At the beginning of the conflict in 1968, the Northern Ireland parliament had been dominated by unionists for more than fifty years (BBC, 2014). Unfortunately, this led to Catholics being discriminated against. Violence erupted. Due to the chaos, UK governments had to take action. By 1969, British troops had to step in. Once 1972 rolled around, the British government took over, ruling from London.
Bloody Friday refers to what happened on Friday, July 21, 1972 (BBC News: World Edition, 2002). On this terrible day, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) let off a minimum of 20 bombs across Belfast. It took only seventy-five minutes of violence for nine people to be killed and one hundred and thirty individuals to be physically and mentally scarred from the event. Two car bombings were responsible for the nine deaths. One bombing took place at the Oxford Street bus station in the city center and the other happened along the stores on Cavehill Road in north Belfast. One police officer recounted the scene, saying, "You could hear people screaming, crying and moaning. The first thing that caught my eye was a torso of a human being in the middle of the street" (BBC News: World Edition, 2002).
The IRA were in denial that the Bloody Friday attacks were extremely out of line, even years later. In fact, former IRA leader, Sean MacStiofain, insisted that the point of the Bloody Friday attacks was to inflict only financial damage. At the time of the attacks, the IRA pointed fingers at security forces, proclaiming that they had ignored warnings. Ten days post Bloody Sunday, the army went to the Bogside area of Derry. Once there, they took control of a section of the city that had been labeled out-of-bounds. By making this move, they sparked the hatred between Catholic and Protestant groups. And so the war began.
Bloody Friday refers to what happened on Friday, July 21, 1972 (BBC News: World Edition, 2002). On this terrible day, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) let off a minimum of 20 bombs across Belfast. It took only seventy-five minutes of violence for nine people to be killed and one hundred and thirty individuals to be physically and mentally scarred from the event. Two car bombings were responsible for the nine deaths. One bombing took place at the Oxford Street bus station in the city center and the other happened along the stores on Cavehill Road in north Belfast. One police officer recounted the scene, saying, "You could hear people screaming, crying and moaning. The first thing that caught my eye was a torso of a human being in the middle of the street" (BBC News: World Edition, 2002).
The IRA were in denial that the Bloody Friday attacks were extremely out of line, even years later. In fact, former IRA leader, Sean MacStiofain, insisted that the point of the Bloody Friday attacks was to inflict only financial damage. At the time of the attacks, the IRA pointed fingers at security forces, proclaiming that they had ignored warnings. Ten days post Bloody Sunday, the army went to the Bogside area of Derry. Once there, they took control of a section of the city that had been labeled out-of-bounds. By making this move, they sparked the hatred between Catholic and Protestant groups. And so the war began.