719
attention was taken with McGhee, who had his shoes removed
637
00:40:43.719 --> 00:40:46.639
as he was handcuffed in his stocking feet and taken
638
00:40:46.679 --> 00:40:51.320
away in a separate policeman. Foolishly specific written notes were
639
00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:55.280
maintained at the Glasgow flat that described not only potential
640
00:40:55.320 --> 00:40:58.199
bombing sites, but the existing bomb in place at the
641
00:40:58.199 --> 00:41:03.360
Reubens Hotel. London Bomb Squad successfully neutralize this device with
642
00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:07.440
minimal damage. Was quickly determined that the other potential sites
643
00:41:07.719 --> 00:41:11.599
had never been actually activated. On June twenty third, nineteen
644
00:41:11.639 --> 00:41:16.280
eighty six, Patrick McGee, after his conviction in London's Old Bailey,
645
00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:19.679
was sentenced to eight life terms for murder and conspiracy
646
00:41:19.880 --> 00:41:23.239
relative to the Brighton bombing. It would not be eligible
647
00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:26.400
for release without serving a minimum of thirty five years,
648
00:41:26.880 --> 00:41:30.239
the harshest penalty available under British law, which did not
649
00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:33.280
permit the death penalty. As he was taken down, he
650
00:41:33.400 --> 00:41:37.119
defiantly raised his fist and in Gaelic shouted, our day
651
00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:41.360
will come. Margaret Thatcher, although convinced that the IRA would
652
00:41:41.400 --> 00:41:46.559
eventually successfully assassinate her, instead did not survive the machinations
653
00:41:46.599 --> 00:41:50.760
of British society and politics. She remained a polarizing figure
654
00:41:51.039 --> 00:41:54.599
who resigned her party leadership in nineteen ninety. She was
655
00:41:54.679 --> 00:41:57.679
replaced as Prime Minister by John Major, who in nineteen
656
00:41:57.760 --> 00:42:00.719
ninety seven would go down to resounding defeat at the
657
00:42:00.760 --> 00:42:04.800
hands of the Labor Party's Anthony Blair. By this time,
658
00:42:04.840 --> 00:42:07.760
an extraordinary process was under way to bring an end
659
00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:12.800
to the violence in Northern Ireland. This extended negotiation, facilitated
660
00:42:12.840 --> 00:42:16.280
by mediation involving the United States and a true desire
661
00:42:16.320 --> 00:42:19.840
to end the violence in Northern Ireland by most parties involved,
662
00:42:20.320 --> 00:42:23.920
culminated with a written agreement in nineteen ninety nine known
663
00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:28.239
as the Good Friday Accords. A monumental event, it included
664
00:42:28.280 --> 00:42:32.239
the voluntary disarming of all of the hostile sectarian entities,
665
00:42:32.599 --> 00:42:36.239
including the IRA, and the release of all prisoners, both
666
00:42:36.360 --> 00:42:41.480
Unionist and Republican, regardless of their particular offenses, despite the
667
00:42:41.559 --> 00:42:46.119
specific objection of British Home Secretary Jack Straw. One of
668
00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:50.079
the immediately released prisoners from the Maze on June twenty second,
669
00:42:50.199 --> 00:42:54.920
nineteen ninety nine, after fourteen years of confinement was Patrick McGee,
670
00:42:55.679 --> 00:42:58.840
emerging from jail with a PhD. He is still active
671
00:42:58.840 --> 00:43:02.639
today in attempting to about a reconciliation with his former
672
00:43:02.760 --> 00:43:07.440
enemies and victims, even interacting with Joe Berry, the daughter
673
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:11.599
of Sir Anthony Berry, who died in the Grand Hotel bombing.
674
00:43:23.719 --> 00:43:26.400
Thank you for listening to Part two of this podcast
675
00:43:26.480 --> 00:43:31.599
about Bobby Sands and the IRA. Information for this podcast
676
00:43:31.760 --> 00:43:35.480
came from the books Nothing but an Unfinished Song by
677
00:43:35.559 --> 00:43:40.480
Dennis O'Hearn and Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll. There are
678
00:43:40.519 --> 00:43:46.039
also additional photographs, bibliographical and musical information at bite sized
679
00:43:46.079 --> 00:43:50.440
biographies dot com. Thank you for listening, and please tell
680
00:43:50.440 --> 00:44:38.719
a friend about bite Sized Biographies in the
1
00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:20.760
Welcome to some very famous people you've never really heard
2
00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:25.000
of Bite Sized Biographies of the famous, the infamous and
3
00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:28.359
the quirky in less than an hour. My name is
4
00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:31.239
Philip D. Gibbons, and there is more information about me
5
00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:37.119
this podcast and a bibliography at bite sized biographies dot com.
6
00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:40.560
There are also photographs of many of the individuals and
7
00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:44.640
items mentioned in this podcast. At the conclusion of part
8
00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:49.159
two of this presentation, there will be additional suggestions concerning
9
00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:54.600
further information about today's subject, Bobby Sands and the IRA
10
00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:59.200
plot to kill Margaret Thatcher. If you have enjoyed this presentation,
11
00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:03.560
please make us at our Facebook page bite Sized Biographies,
12
00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:08.239
subscribe to my YouTube page at noblesse oblige. Please note
13
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that all of bite Sized Biographies are now available on
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Spotify and tell a friend about Bite Sized Biographies. Now,
15
00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:42.719
let's continue with our story about Bobby Sands and the IRA.
16
00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:48.359
At approximately twelve noon on September fifteenth, nineteen eighty four,
17
00:01:48.599 --> 00:01:52.879
a man stepped off a British rail train at Brighton, Sussex, England.
18
00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:55.799
He took a taxi to one of the largest hotels
19
00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:59.560
in the tourist city, the Grand which overlooked the Esplanade,
20
00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:04.359
English Channel itself. Brighton was a resort in vacation destination
21
00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:08.360
the shore front, featuring pubs, t shirt shops, a carnival
22
00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:11.560
pier and a promenade for the throngs that packed the
23
00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:15.280
town during the summer months. At the Grand, he exited
24
00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:18.879
the cab the Cabby, recalling an especially heavy suitcase that
25
00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:22.120
was removed from the taxi trunk into the custody of
26
00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:26.080
a hotel bellhop one hundred and twenty years old at
27
00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:30.080
the time, The Grand previously hosted several British Prime Ministers
28
00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:34.560
John F. Kennedy, Napoleon the Third, Ronald Reagan, the Duke
29
00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:38.280
of Windsor, and even Aba, but as this guest crossed
30
00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:41.680
the hotel foyer, he was hoping to remain as inconspicuous
31
00:02:41.719 --> 00:02:45.599
as possible. Stepping up to the reception area, he greeted
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the female clerk and requested a room on an upper
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floor with a view of the water. Having ascertained previously
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by telephone that there were ample rooms available, the man
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was pleased to be offered rooms six twenty nine. Speaking
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with an accent to described as British Midlands, he mentioned
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that he would like to stay for three nights. Asked
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his name, he responded Roy Walsh, and subsequent to a
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registration card being presented to him, he filled it out
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with this name and address twenty seven Brasfield Road, London,
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se four. For nationality, he added English. He omitted a
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passport number in place of passport issue, acceptable as he
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was ostensibly not visiting from a foreign country. Although the
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clerk did not notice at the time, he carefully avoided
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touching the card, excessively anchoring the piece of paper to
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the desk with the side of his right hand. The
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charge for three nights and two meals a day was
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one hundred and eighty pounds, which was settled in cash
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a large metal key provided. Moments later, this individual was
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standing in room six twenty nine, admiring the marvelous view,
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perhaps a little taken aback by the rather worn and
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00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:00.599
faded appearance of the carpet and furnishings, he would not
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have dwelled on this aspect of the establishment, The room
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00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:06.919
and its location perfect for what he intended to undertake.
