I.R.A.’s mortar bomb attack escalates battle

Press, 12 March 1985, Page 19

I.R.A.’s mortar bomb attack escalates battle

The I.R.A.’s latest murderous attack has dimmed hopes of renewed talks on the Ulster troubles. MARTIN BAILEY and MARY HOLLAND of the London “Observer” report.

Until last month’s bloody assault on the Newry police station, the home-made mortars used in the attack by the Irish Republican Army were considered, even by the provisionals themselves as clumsy, inaccurate, and unpredictable. Now it is clear that diligent practice had enabled them to develop a crude expertise in their use.

Nine launchers, mounted on a lorry 250 yards from the police station, were primed with just enough explosive to hurl their 451 b projectiles at the correct elevation towards the target area. Four of them failed to explode, but of the other five, one landed on the most vulnerable part of the station, the fragile cabin being used as a canteen.

“It was like being hit by an earthquake — the canteen simply disintegrated,” said a Royal Ulster Constabulary officer who was one of the three survivors.

If the blast had occurred just half an hour earlier there would have been about 30 R.U.C. officers in the crowded canteen. Few of them would have escaped with their lives.

As it was, nine officers were killed, making it the worst attack on the Northern Ireland police. The operation was meticulously planned. On the Thursday afternoon, a red Ford truck was hijacked in Crossmaglen, five miles from Newry, and was driven to a safe rendezvous, where the bulky mortar launching platform was mounted on the rear, immediately behind the driver’s cab.

Then came the riskiest part of the operation, driving into Newry town through an area where the Army and police frequently stop vehicles.

Several armed IRA men in an escort car went ahead to check that the route was safe. At 6.27 p.m. the lorry with its deadly weaponry turned into a gated building site just off Monaghan Street.

The timing device was primed, the driver made his escape, and five minutes later the barrage of mortars went off. The mortars were similar in size to small fire extinguishers. The container and shrapnel weighed about 1001 b each and they contained 401 b of explosive.

They were launched with several pounds of charge rammed down converted gas cylinders. The launchers were mounted on a simple metal frame which could have been assembled with garage welding equipment. The IRA had little difficulty in pointing the mortars in the right direction, thanks to a lighted R.U.C. radio mast which rises about the police station. Yet the mortars can easily fly off course. “It’s like a dart — a blast of wind can dictate where they land,” said an R.U.C. officer who had been in the Newry station. The most difficult problem in targeting these crude mortars is to get them to reach the right distance, in this case about 250 yards. This depends on two factors — the angle of the launchers and the amount of powder used. Clearly, the I.R.A. unit involved in the Newry attack had done considerable experimentation, probably in a safe location in the Republic.

A security force spokesman emphasised that the I.R.A. had not developed a deadly new weapon. Mortars are “inaccurate and indis-

criminate” and it was “a lucky shot.” It emphasised the comment made by the Sinn Fein leader Danny Morrison after the Brighton bombing, “Remember, we have to get lucky once.” The nine deaths in Newry are likely to encourage I.R.A. units to initiate further mortar attacks. One republican source says that many I.R.A. active units have become disillusioned with the problems of targeting mortars, “Newry is bound to encourage them to adopt this home-made weapon,” he adds. “Mortars will also make the I.R.A. less dependent on imported weapons.” The R.U.C. and the Army have begun to reconsider security arrangements in the light of the Newry attack. A number of police stations include temporary Porta-

cabins and these offer little protection against’ mortars. Many stations are also topped by radio masts, which made them clearly visible targets in crowded urban areas. Finally, there are fears that the R.U.C. will become a more important target for the I.R.A. A Republican source said that “the choice of the R.U.C. rather than the British Army is a reaction against the growing Ulsterisation of the conflict.” Although the attack on Newry police station had been carefully planned over a long period, it was extremely important to the Provisional I.R.A. to score a major propaganda coup at this time. The organisation has been reeling from a series of blows in recent months and morale in the ranks has suffered badly. Seizures

of arms and of nearly $5 million in funds by the Irish Government two weeks before are the most recent examples. There has also been a loss of experienced men due to the flow of information to the police. The problem of informers, both within the I.R.A. and at a more petty level outside, is a cause of concern to the leadership. Three volunteers were shot in Strabane, County Tyrone, in an undercover operation by British troops after the security forces had been tipped off by an informer. Later, 24-year-old Kevin Coyle was shot by the I.R.A. in Londonderry's Bogside on the ground that he had given information to the police. Coyle’s killing happened after he had issued a statement through Provisional Sinn Fein giving an account of his dealings with the

R.U.C. In the past the Provos have been lenient with informers who repent. The shooting of Coyle was intended as an example to discourage other youths who might be tempted to give even low-level information to the security forces. The Provos have also suffered from what Mr Douglas Hurd, the Northern Ireland Secretary, describes as “a robust security policy” and Catholic politicians have condemned as ‘shooting to kill” by the security forces. While there has been condemnation on all sides of the I.R.A. attack on the police station in Newry, it has also been a cause of increase in communal tension. There are fears in the Catholic community that Protestant paramilitary organisations will react with reprisals against individuals, as has

happened in the past. The Ulster Defence Association is also under pressure from its members to take retaliatory action in the Irish Republic, which many Protestants see as the source of all their woes. The Newry bombing has also cast a shadow on Mr Hurd’s hopes of making Ulster's leaders sit down together to discuss the province’s problems. Unionist politicians have made the point that the S.D.L.P. leader, Mr John Hume, has already tried to hold talks with the leadership of the Provisional I.R.A. and said that he would be willing to do so again. For the present at least this has closed the door on hopes of interparty talks. Instead, the Rev. lan Paisley’s Democratic Unionists are demanding the restoration of the death penalty for terrorists.