From the archive: 17 killed in Birmingham pub blasts

On November 22nd, 1974 the Birmingham bombings were the lead story in The Irish Times.

Journalist Martin Cowley reported on the aftermath of the bombings from Birmingham. He spoke to eye-witnesses, the owner of one of the pubs bombed, and reported on police developments.

He also provided reaction to the bombings from the then taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, British prime minister Harold Wilson, Rev Ian Paisley and Clann na hÉireann, the British support section of Sinn Féin.

17 killed in Birmingham pub blasts

Coded warning came from man with Irish accent, say police

Seventeen people were killed and 120 others injured, many of them seriously, alter two bombs devastated two crowded public houses in the centre of Birmingham last night.

Some of the injured are under intensive care in the city’s main hospitals and most of the victims are aged between 18 and 25.

The assistant chief constable (crime) for the West Midlands, Mr Maurice Buck, told a press conference early today that it was possible that bodies may have been trapped in the rubble of the pubs.

As he was speaking, British Army bomb disposal officers were dealing with two suspected parcel bombs beside a branch of Barclay ’s bank in the Agley Road area of the city.

The bombs , which caused the worst-ever peace-time atrocity, in Britain , exploded right in the heart of the city at the Mulberry Bush in the Rotunda office block, in the Bull Ring area, and at the Tavern in the Town, in New Street , the city as main thoroughfare.

They went off within two minutes of each other, bringing havoc and panic as hundreds fled from other buildings and traffic snarled up. Eye-witnesses spoke of a succession of bodies being carried out of the two pubs, and they described harrowing scenes of mutilation.

The traffic jams and crowds prevented the ambulances reaching the scene for some minutes , but many of the injured were taken to hospital in a fleet of taxis , while others were carried to the City Centre Hotel , opposite the Tavern in the Town, where the police commandeered all empty rooms and turned the building into a first-aid post.

Target not specified

Mr Colin Gaskell , the West Midlands deputy chief constable, told the press conference that a coded warning was phoned by a man with an Irish accent to the Birmingham Post newspaper offices at 8.04 pm.

The caller said there was a bomb at the Rotunda, but did not mention the other blast. Since he did not specify the target in the Rotunda office block, the warning was useless and the bomb went off before the area could be evacuated.

Asked about the possibility of IRA involvement, Mr Buck referred to a coded message and said: “We shall assume at this stage that there could possibly be a direct involvement with the Provisional IRA.”

The Provisional IRA chief-of-staff , Daithi O’Conaill said in a television interview last Sunday that the IRA would escalate its bombing campaign in Britain.

All through the night Birmingham police dealt with a spate of bomb hoaxes, which Mr Gaskell said had naturally hindered the investigations. It is believed that police were visiting Irish addresses in the Birmingham area early this morning, but Mr. Gaskell would not confirm this.

No one had been arrested in connection with the bombings by 2am although two men were taken off the aircraft carrying the coffin of James McDade at Birmingham Airport a short time after the explosions. Mr Gaskell would not say why they were being held.

Attack on church

He disclosed that just before midnight a petrol bomb was thrown at a house in the grounds of St Mary’s Catholic Church in Birmingham and replying to a question about the possibility of a backlash on the Irish community, he said: “We are well alive to that situation and we shall give it careful attention.”

Mr Gaskell said that from preliminary examinations it seemed that the bombs were inside the public houses and had not been thrown through the windows.

The British Prime Minister, Mr Wilson, who earlier attended the funeral of President Childers in Dublin, late last night had talks with the Home Secretary, Mr Jenkins , who is to make a Commons statement today.

Mr Jenkins is then expected to go to Birmingham. At the height of the confusion, police an d ambulance men had to disperse sightseers when another suspect bomb was discovered near British Airways offices, off New Street, but the device turned out to be harmless.

Just before 10 pm, the city’s train services were halted and crowds ran from the main railway station because of another bomb scare.

Birmingham police said that all inquiries regarding casualties should be made to police headquarters at Birmingham 236-5000 extensions 2096/7/8/9.

The Mulberry Bush, one of the city’s most popular pubs, was completely devastated and there was severe structural damage.

Seven people were killed there, and 10 in the Tavern in the Town.

The licensee of the Tavern in the Town, Mr Dick Lawn, said he had been able to account for only one of the five staff who were on duty. He was on his way round to the Mulberry Bush, a short distance away from his own pub, when the first bomb exploded at the Mulberry Bush.

He then heard a bang and when he reached his own establishment he said it was “utter devastation “.

He saw one young girl being carried out.

As police and firemen grappled with the fallen girders, a woman member of the St John Ambulance told reporters that at least five dead had been carried from the pub. “It was like a slaughterhouse”, she said.

While she spoke, a dazed young man said his sister had been in the pub and the first-aid officers there advised him to contact the city’s main hospital, the Birmingham Accident Hospital, where most of the victims were taken.