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He quickly left six twenty nine and headed downstairs for
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a lunch with a male individual who has never been identified.
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This individual would return to the hotel several times in
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00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:20.480
the next few days, as well as two other well
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dressed female visitors to room six twenty nine. The individual
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in question had no interest in the usual tourist activities
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of most visitors to Brighton. In fact, once his associates
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dropped off various small suitcases and packages, he would not
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even leave the room, even for meals. He even left
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the do not disturb sign on the door for the
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next three days. When the chambermaid attempted to enter, he
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told her that he would not require any service until
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he checked out. He had no interest in tourism because
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he was not a tourist. He was an experienced member
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of the Provisional IRA named Patrick McGhee, intent on installing
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a large explosive device and anticipationation of the annual British
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00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:05.079
Conservative Party Conference scheduled to take place in less than
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a month beginning on October tenth, nineteen eighty four. Although
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much of the bomb was previously assembled and transported to
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Britain from Ireland, there was still a great deal of
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00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:19.560
preparation left to undertake. The most crucial component of the
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00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:23.759
apparatus was the timer. Meticulously tested, it was already set
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00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:27.199
for twenty four days, six hours and thirty six minutes
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detonation at about three a m. On the morning of
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October twelfth. This was no arbitrary selection. Margaret Thatcher would
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close the conference with a final address to her party
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associates on the last day of the event, the twelfth.
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Typically spending several days at this annual meeting, she would
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almost certainly be sleeping in her room in the Napoleon
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Suite on the first floor. The choice of the attack
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was also no accident. Only on two occasions was the
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location of Margaret Thatcher a certainty. On election night in
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00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:01.720
her home borrow of faes Inchley and at the annual
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00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:06.079
Conservative Conference. The IRA spent years probing the Grand Hotel
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00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:10.920
and observing the specifics of the conference itself Election night security,
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00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:15.680
making such an attack on that occasion unfeasible. To ensure
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00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:18.399
that the bomb went off as scheduled, McGee needed to
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00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:23.000
complete his preparations by eight twenty pm on September seventeenth.
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There were two separate integrated components, containing both a primary battery,
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timer and circuitry, as well as a backup. If the
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00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:34.439
first unit failed, McGee would then place the bomb behind
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a panel under the room's bathtub, concealing both the electronics
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00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:42.560
and a connected carefully plastic wrapped payload of one hundred
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00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:47.800
pounds of gelignite explosive. Later British authorities estimated the bomb
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00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:52.560
to be about twenty five pounds. They were mistaken McGee
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00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:55.000
must have been done on time and satisfied that the
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device was properly functioning at ten pm on September seventeenth,
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and the order was placed for room service for six
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twenty nine a bottle of vodka and three Coca Colas.
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To not seem out of the ordinary, McGhee stayed in
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the room that night and checked out at nine am.
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He eventually made his way back to Ireland without detection
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00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:17.839
or incident. All he and his associates could do now
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00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:22.439
was wait the provisional. IRA's latest British incursion was a
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continuation of the strategy of expanding its bombing campaign to
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the British mainland. Among the most deadly attacks, two bombs
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00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:34.399
were detonated on July twentieth, nineteen eighty two, in both
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Hide and Regent's Park and the Hyde Park bombing. Fifteen
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soldiers on horseback were on their way to a changing
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of the Guard at Buckingham Palace when a car bomb
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was detonated by remote control. Four cavalrymen and seven horses
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were killed. Early that same afternoon, at a lunchtime concert
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00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:58.000
given by thirty military musicians at a Hyde Park bandstand,
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a bomb detonated beneath the sit structure, killing six of
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00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:06.160
the performers immediately. A seventh subsequently died of his injuries.
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Numerous civilians were also injured. Six months later, at the
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landmark London department store Harrod's, a bomb was detonated and
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00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:19.439
despite a warning phone call, three policemen and three civilians
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00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:23.480
were killed. The IRA officially denied connection to these bombings,
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perhaps because the killing of civilians during the holiday season
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and the gruesome death of animals greatly reduced support for
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the IRA, especially in the US and even in the
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Republic of Ireland. Nevertheless, the IRA, after some introspection, decided
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to attempt to assassinate Margaret Thatcher. Initially, Patrick McGhee would
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not have immediately come to mind as the top operative
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to undertake such a mission. Although McGhee was born in Belfast,
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his family emigrated to the British Mainland when he was
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four years old. His father was a blue collar worker
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who sought steady employment in the northeastern city of Norwich, England.
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As was typical of most Irish of the time period
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00:09:04.200 --> 00:09:07.799
and circumstance, there was difficulty for Patrick and his siblings
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to fit in socially, and in his teens McGee responded
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with rebellious anti social behavior, frequently truant. He also engaged
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in various petty crimes, and at age fifteen, he was
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arrested for breaking and entering a butcher's shop, an act
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which resulted in his fingerprints being taken and his assignment
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to a London halfway house for juveniles. Allowed to work
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during the day, he still remained involved in petty crime,
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including vehicle theft, and upon his return to Norwich, he
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00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:41.759
was again arrested for stealing a motor scooter. Incarcerated, he
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seems to have stabilized, achieving some semblance of high school equivalency.
