1996 Manchester bombing

Provisional IRA attack in England

Manchester bombing

Part of the Troubles

Corporation Street after the bombing

Type| Lorry bomb
Location|

Corporation Street Manchester city centre

Date| 15 June 1996; 27 years ago (1996-06-15)
11:17[1] (BST)
Executed by| Provisional IRA
Casualties| 212[1] injured

* v
* t
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The Troubles
in Britain | Continental Europe

1970 – 1981

* Aldershot bombing
* Old Bailey bombing
* King's Cross & Euston bombings
* Westminster bombing
* M62 coach bombing
* Parliament bombing
* Tower of London bombing
* Guildford pub bombings
* Woolwich pub bombing
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* Pillar box bombings
* Talbot Arms bombing
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* Biddy Mulligan's bombing
* Balcombe St siege
* West Ham attack
* Olympia bombing
* Airey Neave killing
* Glasgow pub bombings
* Brussels bombing
* Chelsea Barracks bombing

* * *

1982 – 1998

* Hyde & Regent's Park bombings
* Harrods bombing
* Brighton hotel bombing
* Rheindahlen bombing
* Operation Flavius
* 1988 Netherlands attacks
* Glamorgan barracks bombing

Deal barracks bombing
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Carlton bombing
* London Stock Exchange bombing
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* Paddington & Victoria bombings
* London Bridge bombing
* Baltic Exchange bombing
* Staples Cnr bombing
* Sussex Arms bombing
* Stoke Newington bomb
* 1992 Manchester bombing
* Warrington bombings
* 1993 Harrods bombing
* Camden bombing
* Bishopsgate bombing
* Finchley Rd bombings
* Heathrow mortar attacks
* Docklands bombing
* Aldwych bombing
* 1996 Manchester bombing
* Osnabrück attack

* * *

See also: The Troubles in Ireland and Assassinations during the Troubles

The 1996 Manchester bombing was an attack carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 15 June 1996. The IRA detonated a 1,500-kilogram (3,300 lb) lorry bomb on Corporation Street in the centre of Manchester, England. It was the biggest bomb detonated in Great Britain since the Second World War.[2] It targeted the city's infrastructure and economy and caused significant damage, estimated by insurers at £700 million (equivalent to £1.4 billion in 2021), a sum surpassed only by the 1993 Bishopsgate bombing, also by the IRA.[3]

At the time, England was hosting the Euro '96 football championships and a Russia vs. Germany match was scheduled to take place in Manchester the following day. The IRA sent telephoned warnings about 90 minutes before the bomb detonated. At least 75,000 people were evacuated,[4] but the bomb squad were unable to defuse the bomb in time. More than 200 people were injured, but there were no fatalities[5] despite the strength of the bomb, which has been largely credited to the rapid response of emergency services in evacuating the city centre.[6][7]

Although Manchester had been targeted by the IRA before, it had not been subjected to an attack on this scale. In February 1996, the IRA had ended its seventeen-month ceasefire with a large truck bomb attack on London's Canary Wharf financial district, though the 3,300-pound bomb of Manchester was three times the size of the Canary Wharf bomb.[4] The Manchester bombing was condemned by the British and Irish governments and U.S. President Bill Clinton.[8] Five days after the blast, the IRA issued a statement from Dublin in which it claimed responsibility but regretted causing injury to civilians.[9]

Several buildings were damaged beyond repair and had to be demolished, while many more were closed for months for structural repairs. Most of the rebuilding work was completed by the end of 1999, at a cost of £1.2 billion, although redevelopment continued until 2005. The perpetrators have not been caught, and although Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had suggested it was unlikely that anyone will be charged in connection with the bombing,[10] a suspect was arrested on 8 September 2022.[11] The bombing has, however, been viewed by some as a "catalyst" for Manchester's mass regeneration, turning it into a modern "powerhouse" city with above-national average economic growth in the 20 years following the bombing.[5][12][13]

## Background[edit]

From 1970, the Provisional Irish Republican Army was carrying out an armed campaign with the ultimate objective of bringing about a united Ireland. As well as attacking military and political targets, it also bombed infrastructure and commercial targets in Northern Ireland and England. It believed that by damaging the economy and causing severe disruption, it could pressure the British government to negotiate a withdrawal from Northern Ireland.[14] Manchester had been the target of earlier IRA bombs. As part of the IRA's sabotage campaign in 1939-40 multiple bombings took place in Manchester and other English cities. In 1973 and 1974, firebombs damaged city centre businesses for which one man was later imprisoned. In April 1974, a bomb exploded at Manchester Magistrates' Court, injuring twelve. In 1975, IRA bomb factories were found in Greater Manchester and five men were imprisoned for planning attacks in North West England.[15] On 3 December 1992, the IRA detonated two small bombs in Manchester city centre, forcing police to evacuate thousands of shoppers. More than 60 were hurt by shattered glass and the blasts cost an estimated £10 million in damage and business losses.[16][17]

The Downing Street Declaration of 1993 allowed Sinn Féin, a political party associated with the IRA,[18][19] to participate in all-party peace negotiations on condition that the IRA called a ceasefire. The IRA called a ceasefire on 31 August 1994. John Major's government, dependent on Ulster Unionist Party votes, then began insisting that the IRA must fully disarm before there could be any all-party negotiations. The IRA saw this as a demand for total surrender and believed the British were unwilling to hold negotiations.[20] It ended its ceasefire on 9 February 1996 when it detonated a powerful truck bomb in Canary Wharf, one of the two financial districts of London. The blast killed two people and caused an estimated £150 million worth of damage.[15] The IRA then planted five other devices in London within the space of 10 weeks.[21]