An 18-year-old girl , who didn ‘t want to give her name , was in the Tavern when the bomb went off. “Everybody was just drinking as normal. All of a sudden there was a bang and the lights went out. I didn ‘t think it was an explosion. I put my head on my boy friend’s chest and he protected me. I thought I was injured, but I wasn’t. I saw one girl who had completely lost her left foot”.

After the girl had told the story, she collapsed and had to be taken to an ambulance.

Mr Michael Wills, aged 18, was also in the Tavern. “I was going to put a record on the jukebox and then there was an explosion. Everyone screamed and people were climbing over each, other to try to get out. Many people were groaning. I think the bomb might have been either near the jukebox or in the toilets.”

Another man, aged 22, who wanted to remain anonymous, was on his way to have a stag party in the Tavern when he heard the blast. He saw one young girl of about 20 being carried out and he thought she was dead.

The Taoiseach, Mr Cosgrave, sent a message of condolence to the British Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs airs, Dr Fitzgerald , called on the British Ambassador in Dublin in to render the Government’s sympathy.

Appalling carnage

The former chief minister of Northern Ireland, Mr Faulkner said in a statement last night: “For five years, the IRA has been waging war against the people of the UK.

“The people of Ulster have borne the brunt of their murderous attacks by bomb and bullet.

“That war has been spreading steadily throughout the UK. Tonight as appalling carnage in Birmingham must revolt us and make everyone in these islands unite to support the forces of law and order.

“The Government, for its part, must take, as a matter of urgency, all the steps necessary to remove those responsible for acts of terrorism from our midst.”

Mr Jim Kilfeather, Unionist MEP for North Down, said: “The IRA have exacted a terrible vengeance for the refusal by church and police in Birmingham to allow them to glorify a criminal in their city.

“English tolerance must now give way to stern measures against the IRA, including the banning of that organisation and the prohibition of anything on the news media which publicises these murderers-who have been at war with the United Kingdom since the first shot was fired in Ulster six years ago.

“It would be disgraceful, and a clear abdication by the Government of its responsibilities in Northern Ireland, if they allow the McDaid funeral parade to take place through the streets of Belfast tomorrow, since this would be outright pro-vocation and show contempt for law and order.”

The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association expressed its utter horror and condemnation of those responsible for the carnage in Birmingham.

“Those of us in Northern Ireland who seek change through peaceful methods are facing an increasingly di difficult cult task with every bomb that t explodes, either here or in Britain , and with every life that is lost. We demand that the Provisional IRA, whether responsible or not, end their bombing campaign immediately before Northern Ireland is plunged into civil war.”

The Prime Minister, Mr Wilson, spoke of “brutal and senseless acts of terrorism” in a telegram to the Lord Mayor of Birmingham.

The telegram said: “My colleagues in the Government and I are profoundly shocked to learn of the outrages rages which have been committed in Birmingham this evening.

“I should be grateful if you would convey our deep sympathy to the relatives of those who have lost their lives and to those who have been injured as the result of the brutal and senseless acts of terrorism.”

Backlash warning

The bombings would build up hate and prejudice against the settled and friendly Irish community in the city, Birmingham’s Lord Mayor, Councillor James Eames, warned last night. “It will be very difficult to detect the wrongdoers. It is obvious that people who know of these activities are engaged in some sheltering activities.

“This is where the greatest difficulty does arise, when you think of the reaction of the local population, and these are the thoughts that could lead to the misfortune that we have tried so hard to avoid.

“This is obviously going to upset the relationship between the settled and friendly Irish community here, who have been doing a good job for a long time.

“This is, I suspect, what the outrage here tonight was designed to do. I think it will succeed in doing that. It will, of course, build up hate and prejudice.”

Clann na hÉireann , the British support section of Sinn Féin (Gardiner Place) in a statement earlier today condemned, without reservation, irrespective of source, the bombings.

“There are not word savailable to us which would give full expression to our feelings of dismay,” the statement said. “We would extend on our own behalf and on behalf of the Irish people our very deepest sympathy to the people of Birmingham. We would point out that last Sunday’s statement by Mr David O’Connell helped to create the atmosphere in which such a terrorist outrage could take place.”

The Rev Ian Paisley said the people of England were now reaping “the sad sowing of their political leaders, Heath and Wilson.”

“Their willingness to sacrifice the Loyalists of Northern Ireland, and their own troops, to the IRA by appeasement, had now produced “this IRA offensive in England.”

Only firm leadership and determination would rid Britain of the IRA terrorist menace. The bitter irony of the situation was that when Mr Heath and Mr Wilson were in the Republic, which gave sanctuary to terrorists, IRA murders were being carried out in England , he said.

A total of 33 people died as a result of the car-bombings in Dublin and Monaghan on May 17th this year-26 in Dublin and seven in Monaghan. Over 100 were injured in the three explosions in Dublin and one blast in Monaghan.