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Attracted back to Belfast by the unfolding political strife, he
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returned nineteen seventy one. His entire family soon followed, Catholics
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living in an enclave surrounded by Protestants and subjected to
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both the mob violence of their Unionist neighbors and the
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harassment of British paratroopers. Eventually, his family moved back to Kent, England,
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McGee eventually losing touch. Despite his accent a remnant of Norwich,
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McGhee was eventually accepted into the IRA. From the beginning,
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he developed a propensity for assembling and utilizing explosive devices
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of all kinds, including nail bombs and incendiary devices. However,
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his education in this field was not without incident, although
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00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:32.799
we never disclosed how and when he blew off the
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tip of the pinky on his right hand. He also
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did not escape the wholesale internment that swept through Northern
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Ireland in the early seventies. In June nineteen seventy three,
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he was sent to Long Kesh, where he joined hundreds
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of other like minded individuals, many not charged with any
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specific crime. McGee was released in nineteen seventy five, by
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then a completely politicized member of Shinfein and acolyte of
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Jerry Adams, who he interacted with behind bars, and with
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an hour of returning to his neighborhood an active member
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00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:08.159
of his local IRA unit, he became an ongoing participant
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in the numerous bombings that occurred throughout mostly Belfast, and
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despite a furtive existence involving frequent movement among various IRA safehouses,
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he became involved with and married a woman named Eileen McGreevy,
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and in January nineteen seventy eight they had a son
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named Pedrague. McGee was well known to British and Northern
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Irish authorities, and while they occasionally were able to detain him,
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they were unable to connect him to any illicit activities.
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Shortly after his marriage, McGee joined what was then known
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as the England Unit, the IRA sector involved with actively
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initiating bombings and attacks within Britain itself. He spent almost
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a year in Great Britain, successfully carried out several successful
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bombings and most importantly, avoided capture. When it was felt
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that he was on the verge of arrest, he returned
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to ultimately the Republic of Ireland and the town of Shannon,
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reuniting with his wife and son. Tradecraft required that he
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have no contact with his relatives, and during his stint
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in Britain he had no contact with his wife for
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the entire nine month period. Promising his spouse that he
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was done with such behavior, McGee initially settled into civilian life,
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working a factory job. It didn't last. McGhee's marriage eventually crumbled,
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and he decided to emigrate to the Netherlands, a country
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tolerant of political dissidence. He briefly considered the US, but
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was told that the British government had an active warrant
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00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:38.279
for his arrest. McGee's Dutch sojourn began well, although traveling
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00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:41.039
under his own name and passport, he found work and
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residence on a farm with a hospitable family. His plan
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was to reunite with his wife and son and try
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and put his Irish experience behind him. This concept was
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suddenly dashed when, while bicycling to work one morning, McGee
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was detained at gunpoint by Dutch intelligence, acting on a
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request from Great Britain via inter The British suspected McGee
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of participating in terrorist bombings and wished to indict and
199
00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:09.399
try him for these offenses. His case attracted national attention
200
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in the Netherlands. His farm hosts and factory bosses had
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nothing but positive things to say about him. Perhaps this
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00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:19.360
had some influence on the Dutch three judge panel that
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ruled that there was not enough evidence to extradite McGee
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to the UK. He was immediately released from detention and
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taken under the wing of a group of Dutch leftists
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who gave him a place to stay. But the h
207
00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:34.240
Bloc hunger strikes were now in full swing and before
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00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:38.600
long McGee, also fearing another attempt at extradition or even kidnapping,
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00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.879
headed back to the Republic of Ireland, which ignored any
210
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British warrants for the arrest of what was deemed political offenses.
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There he was given an office job by the IRA
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00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:52.200
in public housing, and his wife and son joined him again.
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This didn't last, as McGee volunteered for frontline operations in
214
00:13:56.039 --> 00:13:59.320
Great Britain a response to the culmination of the hunger
215
00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:03.879
strikesineteen eighty one. Like much of McGee's IRA career, what
216
00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:07.240
he did specifically in nineteen eighty two has never been determined,
217
00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:09.559
but it was enough to cause the final breakup of
218
00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:13.399
his marriage, his wife returning to Belfast. In April of
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00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:17.399
nineteen eighty three, McGee and another IRA operative made their
220
00:14:17.399 --> 00:14:20.759
way to Blackpool, England, most likely to plan and carry
221
00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:23.759
out a public house bombing, but only a few weeks
222
00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:26.840
into the operation, both men became convinced that they were
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00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:30.720
being tailed by British authorities. Another secondary reason for the
224
00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:33.879
mission was the reconnaissance of sites that would be involved
225
00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:38.000
in the annual Conservative Party conference announced at that location
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for later in nineteen eighty three, and once IRA men
227
00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.759
undertook an operation, it was not to be broken off
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00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:48.720
without very good reason. Nevertheless, McGee and his accomplice on
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00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:52.120
April twenty sixth got into their Ford compact and began
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00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:56.200
to flee down a major roadway southeast away from Blackpool
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00:14:56.279 --> 00:15:01.000
towards Preston. Their suspicions were confirmed when several vehicle gave chase.
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McGee's car was abandoned near the Preston train station. With
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00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:09.159
local help from another IRA sympathizer, McGhee and his associate
234
00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:12.799
were driven immediately to Wales and a ferry back to Dublin.
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When they got there, they faced internal IRA skepticism. McGee
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00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:20.639
had been working extensively in Blackpool with a longtime IRA
237
00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:24.519
operative named Raymond O'Connor, who got word back to Ireland
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that McGee and his partner had not been under surveillance,
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00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:31.480
that they merely panicked and ruined a perfectly secured mission
240
00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:36.600
McGee's suspicion concerning O'Connor's possible status as an informer was
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00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:39.600
one of the reasons he fled, but his IRA counterparts
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00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.559
were reluctant to admit that they had sent two individuals
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00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:48.320
into such harm's way, and O'Connor's explanation was accepted. Years later,
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00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:51.679
it would be determined that, in fact, Raymond O'Connor was
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00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:55.720
an informer for the British government. For the moment, McGee
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00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:58.720
was in fact sidelined as an operative in the England unit.
247
00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:02.840
But the plot concerning Margaret Thatcher gained momentum when in
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00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:07.440
September nineteen eighty three, two unknown IRA operatives of male
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00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:10.759
and female were able to successfully register at the Imperial
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00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:14.600
Hotel in Blackpool, the site of the October Conservative Party
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00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:18.919
conference the Thatcher would attend. This couple only stayed for
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00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:21.559
one evening, but their ability to check in weeks in
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00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:26.440
advance indicated that such access would be possible at future conferences.
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The focus became Brighton and the party conference in October
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00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:35.039
nineteen eighty four. One by one, the experienced individuals most
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00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:37.759
likely to be a part of that mission were detained,
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00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:41.279
typically when they re entered Northern Ireland, either out of
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00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:46.200
homesickness or bravado. Eventually it was decided to include Patrick McGee,
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00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:50.440
his loyalty and experience never in question. There were few
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others with a demonstrated ability to access and operate in
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00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:56.600
Great Britain and avoid detection, and so it was that
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McGhee was given the green light to undertake histems trip
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to the Grand Hotel. On October ninth, nineteen eighty four,
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Margaret Thatcher left ten Downing Street in her limousine, intent
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on the fifty mile ride to the coastal town of
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Brighton and the first day of the Conservative Party Conference.