The IRA planned to carry out a similar bombing in Manchester. The city may have been chosen because it was one of the host cities of the Euro '96 football tournament, attended by visitors and media organisations from all over Europe, guaranteeing the IRA what Margaret Thatcher called the "oxygen of publicity". A Russia vs Germany match was to take place at Old Trafford in Manchester a day after the bombing.[22] The year before, Manchester had also won its bid to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games,[23] at the time the biggest multi-sport event ever to be staged in Britain.[24]

On 10 June 1996, multi-party negotiations began in Belfast. Sinn Féin had been elected to take part but were barred because the IRA had not resumed its ceasefire or agreed to disarm.[25]

## Details of the bombing[edit]

The IRA's South Armagh Brigade was tasked with planning and carrying out the attack. It had also been responsible for the Canary Wharf bombing in February, and the Bishopsgate bombing in 1993. Its members mixed the explosives in the Republic of Ireland and shipped them by freight from Dublin to England. In London, the bomb was assembled and loaded into the back of a red and white Ford Cargo van. On 14 June it was driven north towards Manchester, accompanied by a burgundy Ford Granada which served as a "scout car".[26]

### Discovery[edit]

Stills taken from India 99, a GMP helicopter, showing the Ford van moments before the blast, the explosion taking place, and the resulting mushroom cloud over the city, dwarfing the adjacent 23-storey high-rise, Arndale House.

At about 9:20 am on Saturday 15 June 1996, the Ford van was parked on Corporation Street, outside the Marks & Spencer store, near the Arndale Centre.[1] After setting the bomb's timer, two men—wearing hooded jackets, baseball caps and sunglasses—left the vehicle and walked to Cathedral Street, where a third man picked them up in a Ford Granada car,[26] which was later abandoned in Preston.[4] The truck had been parked on double yellow lines with its hazard lights flashing.[4] Within three minutes a traffic warden had issued the vehicle with a parking ticket and called for its removal.[27] At about 9:40 am, Granada Studios on Quay Street received a telephone call claiming that there was a bomb at the corner of Corporation Street and Cannon Street and that it would explode in one hour. The caller had an Irish accent and gave an IRA codeword so that police would know the threat was genuine.[1][28] Four other telephoned warnings were sent to television/radio stations, newspapers and a hospital.[29][30]

The first policeman to arrive on the scene noticed wires running from the van's dashboard through a hole into the back and reported that he had found the bomb. Forensic experts later estimated that the bomb weighed 1,500–1,600 kg (3,300–3,500 lb)[31] and was a mixture of semtex, a military-grade plastic explosive, and ammonium nitrate fertiliser,[32] a cheap and easily obtainable explosive used extensively by the IRA.[33] Components of what may have been a tremble trigger were also found later, designed to detonate the bomb if it was tampered with.[34]

### Evacuation[edit]

At 10:00 am, there were an estimated 75,000–80,000 people shopping and working in the vicinity. An evacuation of the area was undertaken by police officers from Bootle Street police station, supplemented by officers drafted into Manchester to control the football crowds. The police were helped by security guards from local shops.[1][35]

One group worked to move people away from the bomb while another, assisted by firefighters and security guards, established a continuously expanding cordon around the area to prevent entry.[1][36] By 11:10 am the cordon was at the greatest extent that available manpower would permit, about a quarter of a mile (400 m) from the truck and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in circumference.[37]

### Explosion[edit]

The bomb squad arrived from their Liverpool base at 10:46 am and attempted to defuse the bomb using a remote-controlled device, but they were unable to defuse the bomb, resulting in the timer expiring and functioning the device. The bomb exploded at 11:17 am, causing an estimated £700 million (£1.4 billion as of 2021)[38] of damage and affecting a third of the city centre's retail space. The Marks & Spencer's and the sky bridge connecting it to the Arndale Centre were destroyed, along with neighbouring buildings.[1] It was the largest peacetime bomb ever detonated in Great Britain,[15] and the blast created a mushroom cloud which rose 300 metres (1,000 feet) from the ground.[39] The explosion could be heard up to 15 miles (24 km) away and left a crater 15 metres wide.[4] Glass and masonry were thrown into the air, and behind the police cordon – up to 1⁄2 mi (800 m) away, people were showered by falling debris.[40] There were no fatalities, but 212 people were injured. A search of the area for casualties involved a brief confusion when mannequins blasted out of shop windows were mistaken for bodies.[1] Hospitals across Greater Manchester were made ready to receive those injured in the blast.[1] The police commandeered a Metrolink tram to take 50 of the casualties to North Manchester General Hospital, which treated 79 in total; a further 80 were cared for at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, and many others were treated in the streets by ambulance crews assisted by doctors and nurses who happened to be in the city centre that morning.[41]

## Reaction[edit]

The bombing was condemned by British Prime Minister John Major and his government, by the opposition, and by individual members of parliament (MPs) as a "sickening", "callous" and "barbaric" terrorist attack.[42][43] Early on, Major stated that, "This explosion looks like the work of the IRA. It is the work of a few fanatics and ... causes absolute revulsion in Ireland as it does here".[44] Sinn Féin was criticised by Taoiseach John Bruton for being "struck mute" on the attack in the immediate aftermath. Bruton described the bombing as "a slap in the face to people who've been trying, against perhaps their better instincts, to give Sinn Féin a chance to show that they could persuade the IRA to reinstate the ceasefire".[44] The President of the United States, Bill Clinton, stated he was "deeply outraged by the bomb explosion" and joined Bruton and Major in "utterly condemning this brutal and cowardly act of terrorism".[45] Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams, stated that he was "shocked and saddened" by the bombing. He insisted that his party was committed to achieving a peace settlement and argued "it is sheer folly to return to the old agenda of excluding Sinn Féin and seeking to isolate republicans".[46] On 20 June 1996, the IRA claimed responsibility for the bombing, and stated that it "sincerely regretted" causing injury to civilians.[18] The IRA statement continued:

