Dunmurry train explosion

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Coordinates: 54°33′07″N 6°00′00″W / 54.552°N 6.000°W / 54.552; -6.000

Dunmurry train explosion
Date and time 17 January 1980
Location Dunmurry, near Belfast, Northern Ireland
Rail line Belfast-Derry railway line
Cause Premature detonation of IRA bomb
Trains 1
Passengers Unknown
Deaths 3
Injuries 5
List of UK rail accidents by year
List of UK rail accidents by death toll

The Dunmurry train explosion refers to the premature detonation of a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) incendiary bomb on board a Ballymena to Belfast passenger train service on 17 January 1980.

The blast engulfed a carriage of the train in flames, killing three and injuring five others. One of the dead and the most seriously injured survivor were volunteers of the IRA. Following the blast, the organisation issued a statement acknowledging responsibility, apologising to those who were harmed and stated that it was 'grave and distressing' but an 'accident' brought about by the 'war situation'.[1]

The explosion

The train was a Northern Ireland Railways afternoon service carrying passengers between Ballymena railway station and Belfast Central railway station. The train was largely empty as it left Dunmurry railway station and entered the outskirts of Belfast, crossing under the M1 motorway on its way to Finaghy railway station shortly before 4.55pm, when a large fireball erupted in the rear carriage, bringing the train to a standstill and forcing panicked passengers to urgently evacuate as the smoke and flames spread down the train.

The survivors then lined up and moved down the track in single file to safety whilst emergency services tackled the blaze. After several hours and combined efforts from fire, police and military services the blaze was contained and the two ruined carriages transported to Queen's Quay in Belfast to undergo forensic examination. One fireman was treated for minor injuries.

Of the four persons occupying the carriage, three were killed with burns so severe that it was not possible to identify them through conventional means.[1] The fourth, later identified as Patrick Joseph Flynn, was an IRA member and one of the men transporting the bombs. He suffered from very serious burns to his face, torso and legs and was reported to be close to death upon arrival at the hospital.[1] Of the dead, two were eventually named as 17-year-old Mark Cochrane from Finaghy and the other a 35-year-old Belfast-based accountant and recent immigrant from Nigeria, Max Olorunda, who had been visiting a client in Ballymena. He left a wife and three children. The identity of the third was harder to ascertain, but it was eventually confirmed by the IRA in their statement that he was 26-year-old IRA member Kevin Delaney, father of one with a pregnant wife.[2] In addition to the fireman, four people were injured, including Flynn, two teenagers treated for minor injuries and an older man who suffered much more serious burns.[1]

Further bomb alerts were issued across the region and two similar devices discovered on trains, at York Road railway station in Belfast and at Greenisland railway station. Both were safely removed and control detonated.[1] The devices were simple incendiary bombs similar to that which exploded south of Befast, consisting of a 5lb block of explosives attached to a petrol can with a simple time device intended to delay the explosion until the train was empty that evening.[1] Later testimony indicated that Delaney had armed the first of two bombs and placed it beside himself as he picked up the second one. As he armed, the first bomb suddenly detonated for no known reason.[1] Delaney was killed and his accomplice, Patrick Joseph Flynn, was forced to leap from the train in flames. Flynn was placed under police guard in hospital and arrested once his wounds had sufficiently healed.

Reactions

The IRA released a lengthy statement about the event, labelling it a 'bombing tragedy', placing blame on the Royal Ulster Constabulary for their 'sickening and hypocritical . . .collective activity of collaboration with the British forces' and stating:

"The explosion occurred prematurely and the intended target was not the civilians travelling on the train. We always take the most stringent precautions to ensure the safety of all civilians in the vicinity of a military or commercial bombing operation. The bombing mission on Thursday night was not an exception to this principle. Unfortunately the unexpected is not something we can predict or prevent in the war situation this country is in, the consequences of the unexpected are often grave and distressing, as Thursday night's accident shows.
. . .
Our sorrow at losing a young married man, Kevin Delaney is heightened by the additional deaths of Mr. Olorunda and Mark Cochrane. To all their bereaved families we offer our dearest and heartfelt sympathy."[1]

In Britain, Conservative MP Winston Churchill called for the death penalty to be reinstated for terrorists as a result of this incident.[1] The RUC responded to the IRA's announcement with a short statement stating that:

"The fact is that innocent people are dead and the Provisional IRA are responsible, as they have been on hundreds of other occasions. Once again they stand condemned in the eyes of the civilised world."[1]

This was not the first occasion in which an IRA bomb on a train killed or wounded someone. On 12 October 1978 55-year old Letitia McCrory was killed by an IRA bomb explosion on the Belfast-Dublin line near Belfast Central station.[3] The CAIN database indicates that in the 1978 explosion, an inadequate warning was given thus not allowing authorities time to evacuate the train fully before the device detonated.[4]