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Her security team deemed the event to be officially categorized
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as a low security threat. There was no information from
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00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:26.039
the vast network of British intelligence operatives and even informants
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00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:30.160
that any major operation was in the offing. In fact, instead,
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00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:34.240
an informant recently provided information concerning a shipment of millions
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00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:37.720
of dollars worth of weapons via a fishing boat bound
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from the United States. The boat, originating from Massachusetts and
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00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:46.559
bankrolled by American gangster James Whitey Bulger, was intercepted on
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September twenty ninth when the entire crew arrested. Without any
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00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:54.720
major terrorist incidents in recent months, the various elements of
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00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:58.160
British law enforcement seemed to be on top of things.
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00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:01.599
In fact, a British coal minor strike, now entering its
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00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:06.039
eighth month, seemed far likelier to disrupt the proceedings with unrest.
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For Thatcher. The next few days would be a whirl
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00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:12.640
of speeches, receptions and glad handing, all leading up to
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00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:15.680
her address on the final day of the conference. Many
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00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:18.400
of the participants would use the get together as an
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00:18:18.440 --> 00:18:21.359
excuse to party hard, but Thatcher spent most of her
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00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:25.160
free time in the Napoleon Suite of the hotel, meticulously
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00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:29.240
reworking her address with speech writers and handling the demands
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00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:32.720
of everyday government. Just prior to the Prime Minister's arrival,
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00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:36.160
an officer with a bomb sniffing dog had performed a
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00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:40.200
sweep of the entire first floor, but this effort was perfunctory.
290
00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:44.920
Hotel workers and political staff members occupying the same areas
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00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:49.200
in haste to prepare for Thatcher and other political officials arrival,
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00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:53.279
disruptive to any true assessment. Still, there were over one
293
00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:58.599
thousand police officers manning barricades rooftops and other strategic vantage
294
00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:02.079
points in the proxy of the waterfront of the hotel,
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00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:07.079
and specific colored identification name tags for participants, as well
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00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:11.920
as the typical Thatcher security entourage. On October eleventh, in
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00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:16.720
the afternoon, another high ranking Conservative government official, Secretary of State,
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00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:21.279
Norman Tebbitt, gave a typically spirited address. Tebbitt, a proponent
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00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:25.200
of privatization and a critic of powerful British trade unions,
300
00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:29.119
considered more of a thatcheright than Margaret Thatcher. Tebbitt was
301
00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:33.200
also perceived within Conservative circles as a rising star and
302
00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:37.279
potential political successor to the Prime Minister. His speech was
303
00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:42.039
greeted with the standing ovation. The conventioneers then proceeded enthusiastically
304
00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:45.680
to pursue the evening's dinner and entertainment, the final night
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00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:50.039
of revelry before the PM's finale ended the conference at
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00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:54.680
ten thirty pm, Margaret Thatcher made an obligatory appearance at
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00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:58.440
a nearby nightclub with over one thousand attendees, who cheerfully
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00:19:58.519 --> 00:20:02.000
sang Hello Maggie to the tune of Hello Dolly, now
309
00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.880
a Conservative Party tradition by eleven fifteen. She was quickly
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00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:10.039
escorted back to her suite at the hotel. Gradually, as
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00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:13.039
the evening wound down, the revelers made their way back
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00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:15.960
to their rooms. Not all of these individuals were high
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00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:20.960
profile prominent politicians. Many received invitations as a reward for
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00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:24.799
mid level efforts on behalf of their local party associations
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00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:29.839
were chaired a local Conservative party entity. However, despite last
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00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:34.599
call at the hotel's Victoria bar at approximately two thirty am,
317
00:20:34.839 --> 00:20:37.640
some of these guests were still finishing up their drinks
318
00:20:38.039 --> 00:20:41.799
as the clock inched closer to three am. Even at
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00:20:41.799 --> 00:20:44.960
two forty five, Margaret Thatcher had not changed out of
320
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:48.039
her ball gown and was completing the last edits to
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00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:51.680
her speech the writers now dismissed for the evening. Her
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00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:54.839
husband Dennis was asleep in the suite's bedroom next door.
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00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:59.160
After the speech was finished, her main administrator, Robin Butler,
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00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:03.920
officially designated as the principal Private Secretary, suggests that they
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00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:06.839
call it a night, but Thatcher requested that the two
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00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:09.640
of them, the only two left in the sweets drawing room,
327
00:21:09.960 --> 00:21:14.200
press on with some additional minor governmental paperwork review. She
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00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:17.240
excused herself to use the bathroom and returned to two
329
00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:21.880
fifty two am sitting down across from Butler, hundreds of
330
00:21:21.880 --> 00:21:25.640
miles away in a remote area near Cork, Ireland. Patrick
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00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:29.759
McGhee was also wide awake. After spending some time in Dublin,
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00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.119
he and the select few who knew of the plot
333
00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:36.240
decided that they better secret themselves in secluded safe houses
334
00:21:36.279 --> 00:21:39.599
as far away from their normal haunts as possible. If
335
00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:42.920
Thatcher was killed or seriously injured, no telling what the
336
00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:47.559
British or even Irish government response would be. Only days earlier,
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00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:51.880
McGhee specifically explained to his IRA superior exactly where the
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00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:55.720
bomb was placed in the Grand, even sketching a diagram.
339
00:21:56.039 --> 00:21:59.640
In his estimation it would definitely cause serious damage if
340
00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:03.200
a debt. The hope that masonry and other heavy parts
341
00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:05.640
of the framework of the hotel would descend on the
342
00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:09.240
lower floors and crush the occupants. There was no talk
343
00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:11.920
of warning ahead of time. As far as the conspirators
344
00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:15.319
were concerned. These were not innocent civilians, but members of
345
00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:19.680
the Thatcher government and Margaret Thatcher herself, the very individuals
346
00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:23.559
they considered to be their chief adversaries. They also decided
347
00:22:23.559 --> 00:22:26.920
not to warn anyone else within the IRA, understanding that
348
00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:29.519
any number of informers might get wind of such a
349
00:22:29.559 --> 00:22:34.200
warning indicating a massive operation. Even this general info might
350
00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:37.680
also lead to the plot's discovery. McGee was in such
351
00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:40.880
a distant area that has transistor radio, the only means
352
00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:43.960
of accessing any news reports could only pick up a
353
00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:47.880
small station that kept repeating a canned overnight news summary
354
00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:51.559
every hour on the hour, with pre recorded music and
355
00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:55.480
no djay. McGee's worst fear was that some glitch or
356
00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:59.559
malfunction or even discovery would prevent the bomb from detonating.
357
00:23:00.119 --> 00:23:04.680
Others might only perceive success as the assassination of Thatcher herself.