> The British Government has spent the last 22 months since August '94 trying to force the surrender of IRA weapons and the defeat of the republican struggle. We are still prepared to enhance the democratic peace process ... but if there is to be a lasting peace ... then the British Government must put the democratic rights of all of the people of Ireland before its own party political self interest.[47]

The bombing came five days after the beginning of the peace talks in Belfast, and represented the IRA's opposition to talks which excluded republicans.[48] The attack was part of a political strategy by the IRA to be included in negotiations on the IRA's own terms.[49] According to historian Richard English: "What they were doing with their return to bombings like the Manchester bomb was saying, 'We can still return to war if we want to. We can still put off a huge bomb in your cities and devastate them and therefore you have to deal with us'".[50]

In an effort to allay fears that Manchester's considerable Irish community might be subjected to reprisal attacks, Councillors Richard Leese and Martin Pagel – leader and deputy leader of Manchester City Council respectively – made a public visit to the Irish World Heritage Centre in Cheetham Hill. There were ultimately only a few incidents, the most serious of which occurred on the evening of the bombing, when a gang of ten men rampaged through an Irish-themed bar in the centre of Middleton, shouting the Ulster loyalist slogan "No surrender" and smashing furniture and windows.[51] Seven days after the bombing, Manchester Council held a 'family fun day' in front of the Town Hall in Albert Square to encourage shoppers and visitors back into the city centre, the first of a "series of events and entertainments". The Euro '96 football match between Russia and Germany at Old Trafford went ahead as planned the day following the bombing, after the stadium had been heavily guarded overnight and carefully searched; the game, which Germany won 3–0, was watched by a capacity crowd of 50,700.[52]

## Investigation[edit]

A damaged traffic light that stood on the corner of the junction between Cross Street and Market Street at the time of the explosion, now in the Museum of Science and Industry

In an effort to trace the route of the Ford van, police examined CCTV footage from every major road and motorway taken in England within two days of the bombing. Footage revealed that the van was driven south along the M1 motorway into London on the Friday afternoon before the attack. It was seen again heading north along the motorway at 7:40 pm, accompanied by the Ford Granada. Detectives surmised that the van had been loaded with explosives in London and that the Granada was intended to be the getaway vehicle. The van was last recorded travelling east along the M62 motorway towards Manchester at 8:31 am on the morning of the explosion.[53]

Police in Manchester were aware that their Metropolitan Police colleagues in London were investigating a suspected IRA unit based in the capital, and wondered whether the London unit was responsible for the Manchester bombing. On 15 July, Metropolitan police arrested six men suspected of IRA membership: Donal Gannon, John Crawley, Gerard Hanratty, Robert Morrow, Patrick Martin, and Francis Rafferty. Each was tried and convicted of "conspiracy to cause explosions at National Grid electricity stations", and sentenced to 35 years in jail.[54][55] Police in Manchester meanwhile worked to establish if the men were also responsible for the Manchester bomb.[54]

Their investigation was led by Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Mutch of the GMP.[56] The van's last registered owner told police that he had sold it to a dealer in Peterborough, who had in turn sold the van on to a man calling himself Tom Fox, two weeks before the bombing. After the purchase price was delivered in cash by a taxi driver, the dealer was instructed to take the van to a nearby lorry park, and leave it there with the keys and documents hidden inside.

On checking records of telephone calls made to the dealer, the police found that some had been made from a mobile phone registered in Ireland, and on further checking the records of that phone it appeared that the calls were made from locations consistent with the known whereabouts of the Ford van. One call was to a known IRA member. The phone was last used at 9:23 am on the morning of the bombing, just three minutes after the bombers had parked their van in Corporation Street. On 27 June, the phone's registered owner reported that it had been stolen 17 days earlier, but the police felt they had gathered enough evidence to bring a prosecution against the six IRA men held in London.[57]

At a meeting attended by the commander of Special Branch in Manchester, a GMP assistant chief constable and a "senior officer" from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), it was decided, for reasons never made public, not to present the findings of the investigation to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the body responsible for undertaking criminal prosecutions in England. The three may have felt that as the IRA suspects were already in police custody they were no longer a threat, or that to pursue the case against them may have jeopardised ongoing undercover operations. It was not until 1998 that the police finally sent their file to the CPS, who decided not to prosecute.[58]

In September 2022, a man was arrested in connection with the bombing. According to GMP, the suspect was held at Birmingham Airport on 8 September on suspicion of terrorism offences and was interviewed by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing for the North West, before being released without charge.[59][60]

### Leak[edit]

Early in 1999, Steve Panter, chief crime reporter for the Manchester Evening News, leaked classified Special Branch documents naming those suspected of the bombing. The documents also revealed that the man suspected of organising the attack had visited Manchester shortly after the bombing and been under covert police surveillance as he toured the devastated city centre before returning to his home in South Armagh.[61] Suspicion fell on Mutch as the source of the leaked documents after an analysis of mobile phone records placed both him and Panter at the same hotel in Skipton, North Yorkshire, about 40 miles (64 km) from Manchester on the same evening.[62]

On 21 April 1999, the Manchester Evening News named a man it described as "a prime suspect in the 1996 Manchester bomb plot".[63] The newspaper reported that the file sent by GMP to the Crown Prosecution Service contained the sentence: "It is the opinion of the investigating officers of GMP that there is sufficient evidence to charge [him] with being a party in a conspiracy to cause explosions in the United Kingdom."[64] The man denied any involvement.[65] The Attorney General wrote in a letter to a local MP that the advice given to the CPS by an independent lawyer was that "there was not a case to answer on the evidence available ... a judge would stop the case": the Attorney General further wrote that the decision not to prosecute was not influenced by the government. The newspaper also identified the six men arrested in London on 15 July as having planned the attack.[66][67] By July 2000, all six had been released under the terms of the 1998 Belfast Agreement.[68]

