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The Hillcrest Bar bombing, also known as the "Saint Patrick's Day bombing", took place on 17 March 1976 in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, detonated a car bomb outside a pub crowded with people celebrating Saint Patrick's Day. Four Catholic civilians were killed by the blast—including two 13-year-old boys playing outside—and 12 people were injured. In December 1980, UVF member Garnet James Busby confessed to having been one of the bombers and was sentenced to life in prison. The UVF unit responsible was the Mid-Ulster Brigade, which at the time was led by the notorious Robin Jackson. The attack is one of many linked to the Glenanne gang, a loose association of loyalist militants and rogue members of the Northern Ireland security forces, who carried out a series of attacks against the Catholic/Irish nationalist community in the area during the 1970s. ==Situation in Northern Ireland== (詳細はthe Troubles, showed no signs of abating. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) intensified its bombing campaign to drive British forces out, despite having declared a ceasefire in December 1974. The IRA began targeting English cities. The main loyalist paramilitary groups—the UVF and Ulster Defence Association (UDA)—responded with random attacks on the local Catholic population, which in turn led to IRA reprisals against Protestants. Loyalists believed the IRA ceasefire was part of a secret deal between the British Government and IRA which would mean a British withdrawal from Northern Ireland.〔Taylor, Peter (1999). ''Loyalists''. London: Bloomsbury .p.142〕 According to journalist Peter Taylor, the vicious tit-for-tat violence between the IRA and loyalists made 1975 one of the "bloodiest years of the conflict".〔Taylor, pp.142-43〕 In Belfast, the loyalist Shankill Butchers gang, led by Lenny Murphy, began an 18-month killing spree designed to strike terror into the Catholic community which they like many other loyalists believed was giving succour to the IRA. The gang would drive around Catholic areas in a black taxi and kidnap random Catholic passersby, then torture and hack them to death.〔Taylor, pp.152-53〕 However, most tit-for-tat attacks were bombings and shootings directed against pubs, or roadside ambushes, as in the case of the Miami Showband massacre. This saw three members of the popular Irish cabaret band shot dead at a fake military checkpoint by UVF gunmen in British Army uniforms. Two of those convicted were Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldiers.〔Taylor, pp.147-49〕 Investigations have established that UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade commander Robin Jackson was the organizer and main gunman in the July 1975 ambush. Described as "the most notorious Loyalist paramilitary in Northern Ireland",〔("Report of the Independent International Panel on Alleged Collusion in Sectarian Killings in Northern Ireland", October 2006 (The Cassel Report 2006), p.63 ) Retrievedved 15 March 2014〕 it was also revealed that he was a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special Branch agent. A further 50 paramilitary attacks have been linked to Jackson, including the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which killed 33 people.〔("Report of the Independent International Panel on Alleged Collusion in Sectarian Killings in Northern Ireland", October 2006 (The Cassel Report 2006), p.68 ) Retrieved 15 March 2014〕〔(Miami Showband massacre: HET raises collusion concerns BBC News 14 December 2011 ) Retrieved 14 March 2014〕 In January 1976, the UVF killed six members of two Catholic families in a co-ordinated attack. The following evening, IRA members (using the covername "Republican Action Force") retaliated by shooting eleven Protestant men after ordering them out of their minibus. Only one survived.〔Taylor, p.149〕 Loyalists sought revenge, and members of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade planned to open fire on a nearby Catholic primary school. The operation was aborted by the UVF leadership on the grounds that it was "morally unacceptable", would provoke a terrible response from the IRA and could lead to civil war.〔("UVF planned to kill 30 children". ''Irish News''. McCaffrey, Barry; McKinney, Seamus. 9 July 2007 ) Retrieved 15 March 2014〕 Harold Wilson announced on 16 March 1976 that he was resigning as British Prime Minister. That same day, the British Army defused a 200-pound IRA bomb left outside a garage in Dungannon.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hillcrest Bar bombing」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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