358
00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:08.359
McGhee merely wanted to demonstrate that he was a capable operative,
359
00:23:08.839 --> 00:23:11.519
able to pull off one of the most audacious attacks
360
00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:15.119
in the history of the movement. At precisely two fifty
361
00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:19.079
four and one second, McGee got his wish. Unlike the
362
00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:23.279
multiple prevalence of the devices today, the lone exterior hotel
363
00:23:23.400 --> 00:23:27.799
surveillance camera recorded a blinding white flash that dominated the
364
00:23:27.880 --> 00:23:34.359
lenses entire visual perspective. A bright, fiery wave simultaneously expanded
365
00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:40.440
outward and upward, shattering walls, brick, and concrete. Most importantly,
366
00:23:40.519 --> 00:23:44.079
the blast dislodged one of the two massive chimney stacks
367
00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:47.759
of the hotel. In earlier times, when fireplaces were the
368
00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:53.200
primary source of heat, these two vents were architectural necessities.
369
00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:57.400
Subsequently obsolete, they still remained a major portion of the
370
00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:01.839
superstructure of the hotel. Only seconds after the blast, one
371
00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:05.920
of these stacks, weighing five tons, began to rapidly descend
372
00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:09.200
toward the foundation of the building and crashed through all
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00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:12.519
rooms numbered with A twenty eight, either immediately killing some
374
00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:15.680
of the occupants or dragging them in massive amounts of
375
00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:20.000
debris on a downward path of complete destruction. Because the
376
00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:24.920
stack shifted slightly sideways, those directly beneath the rooms numbered
377
00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:28.759
with A twenty nine were only partially affected. In the
378
00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:32.559
case of Margaret Thatcher's Napoleon Sweet, other than glass breaking
379
00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:35.920
onto the rug of her sitting room, her immediate proximity
380
00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:38.599
remained intact, and she and butler were not hurt in
381
00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:41.559
any way. She then went into the bedroom to check
382
00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:45.119
on her husband, despite the still audible sound of falling debris.
383
00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:48.599
Most of that sound emanated from the bathroom, which was
384
00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:52.400
already the sight of large amounts of broken glass, shards
385
00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:56.319
of cement, and other dangerous debris. As Denis Thatcher pulled
386
00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:59.359
on some outer clothes and the couple emerged from the bedroom.
387
00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:04.160
All three individuals exited into the corridor. Had Margaret Thatcher's
388
00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:07.039
trip to the John been just minutes later, the outcome
389
00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:09.680
of the Brighton blast may have been quite different. The
390
00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:13.839
shards of glass that cascaded into the bathroom dangerous enough
391
00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:17.599
to seriously injure or even kill her. Instead, she walked
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00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:21.559
away unscathed. Others were not so lucky. The occupants of
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00:25:21.640 --> 00:25:25.599
room six twenty nine, Sir Donald and Muriel MacLean, were
394
00:25:25.640 --> 00:25:29.279
heavily impacted by the blast, which emanated from their bathroom.
395
00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:33.440
Both were eventually rescued from the wreckage alive, but Muriel
396
00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:37.079
died a month later. In the adjoining room six twenty eight,
397
00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:40.119
Gene Shattuck had the misfortune of being in the bathroom
398
00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:44.400
when the bomb detonated, killing her instantly. Her husband descended
399
00:25:44.440 --> 00:25:47.759
from the sixth floor into the basement, but was able
400
00:25:47.799 --> 00:25:50.240
to crawl out of the debris under his own power,
401
00:25:50.359 --> 00:25:54.240
accompanied by Jennifer Taylor, an occupant of Room five twenty eight.
402
00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:58.079
Her husband Eric was killed. The occupants of room four
403
00:25:58.079 --> 00:26:02.359
to twenty eight, John and Reberda Wakem were also impacted.
404
00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:06.079
ROBERTA was killed. In three twenty eight, Sir Anthony Berry
405
00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:10.400
MP was killed. His seriously injured wife, Lady Sarah Berry,
406
00:26:10.519 --> 00:26:14.319
was rescued from the wreckage. Perhaps the most prominent politician
407
00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:18.000
to be injured was Norman Tebbitt, who was dramatically extricated
408
00:26:18.039 --> 00:26:21.920
by Stretcher. His rescue broadcast live on early morning British
409
00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:25.680
television occupants of Room two twenty eight. He and his
410
00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:29.640
wife survived, but Margaret Tebbitt was left paralyzed, spent two
411
00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:33.359
years in rehabilitation and required a wheelchair for the rest
412
00:26:33.400 --> 00:26:36.720
of her life. And all five people died. Over thirty
413
00:26:36.759 --> 00:26:41.440
were injured. Local firefighters ignored warnings that the hotel might collapse,
414
00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:45.680
continually sifting through the wreckage at any sign of additional victims.
415
00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:49.240
A huge slice of the building's interior was visible to
416
00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:53.839
brea evident throughout the hotel's facade within minutes of the blast.
417
00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:58.119
Margaret Thatcher was already back in statesman mode. At four am,
418
00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:00.279
a little more than an hour after the Blome last
419
00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:03.480
she held a press conference outside of the Brighton police
420
00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:07.440
station where she was initially transported. The building considered the
421
00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:11.079
area's most secure. To the BBC and other press, she
422
00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:13.839
proclaimed that the conference would go on and her speech
423
00:27:13.960 --> 00:27:16.839
was to be delivered on schedule. She entered the hall
424
00:27:16.920 --> 00:27:20.000
promptly at nine am and retired to a private office
425
00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:24.279
for the obviously necessary speech revisions for security reasons. The
426
00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:28.880
convention center area remained mostly empty, many participants having to
427
00:27:28.920 --> 00:27:32.480
wait to be screened by now very tight security. However,
428
00:27:32.599 --> 00:27:35.759
at two pm, when the Prime Minister appeared on schedule
429
00:27:36.119 --> 00:27:39.680
and delivered the closing address, her mood utterly defiant, she
430
00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:44.559
was accorded a lengthy standing ovation, acknowledging such rhetoric as
431
00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:47.960
the fact that we are gathered here now shocked, but
432
00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:51.359
composed and determined is a sign that not only has
433
00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:55.279
this attack failed, but all attempts to destroy democracy by
434
00:27:55.400 --> 00:28:00.400
terrorism will fail. The IRA was equally confrontational, showing a
435
00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:04.960
statement that included additional malevolence. Today we were unlucky, but
436
00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:08.039
remember we only have to be lucky once, you will
437
00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:12.799
have to be lucky always. The investigation into who specifically
438
00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:17.000
was responsible for the Brighton bombing began immediately, although officially
439
00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:20.079
headed by Jack Reese, the head of the Sussex Criminal
440
00:28:20.119 --> 00:28:24.000
Investigation Department. In truth, a manhunt would be undertaken by
441
00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:28.240
a postiche of various British law enforcement units. There was
442
00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:31.720
no overall federal investigative bureau like in the US, but
443
00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:36.079
the Anti Terrorist branch of the Metropolitan London Police also
444
00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:40.680
became involved. Unlike Sussex, they had extensive experience with similar
445
00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:44.599
bomb blasts. It was decided immediately that the explosion was
446
00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:48.160
caused by a timing device planted by an individual who
447
00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:51.480
stayed in the hotel at some point. Within three days,
448
00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:55.240
investigators sifting through the wreckage were able to locate the
449
00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:59.599
entire files of hotel registrants, the paper records still intact.