Up until September 2022, Panter and Mutch were the only people to have been arrested in connection with the bombing. Mutch was tried for "misconduct in a public office" during an 11-day trial held in January 2002 but was acquitted. During the trial, Panter was found in contempt of court for refusing to reveal his source,[69] an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment without the right of appeal.[70] GMP announced in 2006 that there was no realistic chance of convicting those responsible for the bombing.[71]

## Reconstruction[edit]

About twelve buildings in the immediate vicinity of the explosion were severely damaged. Overall, 530,000 square feet (49,000 m2) of retail space and 610,000 square feet (57,000 m2) of office space were put out of use.[72] Insurers paid out £411 million (£800 million as of 2021)[38] in damages for what was at the time one of the most expensive man-made disasters ever,[73] and there was considerable under-insurance.[72] Victims of the bombing received a total of £1,145,971 in compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority; one individual received £146,524, the largest amount awarded as a result of this incident.[74]

Close to the location of the blast, 2009

According to Home Office statistics, an estimated 400 businesses within half a mile (0.8 km) of the blast were affected, 40% of which did not recover.[75] The heaviest damage was sustained by the three buildings nearest the bomb: Michael House, comprising a Marks & Spencer store and a six-storey office block; Longridge House, offices for Royal and Sun Alliance, an insurance company; and the Arndale Centre, a shopping mall.[76] Michael House was deemed beyond economic repair and demolished. Marks & Spencer took the opportunity to acquire and demolish the adjacent Longridge House, using the enlarged site for the world's biggest branch of the store.[72] The company's fortunes changed during construction, and Selfridges subsequently co-occupied the building;[77] Marks & Spencer leased part of the Lewis's store in the interim.[76] The frontage of the Arndale was badly damaged and was remodelled when this area of the city centre was redeveloped.[72]

> Coming to Manchester [after the bombing] was a journey I shall never forget. I sat on the train obviously deeply shocked and horrified. I knew that questions would be asked about what we were going to do; what is the right solution. Then I knew what the right solution was – to see this event, horrific as it was, as an opportunity and, no mucking about, we must do things on the grand scale and to the best quality we can.[78]

Michael Heseltine, then-Deputy Prime Minister

The glass domes of the Corn Exchange and the Royal Exchange were blown in. The landlord of the Corn Exchange invoked a force majeure condition in the lease to evict all tenants, and the building was converted into a shopping centre.[79] The dome of the Royal Exchange shifted in the blast; its reconstruction took two and a half years and cost £32 million, paid for by the National Lottery.[80][81]

The possibility of rebuilding parts of the city centre was raised within days of the bomb. On 26 June 1996, Michael Heseltine, the Deputy Prime Minister, announced an international competition for designs of the redevelopment of the bomb-affected area. Bids were received from 27 entrants, five of whom were invited to submit designs in a second round.[82] It was announced on 5 November 1996 that the winning design was by a consortium headed by EDAW.[83]

### Subsequent redevelopment[edit]

New security safeguards were included in the redevelopment of the city centre including retractable bollards and pedestrianised streets.

Much of the 1960s redevelopment of Manchester's city centre was unpopular with residents. Market Street, near the explosion and at that time the second-busiest shopping street in the UK, was considered by some commentators a "fearful" place, to be "avoided like the plague".[84] Until Margaret Thatcher's third consecutive election victory in 1987, the staunchly Labour-controlled Manchester Council believed that Manchester's regeneration should be funded solely by public money, despite the government's insistence on only funding schemes with a significant element of private investment. Graham Stringer, leader of Manchester City Council, later admitted that after the 1987 General Election result "there was no get out of jail card. We had gambled on Labour winning the General Election and we lost."[85] Thatcher's victory effectively put paid to Manchester's "socialist experiment", and Stringer shortly afterwards wrote a letter of capitulation to Nicholas Ridley, then Secretary of State for the Environment, saying, "in a nutshell; OK, you win, we'd like to work together with you".[86]

Efforts at improvement before the bombing had in some respects made matters worse, cutting off the area north of the Arndale Centre – the exterior of which was widely unloved – from the rest of the city centre. A large building nearby, now redeveloped as The Printworks and formerly occupied by the Daily Mirror newspaper, had been unoccupied since 1987.[87] Many locals therefore considered that "the bomb was the best thing that ever happened to Manchester",[88] as it cleared the way for redevelopment of the dysfunctional city centre, a view also expressed in 2007 by Terry Rooney, MP for Bradford North. The leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition on Manchester City Council, Simon Ashley, responded that "I take exception to his [Rooney's] comments about the IRA bomb. No one who was in the city on that day, who lost their jobs or was scared witless or injured by the blast, would say the bomb was the best thing to happen to Manchester".[89] Sir Gerald Kaufman, MP for Manchester Gorton, stated that the bomb provided the opportunity for redeveloping Manchester city centre, although it was not fully exploited. "The bomb was obviously bad but from a redevelopment point of view, it was a lost opportunity. While the area around St Ann's Square and Deansgate is not disagreeable, if you compare it with Birmingham and its exciting development, we've got nothing to touch that in Manchester".[89] Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, has been quoted as saying "people say the bomb turned out to be a great thing for Manchester. That's rubbish."[90] There was already substantial regeneration and redevelopment taking place in the city centre before the bombing, in support of the Manchester bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, its second Olympic bid. Tom Bloxham, chairman of property development group Urban Splash and of the Arts Council England (North West), agreed with Bernstein that the bomb attack was not the trigger for the large-scale redevelopment that has taken place in Manchester since the early 1990s:

A pillar box that withstood the bomb blast. A memorial brass plaque commemorates the 1996 bomb.