Prosecution

24-year old Patrick Flynn stood trial at Belfast Crown Court for double manslaughter and possession of explosives following his recovery from his injuries. Flynn was very severely disfigured and badly scarred from the extensive burns the incendiary device had inflicted upon him. The judge was asked and agreed to take this into account for sentencing after reviewing the evidence and finding Flynn guilty due to his proximity to the explosion, his known IRA affiliation and the discovery of telephone numbers for The Samaritans and Belfast Central station in his jacket, to be used to call in bomb warnings. Mr Justice Kelly sentenced Flynn to ten years in prison for each manslaughter as well as seven years for the explosives offences, to be served concurrently.[1] He concluded by summing up with the words:

"I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt you were one of the bombers. I am satisfied you and your associates did not intend to kill. Nevertheless, the explosion and fire caused the death of three people in most horrific circumstances. In sentencing you I am conscious you have suffered severe burns and scars, for the rest of your life which will be a grim reminder to you of the events of that day"[1]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 F.A.C.T. Train bomb 18 Jan 1980, retrieved 4 March 2007
  2. ↑ CAIN Sutton Index of Deaths 1980, retrieved 4 March 2007
  3. ↑ CAIN Sutton Index of Deaths 1978, retrieved 4 March 2007
  4. ↑ CAIN Chronology of the conflict 1978, retrieved 4 March 2007

See also

Timeline – Directory

Ireland
Battle of the Bogside – August 1969 riots – Battle of St Matthew's – Falls Curfew – Operation Demetrius – Ballymurphy massacre – McGurk's Bar bombing – Bloody Sunday – Springhill massacre – Bloody Friday – Operation Motorman – Claudy bombing – Ulster Workers' Council strike – Dublin and Monaghan bombings – Shankill Butchers – Showband killings – Drummuckavall ambush – Reavey/O'Dowd killings – Kingsmill massacre – La Mon restaurant bombing – Warrenpoint ambush – Dunmurry explosion – Nellie M attack – Hunger Strike – Glasdrumman ambush – St. Bedan attack – Ballykelly bombing – Maze Prison escape – Newry barracks – Ballygawley barracks – Loughgall ambush – Enniskillen bombing – Milltown Cemetery attack – Corporals killings – Ballygawley bus bomb – Derryard checkpoint – Operation Conservation – RFA Fort Victoria – Glenanne barracks – Cloghogue checkpoint – South Armagh Snipers – Castlerock killings – Shankill bombing – Greysteel massacre – Loughinisland massacre – Drumcree conflict – Omagh bombing
England
Aldershot bombing – Coach bombing – Guildford bombings – Birmingham bombings – Marylebone siege – Hyde and Regents Park bombings – Harrods bombing – Brighton bombing – Deal bombing – Downing street attack – Warrington bombings – Bishopsgate bombing – Docklands bombing – Manchester bombing
Elsewhere
Operation Flavius, Gibraltar 1988

Participants in the TroublesChronologyPolitical Parties

• Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association formed (1967)
• Battle of the Bogside (1969)
• Riots across Northern Ireland (1969)
• Beginning of Operation Banner (1969)
• Social Democratic and Labour Party formed (1970)
• Internment without trial begins with Operation Demetrius (1971)
• Bloody Sunday by British Army (1972)
• Northern Ireland government dissolved. Direct rule from London begins (1972)
• Bloody Friday by Provisional IRA (1972)
• Power sharing Northern Ireland Assembly set up with SDLP and Ulster Unionist Party in power (1973)
• Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape. Three Provisional IRA prisoners escape from Mountjoy Prison by helicopter (1973)
• Ulster Workers Council strike causes power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly to end (1974)
• Dublin and Monaghan bombings by UVF with alleged British Army assistance (1974)
• Kingsmill massacre by South Armagh Republican Action Force (1976)
• Warrenpoint Ambush by Provisional IRA (1979)
• 1981 Irish hunger strike by Provisional IRA and INLA members (1981)
• Hunger striker Bobby Sands elected MP. Marks turning point as Sinn Féin begins to move towards electoral politics (1981)
• Maze Prison escape. 38 Provisional IRA prisoners escape from H-Block 7 of HM Prison Maze (1983)
• Brighton hotel bombing by Provisional IRA (1984)
• Anglo-Irish Agreement between British and Irish governments (1985)
• Remembrance Day bombing by Provisional IRA (1987)
• Peace Process begins (1988)
• Operation Flavius–Milltown Massacre–Corporals killings sequence of violence (1988)
• First Provisional IRA ceasefire (1994)
• Loyalist ceasefire (1994)
• 1996 Manchester bombing (1996)
• Second Provisional IRA ceasefire (1997)
• Belfast Agreement (1998) signals the end of the Troubles
• Assembly elections held, with SDLP and UUP winning most seats (1998)
• Omagh bombing by dissident Real IRA (1998)

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