450
00:29:00.279 --> 00:29:04.839
The Anti Terrorist branch also incorporated information from their investigation
451
00:29:05.319 --> 00:29:08.799
of a cache of buried IRA armaments that was accidentally
452
00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:13.319
discovered months earlier in a remote forested area in central England.
453
00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:16.960
The IRA would bury such weapons dumps, typically in a
454
00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:21.880
large garbage bin, until an operative needed them. Among the weapons, ammunition,
455
00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:26.400
and various other contraband were found six timing mechanisms that
456
00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:31.079
were similar to those used to prime explosive devices. All
457
00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:35.160
were set for the same time twenty four days, six hours,
458
00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:38.920
and thirty six minutes. These implements were labeled in sequence,
459
00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:43.359
and one of the timing mechanisms was missing from that sequence.
460
00:29:44.119 --> 00:29:47.200
Investigators deduced that the missing device was used in the
461
00:29:47.240 --> 00:29:51.000
Brighton bombing using the twenty four day time frame that
462
00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:55.039
meant that the bomb was installed on approximately September seventeenth.
463
00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:58.599
Investigators also knew that the location of the bomb was
464
00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:02.000
somewhere in the upper floor among rooms five twenty eight,
465
00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:05.720
five twenty nine or six twenty eight or six twenty nine.
466
00:30:06.200 --> 00:30:08.559
There was no higher floors in the area where the
467
00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:12.599
building collapsed. All registration cards were pulled for that day
468
00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:17.400
September seventeenth. Did not take long to determine that one registrant,
469
00:30:17.640 --> 00:30:21.480
Roy Walsh, was completely unknown at his given address twenty
470
00:30:21.559 --> 00:30:26.359
seven Brasfield Road. Within only days of the blast, investigators
471
00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:29.759
had a piece of physical evidence attached to a potential suspect.
472
00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:33.880
It was thoroughly examined for fingerprints via microscope but turned
473
00:30:33.960 --> 00:30:39.400
up nothing. Scotland Yard did have additionally sophisticated fingerprint technology
474
00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:43.160
and using a chemical known as ninhydron, it was hoped
475
00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:48.079
that some previously latent print might emerge. The only downside
476
00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:51.240
was that ninhydron was a complex element that took ten
477
00:30:51.319 --> 00:30:55.519
days to induce anything of value, and the interim investigators
478
00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:58.799
sifted through other dates and registrations in an attempt to
479
00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:03.160
locate other guests registering under a bogus name. This process
480
00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:07.279
became unproductive as several individuals were identified who were at
481
00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:12.079
the hotel pursuing extramarital affairs. Jack Reese also employed an
482
00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:15.680
ingenious roost to determine if the Roy Walsh in question
483
00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:19.200
was also the actual culprit they should be searching for.
484
00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:23.559
Reese appeared on a national BBC program called Crime Watch,
485
00:31:24.200 --> 00:31:27.880
asking that the Grand Hotel Roy Walsh make himself known
486
00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:31.839
to authorities. The program received dozens of calls, but none
487
00:31:31.880 --> 00:31:35.559
claimed to be the actual Roy Walsh. They merely maintained
488
00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:38.440
that they thought they knew who he was. That was
489
00:31:38.519 --> 00:31:41.359
exactly what Reese wanted, believing that if a Roy Walsh
490
00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:44.279
did not step forward, it was because he did not
491
00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:47.319
wish to identify himself, because his presence at the Grand
492
00:31:47.759 --> 00:31:51.759
was no mere romantic assignation. It was not until November
493
00:31:51.799 --> 00:31:55.240
thirteenth the technicians turned up four viable prints from the
494
00:31:55.240 --> 00:32:00.000
specially treated registration card. Two were from the hotel receptionists,
495
00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:03.359
only one of the two other prints seemed promising a
496
00:32:03.400 --> 00:32:06.440
palm print that could not be linked to any hotel personnel.
497
00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:09.799
This print was delivered to the expert fingerprint unit at
498
00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:13.039
Scotland Yard, as well as the fingerprints of known IRA
499
00:32:13.240 --> 00:32:17.880
members or suspected operatives, over two hundred in all. Each
500
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:20.480
fingerprint card would have to be compared to the print
501
00:32:20.519 --> 00:32:24.960
from the registration card from the Brighton Hotel, a painstaking,
502
00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:28.839
time consuming process. It was also quite possible if the
503
00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:31.319
print was a dead end or the bomber who left
504
00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:35.279
it was not among the two hundred potential suspects. In
505
00:32:35.319 --> 00:32:39.039
two months, the fingerprint unit of six individuals was only
506
00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:43.039
able to eliminate fifty suspects. The work was done visually
507
00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:47.599
an identification as much, relying on experience and intuition. On
508
00:32:47.720 --> 00:32:51.359
January seventeenth, nineteen eighty five, a technician thought that he
509
00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:56.720
had identified the legally required sixteen similarities from the unidentified
510
00:32:56.799 --> 00:32:59.799
print from the grand to a suspects card on file.
511
00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:03.200
This occurred after eight o'clock at night. A coworker and
512
00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:07.359
supervisor verified the identification the next day. The head of
513
00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:10.000
the unit was then notified and he also examined and
514
00:33:10.039 --> 00:33:15.200
agreed with the assessment. Finally, investigators had a suspect. Oddly,
515
00:33:15.319 --> 00:33:18.079
the card was from Prince taken not in Ireland but
516
00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:20.839
in Norwich, England, for a fifteen year old breaking and
517
00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:26.640
entering suspect named Patrick Joseph McGhee. Diligent police on that
518
00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:30.440
occasion not only inked fingers but also McGee's palms. In
519
00:33:30.519 --> 00:33:35.160
approximately sixty days, Patrick McGhee was now a known quantity.