> For me the turning point for Manchester came before the bomb ... it was the second Olympic Games bid [in 1992] when we lost but the city suddenly had a realisation. There was a huge party in Castlefield and people grasped the idea that Manchester should no longer consider itself in competition with the likes of Barnsley and Stockport. It was now up against Barcelona, Los Angeles and Sydney and its aspirations increased accordingly.[91]

## Memorials and legacy[edit]

A pillar box that survived the blast, despite being yards from the explosion, now carries a small brass plaque recording the bombing. It was removed during construction and redevelopment work, and returned to its original spot when Corporation Street reopened.[92] The plaque reads:

> This postbox remained standing almost undamaged on June 15th 1996 when this area was devastated by a bomb. The box was removed during the rebuilding of the city centre and was returned to its original site on
> November 22nd 1999

A Thanksgiving service for the "Miracle of Manchester" was held at Manchester Cathedral on 24 July 2002, to coincide with the arrival of the Commonwealth Games baton, attended by Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh. At 11:17 am on 15 June 2006, a candle was lit at a memorial held at Manchester Cathedral to mark the tenth anniversary of the bombing.[93]

### In popular culture[edit]

"One Man's Fool", the closing track on Genesis' 1997 album Calling All Stations, was inspired by the bombing. Tony Banks stated in a SongFacts interview:

> I remember I wrote the song "One Man's Fool", which was on the Calling All Stations album [1997]. If anybody hears it now, they would assume that that lyric was referring to the bombing of the Twin Towers, but it wasn't. It was written four years before, and yet it sounds like we were recalling that. I was actually writing about a bomb attack in Manchester, in England, which was done by the IRA at the time, and the idea that people carry out these attacks and did they really believe that, all the destruction, that it really is worth it? But, it still works, unfortunately, because we have this kind of terrorism still out there.[94]

## See also[edit]

* List of terrorist incidents in 1996
* Baltic Exchange bombing
* Manchester Arena bombing
* Oklahoma City bombing
* Timeline of Provisional IRA actions (1990s)
* Timeline of the Northern Ireland Troubles

## References[edit]

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43. ^ House of Commons Hansard Debate for 19 Jun 1996 (pt. 38) Archived 12 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine, publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved on 24 December 2006.
44. ^ a b Brown, Colin; McKittrick, David (17 June 1996), "The Manchester Bombing: London and Dublin unite against Sinn Féin", The Independent, archived from the original on 4 November 2012, retrieved 8 September 2009
45. ^ "Statement on the Terrorist Attack in Manchester, United Kingdom", Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Government Printing Office, 32 (5): 1064, 24 June 1996, archived from the original on 10 February 2010, retrieved 22 February 2010
46. ^ "Peace still has a chance, says Adams", The Independent, 17 June 1996, archived from the original on 11 August 2016, retrieved 14 June 2016
47. ^ "Text of IRA's statement", The Irish Times, 20 June 1996, archived from the original on 7 February 2021, retrieved 14 June 2016
48. ^ McGladdery, Gary. The Provisional IRA in England. Irish Academic Press, 2006. p.203
49. ^ Dingley, James. The IRA: The Irish Republican Army. ABC-CLIO, 2012. p.137
50. ^ "Manchester bomb: no justice", BBC, 15 June 2006, archived from the original on 5 May 2016, retrieved 14 June 2016
51. ^ King (2006), pp. 41–44
52. ^ King (2006), p. 52
53. ^ King (2006), pp. 65–66
54. ^ a b King (2006), p. 67
55. ^ Streeter, Michael; Boggan, Steve (3 July 1997), "IRA team who planned terror blitz on capital given 35 years", The Independent, archived from the original on 25 June 2010, retrieved 6 March 2010
56. ^ King (2006), p. 163
57. ^ King (2006), pp. 67–69
58. ^ King (2006), pp. 69–71
59. ^ "Manchester IRA 1996 bomb: Man arrested at Birmingham Airport". BBC News. 9 September 2022.
60. ^ "Manchester IRA 1996 bomb: Man released after arrest". BBC News. 10 September 2022.
61. ^ King (2006), pp. 163–164
62. ^ King (2006), pp. 166–167
63. ^ Panter, Steve (21 April 1999), "We name Manchester bomb suspect", Manchester Evening News
64. ^ "Senior officers wanted the arrest of suspect", Manchester Evening News, 21 April 1999
65. ^ Craig, Ian (21 May 1999), "We named the right suspect – Why we didn't prosecute McCann, by attorney general", Manchester Evening News
66. ^ "Mobile phone calls that plotted a trail to terror", Manchester Evening News, 21 April 1999
67. ^ Nott, Andrew (28 July 2000), "How cash lost in post linked gang with bomb", Manchester Evening News
68. ^ Lester & Panter (2006), p. 43
69. ^ Lester & Panter (2006), pp. 46–77
70. ^ King (2006), p. 171.
71. ^ Atkins, Rebecca (15 June 2006), "Manchester bombers escape trial", BBC News, archived from the original on 7 July 2006, retrieved 27 April 2009
72. ^ a b c d Williams 2003, pp. 86–87
73. ^ Sengupata, Kim (28 March 1997), "£411m cost after Manchester bomb sets record", The Independent, archived from the original on 22 May 2010, retrieved 3 October 2009
74. ^ Rooth, Ben (14 June 2006), "IRA Bomb Victims Share GBP1M", Manchester Evening News, retrieved 2 March 2010 (subscription required)
75. ^ "The cost of terrorism", Panorama, BBC News, 15 May 2004, archived from the original on 20 April 2008, retrieved 10 September 2009
76. ^ a b Parkinson-Bailey 2000, p. 256
77. ^ Williams 2003, pp. 86–87, 183–7, 218
78. ^ King (2006), p. 220
79. ^ Parkinson-Bailey (2000), p. 261
80. ^ Parkinson-Bailey 2000, p. 256
81. ^ "Royal Exchange Manchester – Theatre History", Royal Exchange, Manchester, archived from the original on 3 October 2014, retrieved 7 December 2015
82. ^ King 2006, pp. 129–30, 143
83. ^ Williams 2003, p. 108
84. ^ Parkinson-Bailey 2000, p. 222
85. ^ King 2006, pp. 84–85
86. ^ King 2006, p. 85
87. ^ King 2006, p. 181
88. ^ Eaton, Andrew (12 April 2008), "City of Dreams", The Scotsman, retrieved 2 March 2010 (subscription required)
89. ^ a b "Labour MP in IRA bomb gaffe", Manchester Evening News, 15 March 2007, archived from the original on 21 April 2013, retrieved 2 March 2010
90. ^ Lester & Panter 2006, p. 80
91. ^ King (2006), p. 218
92. ^ King (2006), pp. 148–149
93. ^ "Memorial service marks 1996 bomb", BBC News, 15 June 2006, archived from the original on 5 October 2007, retrieved 18 December 2007
94. ^ Songfacts. "Tony Banks : Songwriter Interviews". www.songfacts.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.

