THE first indication that the IRA ceasefire might be over came shortly after 5.30 p.m. yesterday.
A man claiming to be from the IRA rang the RTE newsroom and asked for special correspondent Charlie Bird.
The reporter who answered the telephone said Mr Bird was not in Montrose at that time. The man told the reporter the ceasefire was ending and he read out the text of a prepared statement.
When asked by the reporter to authenticate the statement the caller gave a recognised IRA code name, and an associated code word. He also said the statement was signed by "P. O'Neill".
RTE thought it unusual that the name P. O'Neill was used in combination with the code name and code word.
The statement was not used at the beginning of the 6.01 News. The man called back RTE asking why it had not been broadcast. He was told the station was doing its best to authenticate the statement, but was not satisfied it had done so. He was asked could he authenticate it further.
After that call, the man made contact with Mr Bird on his mobile telephone.
"The person I spoke to has proven to be very reliable in the past about information and statements emanating from the Irish republican movement," Mr Bird said. He added that information through "this particular channel" has always been correct.
At 6.58 p.m. RTE broadcast the statement. The bomb in Canary Wharf in London exploded at 7.01 p.m.
By then, other news organisations had received copies of the statement announcing the end of the ceasefire.