520
00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:38.440
That was the good news. The bad news was that
521
00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:41.119
most likely he was hiding out somewhere in the Republic
522
00:33:41.160 --> 00:33:45.680
of Ireland, save from many British extradition requests ignored by
523
00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:49.640
Irish courts, again for what was deemed political offenses. In
524
00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:52.319
any case, they determined that it would be productive to
525
00:33:52.359 --> 00:33:56.759
at least try and locate Patrick McGhee. Surprisingly, this process
526
00:33:56.839 --> 00:34:03.039
was relatively simple. Belfast RUC invent instigators began telling Eileen McGhee,
527
00:34:03.079 --> 00:34:07.000
still legally married to Patrick, and noticed occasional rail trips
528
00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:10.679
to Ireland. They requested that their counterparts with the Irish
529
00:34:10.679 --> 00:34:13.639
Guarda follow her to determine if she was visiting the
530
00:34:13.679 --> 00:34:17.440
wanted Patrick McGee. They did not disclose that McGhee was
531
00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:21.000
wanted for the Brighton bombing. When Eileen led surveillance to
532
00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:23.880
the housing unit known to be a former residence of
533
00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:27.119
Patrick McGee, it was clear that McGee was not particularly
534
00:34:27.159 --> 00:34:31.079
disguising his location, but British authorities did not attempt to
535
00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:35.119
request extradition. This would reveal that they suspected McGee for
536
00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:39.119
the Grand bombing. Instead, they chose to wait, hoping McGee
537
00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:42.360
might be brash enough to either attempt to enter Northern
538
00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:46.599
Ireland or even engage in another operation on the British mainland.
539
00:34:47.159 --> 00:34:50.760
There he was subject to immediate arrest. The England unit
540
00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:54.480
was immensely encouraged by the Grand Hotel bombing. It achieved
541
00:34:54.519 --> 00:34:58.440
worldwide attention, demonstrated that no one in Britain was safe
542
00:34:58.480 --> 00:35:02.199
and that the IRA was capable of bold and ingenious operations.
543
00:35:02.800 --> 00:35:05.960
It was resolved that continuing to attack British targets on
544
00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:10.320
the mainland itself was the appropriate way forward. This time
545
00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:13.480
a series of British tourist locations would be the goal
546
00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:18.159
bombs detonated by timing devices in a rapid succession of
547
00:35:18.199 --> 00:35:21.000
a dozen or so objectives scheduled for the summer of
548
00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:25.079
nineteen eighty five. Surprisingly, one of the individuals who agreed
549
00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:30.360
to participate in the operation was Patrick McGee. Despite local surveillance,
550
00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:32.559
he was able to slip out of Ireland and in
551
00:35:32.599 --> 00:35:35.239
early May it was clear that not only was he
552
00:35:35.320 --> 00:35:37.760
no longer in Dublin, but no one in any relevant
553
00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:41.440
law enforcement capacity had any idea where he was. It
554
00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:44.400
was felt appropriate at that time to release McGee's name
555
00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:48.480
and photographed every outpost of British law enforcement, although again
556
00:35:48.599 --> 00:35:52.519
McGee's role in the Brighton bombing was not mentioned. McGee
557
00:35:52.519 --> 00:35:55.280
had already been in Great Britain for two months with
558
00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:59.920
the female associate Ella O'Dwyer. They chose Glasgow as their base,
559
00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:03.199
renting a flat. They were joined by another couple in May.
560
00:36:03.880 --> 00:36:07.000
In June, McGhee and O'Dwyer went to London to install
561
00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:11.800
a timed bomb in central London's Reuben's Hotel, near Buckingham Palace.
562
00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:15.880
It was activated and set to explode on July twenty ninth.
563
00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:19.320
O'Dwyer returned to Glasgow and the group there began to
564
00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:23.199
put together at the schedule of locations to bomb. McGee
565
00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:26.119
stayed in London, presuming that the anonymity of some of
566
00:36:26.119 --> 00:36:30.000
the UK's largest cities would obscure their presence, but things
567
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:33.519
began to unravel when the England unit decided to involve
568
00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:38.559
a fifth operative. Peter Sherry smuggled from Belfast into Scotland
569
00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:42.159
aboard a merchant ship. Sherry was under surveillance from RUC
570
00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:47.840
intelligence implicated in recent IRA activity. The RUC followed Sherry,
571
00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:50.360
having no idea what he was up to, but patient
572
00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:54.559
enough to see where his trail led. Sherry seemed unworried
573
00:36:54.599 --> 00:36:57.400
and immediately booked a train ride from the Scottish port
574
00:36:57.480 --> 00:37:00.760
town of Ayr to Glasgow. From the Mary boarded a
575
00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:03.559
London bound train, but got off at the first stop
576
00:37:03.639 --> 00:37:07.559
over the Scottish border, Carlisle, England, and then checked into
577
00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:12.239
a hotel. The RUC kept him under observation, now accompanied
578
00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:17.079
by British Metropolitan Special Branch detectives who had jurisdiction in Britain.
579
00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:20.800
On June twenty second, Sherry checked out of his hotel
580
00:37:20.920 --> 00:37:24.360
near the station and killed the early afternoon in a pub.
581
00:37:24.679 --> 00:37:26.880
At about two thirty pm, he made his way to
582
00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:30.159
the railway station and appeared to be waiting for someone.
583
00:37:30.599 --> 00:37:35.519
Shortly before three, an express train from London rapidly entered
584
00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:39.880
the station, stopping and disgorging a crowd of passengers. One
585
00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:42.639
of these individuals made his way towards Sherry and greeted
586
00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:46.480
him casually from a distance. The surveillance team was surprised
587
00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:50.199
by who appeared to have dropped into their midst Patrick McGhee.
588
00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:53.880
Two operatives went into the train station restaurant, where they
589
00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:57.360
were discreetly observed by members of the surveillance team, who
590
00:37:57.400 --> 00:38:01.119
became convinced that the new arrival was Patrick macan. The
591
00:38:01.159 --> 00:38:03.599
men on the ground now were faced with the paradox
592
00:38:03.639 --> 00:38:07.239
of immediately arresting both men or letting them continue to
593
00:38:07.320 --> 00:38:11.119
possibly lead them to additional accomplices. They were told to
594
00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:14.920
let the surveillance play out. Cherry and McGee finished their
595
00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:18.599
meal and boarded a train for Glasgow. When they arrived,
596
00:38:18.679 --> 00:38:22.719
they were greeted by additional Scottish surveillance most likely to
597
00:38:22.760 --> 00:38:26.199
detect any surveillance. The two men boarded a double decker
598
00:38:26.280 --> 00:38:29.280
bus and took a two miles into a quiet neighborhood.
599
00:38:29.880 --> 00:38:33.679
They got off and headed into a large park surveillance
600
00:38:33.719 --> 00:38:37.320
followed by numerous unmarked cars. A male and female team
601
00:38:37.400 --> 00:38:40.880
emerged from their vehicle and followed on foot, informing everyone
602
00:38:40.880 --> 00:38:44.440
else by radio to hang back they acted like a couple,
603
00:38:44.840 --> 00:38:48.639
keeping the IRA men in sight. McGee and Sherry left
604
00:38:48.679 --> 00:38:52.440
the park, stopped briefly at a cafe, walked back and
605
00:38:52.519 --> 00:38:55.360
forth for a few blocks, and then entered an apartment
606
00:38:55.400 --> 00:38:59.800
building at two three six Langside Road. The fourth story
607
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:03.760
the working class structure was quickly surrounded units in the rear,
608
00:39:03.880 --> 00:39:07.159
ascertaining that no one had left through the back part
609
00:39:07.159 --> 00:39:10.960
of the building. McGee and Sherry were somewhere within number
610
00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:14.079
two thirty six. The only decision was how to attempt
611
00:39:14.119 --> 00:39:17.320
to storm the building and arrest them. A swat team
612
00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:20.199
meant involving innocent neighbors in what could easily be a
613
00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:24.360
fight to the death shootout. Instead, another tactic was implemented.