### Bibliography[edit]

* Coogan, Tim (2002), The IRA, Palgrave MacMillan, ISBN 0-312-29416-6
* King, Ray (2006), Detonation: Rebirth of a City, Clear Publications, ISBN 0-9552621-0-0
* Lesser, Ian; Hoffman, Bruce; Arquilla, John; Ronfeldt, David; Zanini, Michele (1999), Countering the New Terrorism, Rand, ISBN 0-8330-2667-4, archived from the original on 7 February 2021, retrieved 21 July 2010
* Lester, Sarah; Panter, Steve, eds. (2006), The Manchester bomb, Manchester Evening News, ISBN 0-9549042-7-3
* Parkinson-Bailey, John J (2000), Manchester: an architectural history, Manchester University Press, ISBN 0-7190-5606-3
* Williams, Gwyndaf (2003), The enterprising city centre: Manchester's development challenge, Spon, ISBN 0-415-25262-8

## Further reading[edit]

* Bartlett, Thomas; Jeffery, Keith (1997), A Military History of Ireland, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-62989-8

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1996 Manchester bombing.

* BBC report of the bombing
* BBC image gallery related to the bombing
* Flickr image gallery related to the bombing
* Manchester Evening News image gallery related to the bombing
* The Manchester Bombing A further report of the bombing.
* Rebuilding Manchester – Comprehensive online resource with over 1,000 photographs illustrating the rebuilding of Manchester City Centre Prepared by Planning Consultant Euan Kellie

* v
* t
* e

Provisional Irish Republican Army

General|

* Anti-Treaty IRA
* Sinn Féin
* Republican News
* An Phoblacht
* The Green Book
* The Troubles (Timeline)
* Haughey arms crisis
* IRA campaign
* Chronology of Provisional IRA actions
* Arms importation
* Weaponry
* Barrack buster
* Improvised tactical vehicles
* Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape
* Blanket protest
* Dirty protest
* HM Prison Maze
* Anti H-Block
* 1981 Irish hunger strike
* Maze Prison escape
* Armalite and ballot box strategy
* Punishment attacks
* Disappeared
* Smithwick Tribunal
* Northern Ireland peace process
* Good Friday Agreement

Organisation|

* Chief of Staff
* IRA Army Council
* IRA Northern Command
* IRA Southern Command
* Internal Security Unit
* Active service unit
* Belfast Brigade
* Derry Brigade
* South Armagh Brigade
* East Tyrone Brigade
* Balcombe Street Gang

Actions|

| 1970–1979|

* Battle of St Matthew's
* Falls Curfew
* 1970 Crossmaglen bombing
* Scottish soldiers' killings
* Red Lion bombing
* Balmoral showroom bombing
* Abercorn bombing
* Donegall Street bombing
* Battle at Springmartin
* Battle of Lenadoon
* Bloody Friday
* Claudy bombing
* Newry customs bombing
* Old Bailey bombing
* Honey Trap killings
* King's Cross & Euston bombings
* Coleraine bombings
* 1973 Westminster bombing
* M62 bombing
* Clogher attack
* Houses of Parliament bombing
* Tower of London bombing
* Guildford pub bombings
* Harrow School bombing
* Brooks's Club bombing
* Woolwich pub bombing
* British Airways bombing attempt
* Birmingham pub bombings
* London pillar box bombings
* Talbot Arms bombing
* Bristol bombing
* Telephone exchange bombings
* 1974 Oxford Street bombing
* Carlton Tower & Portman Hotel shootings
* Mountainview attack
* Bayardo Bar attack
* Forkhill attack
* Caterham Arms bombing
* Tullyvallen massacre
* London Hilton bombing
* Piccadilly bombing
* Trattoria Fiore bombing
* Scott's Oyster Bar bombing
* Walton's Restaurant bombing
* Drummuckavall ambush
* Balcombe Street siege
* Kingsmill massacre
* Cannon Street train bombing
* West Ham station attack
* Olympia bombing
* Store bar shooting
* Stag Inn attack
* Garryhinch ambush
* Jonesborough Gazelle downing
* La Mon restaurant bombing
* Crossmaglen ambush
* Warrenpoint ambush
* Brussels bombing
* Dungannon attack

|

1980–1989|

* Dunmurry train bombing
* Lough Foyle attacks
* Glasdrumman ambush
* 1981 Bessbrook attack
* Chelsea Barracks bombing
* Hyde Park & Regent's Park bombings
* Harrods bombing
* Royal Artillery Barracks bombing
* Brighton hotel bombing
* Ballygawley land mine attack
* Newry mortar attack
* Ballygawley attack
* Enniskillen mortar attack
* RUC Birches barracks attack
* Rheindahlen bombing
* Loughgall ambush
* Operation Flavius
* Corporals killings
* Lisburn bombing
* Aughanduff Lynx shootdown
* 1988 Netherlands attacks
* Glamorgan barracks bombing
* Inglis Barracks bombing
* Ballygawley bus bombing
* Jonesborough ambush
* Clive Barracks bombing
* Deal barracks bombing
* Mayobridge attack
* Derryard attack

1990–1991|

* Derrygorry Gazelle downing
* South Armagh sniper
* Downpatrick roadside bomb
* Operation Conservation
* Carlton Club bombing
* 1990 Eltham bombing
* 1990 Wembley bombing
* Honourable Artillery Company bombing
* Lichfield gun attack
* RFA Fort Victoria bombing
* Proxy bombings
* Downing Street mortar attack
* Paddington & Victoria station bombings
* Mullacreevie ambush
* Glenanne barracks bombing
* Coagh ambush
* Musgrave Park Hospital bombing
* Crumlin Road Prison bombing

1992–1997|

* Teebane bombing
* Clonoe ambush
* London Bridge bombing
* Staples Cnr bombing
* Baltic Exchange bombing
* Sussex Arms bombing
* Cloghoge attack
* Coalisland riots
* Forensic Science Laboratory bombing
* Stoke Newington Road bomb
* 1992 Manchester bombing
* Night of the Long Knives
* 1993 Harrods bombing
* Warrington bombings
* Cullaville occupation
* Camden bombing
* Bishopsgate bombing
* Finchley Road bombings
* Battle of Newry Road
* Shankill Road bombing
* 1993 Fivemiletown ambush
* Heathrow attacks
* Crossmaglen Lynx downing
* Drumcree conflict
* Docklands bombing
* Aldwych bus bombing
* 1996 Manchester bombing
* Hammersmith Bridge bombing
* Osnabrück mortar attack
* Thiepval barracks bombing
* Coalisland attack
* 1997 Northern Ireland riots

Personalities
(Volunteers)|

* Paddy Agnew
* Martina Anderson
* Declan Arthurs
* Thomas Begley
* Ivor Bell
* Patricia Black
* Charles Breslin
* Paul Butler
* Joe Cahill
* Liam Campbell
* Fergal Caraher
* Malachy Carey
* Owen Carron
* Gerard Casey
* Carál Ní Chuilín
* Gabriel Cleary
* Peter Cleary
* Kevin Coen
* Eamon Collins
* Eddie Copeland
* Marion Coyle
* Gerard Davison
* Matt Devlin
* Hugh Doherty
* Joe Doherty
* Kieran Doherty
* Martin Doherty
* Pat Doherty
* Colin Duffy
* Rose Dugdale
* Dessie Ellis
* Mairéad Farrell
* William Fleming
* Kieran Fleming
* Bernard Fox
* Angelo Fusco
* Michael Gaughan
* John Francis Green
* Dessie Grew
* George Harrison
* Brendan Hughes
* Francis Hughes
* Martin Hurson
* Pearse Jordan
* Brian Keenan
* Gerry Kelly
* John Kelly
* Patrick Joseph Kelly
* Sean Kelly
* Jim Lynagh
* Proinsias Mac Airt
* Breandán Mac Cionnaith
* Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde
* Joseph MacManus
* Seán Mac Stíofáin
* Patrick Magee
* Paul Magee
* Donna Maguire
* Larry Marley
* Paul Marlowe
* Leo Martin
* Alex Maskey
* Pearse McAuley
* Daniel McCann
* Fra McCann
* Jennifer McCann
* Raymond McCartney
* Martin McCaughey
* Raymond McCreesh
* Joe McDonnell
* Séamus McElwaine
* Thomas McElwee
* Brendan McFarlane
* Tom McFeely
* Gerry McGeough
* Pat McGeown
* John Joe McGirl
* Martin McGuinness
* Pádraig McKearney
* Tommy McKearney
* Billy McKee
* Kevin McKenna
* Laurence McKeown
* Michael McKevitt
* Thomas McMahon
* Jackie McMullan
* Martin Meehan
* Ian Milne
* Arthur Morgan
* Danny Morrison
* Conor Murphy
* Thomas "Slab" Murphy
* Kieran Nugent
* Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
* Ed O'Brien
* Dáithí Ó Conaill
* Éamonn O'Doherty
* Joe B. O'Hagan
* Siobhán O'Hanlon
* Rita O'Hare
* Diarmuid O'Neill
* Dolours Price
* Marian Price
* Liam Quinn
* Paddy Quinn
* Billy Reid
* Bobby Sands
* Seán Savage
* Pat Sheehan
* Frank Stagg
* Jimmy Steele
* Bobby Storey
* Gerard Tuite
* Seamus Twomey
* Roy Walsh
* Séanna Walsh

Espionage and
Supergrasses|

* Eamon Collins
* Denis Donaldson
* Joseph Fenton
* Kevin Fulton
* Raymond Gilmour
* Martin McGartland
* Sean O'Callaghan
* Freddie Scappaticci (allegedly "Stakeknife")

Associates|

* Cumann na mBan
* Fianna Éireann
* South Armagh Republican Action Force
* Direct Action Against Drugs
* NORAID
* Clan na Gael
* Troops Out Movement