614
00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:28.280
Sheer numbers would simultaneously knock on every door in the building,
615
00:39:28.920 --> 00:39:32.400
determined to be seven in all. At seven forty pm,
616
00:39:32.719 --> 00:39:37.079
twenty three policemen furtively pushed into the entrance corridor of
617
00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:40.639
the apartment. Six men remained quietly outside of the door
618
00:39:40.679 --> 00:39:44.000
of the ground floor residence. A wanted man most likely
619
00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:46.360
would not want to be trapped on an upper floor.
620
00:39:47.280 --> 00:39:50.519
Others quickly climbed the stairs and within seconds at least
621
00:39:50.519 --> 00:39:52.719
three men were in place. In front of every door.
622
00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:56.559
The signal the word go was given. All seven doors
623
00:39:56.599 --> 00:40:01.320
received a loud knock simultaneously. Five occupants of the ground
624
00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:04.320
floor apartment were just finishing dinner when they heard the knock.
625
00:40:05.039 --> 00:40:08.480
Lulled into a complete sense of Scottish security, McGee got
626
00:40:08.559 --> 00:40:10.960
up and answered the door. He presumed it was the
627
00:40:11.039 --> 00:40:14.519
landlord or some trivial inquiry. Even when he opened the
628
00:40:14.519 --> 00:40:17.920
door politely asking the two hulking policemen standing in the
629
00:40:17.960 --> 00:40:20.760
doorway if he could help them, he did not suspect
630
00:40:20.800 --> 00:40:23.639
the worst. The two cops grabbed him and hurled him
631
00:40:23.639 --> 00:40:26.039
into the hallway. He was subdued by others and it
632
00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:29.760
became clear that the ground floor was ground zero. The
633
00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:32.400
rest of the police presence quickly poured into the first
634
00:40:32.400 --> 00:40:35.880
floor apartment. In such a tiny space, the four other
635
00:40:35.960 --> 00:40:40.760
apartment occupants could barely react and were quickly subdued. Special
636
00:40:40.760 --> 00:40:43.719
attention was taken with McGhee, who had his shoes removed
637
00:40:43.719 --> 00:40:46.639
as he was handcuffed in his stocking feet and taken
638
00:40:46.679 --> 00:40:51.320
away in a separate policeman. Foolishly specific written notes were
639
00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:55.280
maintained at the Glasgow flat that described not only potential
640
00:40:55.320 --> 00:40:58.199
bombing sites, but the existing bomb in place at the
641
00:40:58.199 --> 00:41:03.360
Reubens Hotel. London Bomb Squad successfully neutralize this device with
642
00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:07.440
minimal damage. Was quickly determined that the other potential sites
643
00:41:07.719 --> 00:41:11.599
had never been actually activated. On June twenty third, nineteen
644
00:41:11.639 --> 00:41:16.280
eighty six, Patrick McGee, after his conviction in London's Old Bailey,
645
00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:19.679
was sentenced to eight life terms for murder and conspiracy
646
00:41:19.880 --> 00:41:23.239
relative to the Brighton bombing. It would not be eligible
647
00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:26.400
for release without serving a minimum of thirty five years,
648
00:41:26.880 --> 00:41:30.239
the harshest penalty available under British law, which did not
649
00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:33.280
permit the death penalty. As he was taken down, he
650
00:41:33.400 --> 00:41:37.119
defiantly raised his fist and in Gaelic shouted, our day
651
00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:41.360
will come. Margaret Thatcher, although convinced that the IRA would
652
00:41:41.400 --> 00:41:46.559
eventually successfully assassinate her, instead did not survive the machinations
653
00:41:46.599 --> 00:41:50.760
of British society and politics. She remained a polarizing figure
654
00:41:51.039 --> 00:41:54.599
who resigned her party leadership in nineteen ninety. She was
655
00:41:54.679 --> 00:41:57.679
replaced as Prime Minister by John Major, who in nineteen
656
00:41:57.760 --> 00:42:00.719
ninety seven would go down to resounding defeat at the
657
00:42:00.760 --> 00:42:04.800
hands of the Labor Party's Anthony Blair. By this time,
658
00:42:04.840 --> 00:42:07.760
an extraordinary process was under way to bring an end
659
00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:12.800
to the violence in Northern Ireland. This extended negotiation, facilitated
660
00:42:12.840 --> 00:42:16.280
by mediation involving the United States and a true desire
661
00:42:16.320 --> 00:42:19.840
to end the violence in Northern Ireland by most parties involved,
662
00:42:20.320 --> 00:42:23.920
culminated with a written agreement in nineteen ninety nine known
663
00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:28.239
as the Good Friday Accords. A monumental event, it included
664
00:42:28.280 --> 00:42:32.239
the voluntary disarming of all of the hostile sectarian entities,
665
00:42:32.599 --> 00:42:36.239
including the IRA, and the release of all prisoners, both
666
00:42:36.360 --> 00:42:41.480
Unionist and Republican, regardless of their particular offenses, despite the
667
00:42:41.559 --> 00:42:46.119
specific objection of British Home Secretary Jack Straw. One of
668
00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:50.079
the immediately released prisoners from the Maze on June twenty second,
669
00:42:50.199 --> 00:42:54.920
nineteen ninety nine, after fourteen years of confinement was Patrick McGee,
670
00:42:55.679 --> 00:42:58.840
emerging from jail with a PhD. He is still active
671
00:42:58.840 --> 00:43:02.639
today in attempting to about a reconciliation with his former
672
00:43:02.760 --> 00:43:07.440
enemies and victims, even interacting with Joe Berry, the daughter
673
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:11.599
of Sir Anthony Berry, who died in the Grand Hotel bombing.
674
00:43:23.719 --> 00:43:26.400
Thank you for listening to Part two of this podcast
675
00:43:26.480 --> 00:43:31.599
about Bobby Sands and the IRA. Information for this podcast
676
00:43:31.760 --> 00:43:35.480
came from the books Nothing but an Unfinished Song by
677
00:43:35.559 --> 00:43:40.480
Dennis O'Hearn and Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll. There are
678
00:43:40.519 --> 00:43:46.039
also additional photographs, bibliographical and musical information at bite sized
679
00:43:46.079 --> 00:43:50.440
biographies dot com. Thank you for listening, and please tell
680
00:43:50.440 --> 00:44:38.719
a friend about bite Sized Biographies in the