Derivatives|

* Continuity Irish Republican Army
* Real Irish Republican Army

Prominent
killings|

* Jeffery Stanford Agate
* Johnathan Ball
* Anthony Berry
* Robert Bradford
* Joe Bratty
* Matthew Burns
* Martin Cahill
* Eamon Collins
* Raymond Elder
* Gerard Evans
* Christopher Ewart-Biggs
* Joseph Fenton
* Billy Fox
* Maurice Gibson
* Ian Gow
* Heidi Hazell
* Donald Kaberry
* Andrew Kearney
* Baroness Brabourne
* William "Frenchie" Marchant
* Martin McBirney
* Jerry McCabe
* Robert McConnell
* Jean McConville
* Columba McVeigh
* Ross McWhirter
* Stephen Melrose
* Lord Mountbatten
* Lenny Murphy
* Robert Nairac
* Thomas Oliver
* Tim Parry
* Paul Quinn
* Robert Seymour
* Robert McCartney (allegedly)
* Joseph Rafferty (allegedly)
* Ray Smallwoods
* Sammy Smyth
* Nick Spanos
* James Stronge
* Norman Stronge
* Richard Sykes
* Stephen Tibble
* Sammy Ward
* Michael Willetts

* v
* t
* e

The Troubles

Participants

State security forces

United Kingdom

* British Army (Ulster Defence Regiment
* Force Research Unit)
* Royal Ulster Constabulary (Ulster Special Constabulary)

|

Ireland

* Defence Forces
* Garda Síochána

Irish republican paramilitaries

* Provisional IRA
* Official IRA
* INLA
* Irish People's Liberation Organisation
* Continuity IRA
* Real IRA
* Republican Action Force
* Saor Éire
* Irish Revolutionary Brigade

Vigilantes

* Direct Action Against Drugs

|

Ulster loyalist paramilitaries

* Ulster Volunteer Force
* Ulster Defence Association
* Red Hand Commando
* Ulster Resistance
* Loyalist Volunteer Force
* Ulster Protestant Volunteers
* Ulster Third Force
* Ulster Volunteer Service Corps
* Down Orange Welfare
* Protestant Action Force
* Woodvale Defence Association

Vigilantes

* Ulster Protestant Action
* Ulster Service Corps
* Orange Volunteers

|

Major events

* 1967–1972
* Northern Ireland civil rights movement
* 1969
* NI riots
* 1970
* Falls Curfew
* 1971
* Operation Demetrius
* McGurk's Bar bombing
* Balmoral showroom bombing
* 1972
* Bloody Sunday
* Abercorn Restaurant bombing
* Beginning of direct rule
* Bloody Friday
* Operation Motorman
* Old Bailey bombing
* Sunningdale Agreement
* 1974
* M62 coach bombing
* Ulster Workers' Council strike
* Dublin & Monaghan bombings
* Guildford pub bombings
* Birmingham pub bombings
* 1975
* Miami Showband killings
* Bayardo Bar attack
* Tullyvallen massacre
* Balcombe Street siege
* 1976
* Reavey and O'Dowd killings
* Kingsmill massacre
* 1978
* La Mon restaurant bombing
* Jonesborough Gazelle downing
* 1979
* Warrenpoint ambush
* 1981
* Republican hunger strike
* 1982
* Droppin Well bombing
* 1983
* Maze Prison escape
* 1984
* Brighton hotel bombing
* 1985
* Newry mortar attack
* Anglo-Irish Agreement
* 1987
* Loughgall ambush
* Remembrance Day bombing
* 1988
* Start of peace process
* Operation Flavius
* Milltown Cemetery attack
* Corporals killings
* IRA attacks in the Netherlands
* Aughanduff Lynx shootdown
* Ballygawley bus bombing
* 1989
* Deal barracks bombing
* Attack on Derryard checkpoint
* 1990–1997
* South Armagh sniper campaign
* 1990
* Augher Lynx shootdown
* Proxy bombings
* 1991
* Downing Street mortar attack
* Cappagh killings
* 1992
* Teebane bombing
* Sinn Féin Headquarters shooting
* Sean Graham bookmakers' shooting
* 1993
* Warrington bombings
* Bishopsgate bombing
* Shankill Road bombing
* Greysteel massacre
* Downing Street Declaration
* 1994
* Loughinisland massacre
* Crossmaglen Lynx downing
* Ceasefires of the Provisional IRA, UVF, UDA and RHC
* 1996
* Docklands bombing
* Manchester bombing
* 1997
* NI riots
* Second IRA ceasefire
* 1998
* Good Friday Agreement
* Omagh bombing

Political parties

Irish republican parties

* Sinn Féin
* Official Sinn Féin
* Republican Sinn Féin
* Irish Republican Socialist Party
* Communist Party of Ireland
* Irish Independence Party
* Republican Socialist Collective
* Unity

|

Ulster loyalist parties

* Ulster Unionist Party
* Democratic Unionist Party
* Progressive Unionist Party
* Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party
* UK Unionist Party
* Ulster Democratic Party

Other parties

* Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
* Social Democratic and Labour Party

* Segregation (peace lines)
* Irish republicanism
* Irish nationalism
* Unionism
* Ulster loyalism
* United Ireland
* Free Derry
* Flags
* Murals
* Parades
* Punishment attacks
* Finances
* Special Category Status
* Shoot-to-kill policy
* HM Prison Maze
* Five techniques

* * *

Category

53°29′00″N 2°14′37″W﻿ / ﻿53.48331°N 2.24352°W﻿ / 53.48331; -2.24352﻿ (Location of the IRA van bomb on Corporation St, Manchester in 1996)
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