AIBU to be shocked that I had never heard about 'Bloody Friday'?

[sashh]

On the thread about public information films WeShouldOpenABar mentioned a film and I went to find it on youtube.

One of the films that popped up in the side bar is about 'Bloody Friday'. This happened when I was a small child, and I know my mum stopped us watching the TV news after my brother was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up and gave the answer, "An IRA sniper".

Anyway I have heard about Bloody Sunday, have a vague recollection of seeing the priest with a white hanky on TV and I am probably aware of it more from the campaign for justice for those shot.

I'm just wondering how much else I missed / am not aware of. I remember some bombings being reported extensively such as the one at Omahg and Enniskillen, I know these were much later so I was older or an adult.

So how many of you dear mumsnetters have heard of this? And if you have are you outside NI?

ok bad memory that youve jogged there dust! Al quaeda has contributed to a general amnesia about the rah don't you think?
At least they would give warnings...

It sort of followed me around, I was an adult in the mid-80s, in London for many of the bombings including Harrods where I was going to meet an aunt who worked there, in the NW for Warrington and the Arndale and my parents worked for the MOD in London when the IRA were waving rocket launchers and setting car bombs and such.
It's why terrorist bombings don't stop me going to London now; the IRA didn't stop me from living my life and neither will subsequent terrorist attacks.

Heard about it but not too sure what exactly happened as I wasn't even born then. Yes from NI.

DustinTheWind not surprised the 4 year old acted like that, I remember the turnstiles and security checks to get into Belfast city centre, leisure centres, stores evacuating you because of bomb scares etc and I wasn't born until late 70s.

I thank goodness my own children aren't living in such a fear driven, oppressive feeling society. Was in Belfast the other day for the Christmas market and it's amazing how times have changed.

Dust did you mean I have a selective memory? I mentioned most of those in my post, so I'm not filtering stuff out because I can't be bothered or don't think they're important. The point I was making (obviously not that well) is that I can remember, in detail, lots that happened within NI, but not necessarily so much of those that happened further afield. (Although I do know of the murders in Germany of British forces personnel, and the Australians who were mistaken for British personnel). But that's a normal human response I would imagine?

I missed the bomb in the bin at Victoria station in 1991 by less than 5 minutes.

although I will admit to having a selective memory in the sense that I never really count bombs in which no one was killed as being, well, atrocities I suppose. I think because here they were always just 'one of those things'. They were expected.

Thanks for posting those Dustin. I'm on my mobile so was not able to do it myself. 1970s were bad too.

No, treacle, the selective memory query was to Sunny who said

'and treaclesoda there were really not many IRA bombs in London in the 80s just one or two as I recall; i remember one small one in Camden Town (yeh logical right) and one on a bus in the 90s that killed one Irish guy.'

The IRA gave warnings, yes, but often they were so vague or out and out inaccurate that people were put in danger or died.

The bomb that went off in Boston in the US, home of IRA fundraising among certain groups, was the equivalent to just one day in London in years and years of bombing. I have sat on my hands trying not to point this out to American friends who were full of understandable outrage at what had happened.

yes I already said I was wrong dust

I'm from NI too and I knew of it because family were caught up in it. Thankfully only injuries, no deaths.

If they hadn't been there that day, I'm not sure I would have known about it to be honest, I wasn't born then and in school we did Russian history instead of Northern Ireland, because it would cause less controversy in class. I probably would have 'heard' about it but not 'known' about it if that makes sense.

I was explaining my comment to treacle.

It's interesting that you were afraid of "southern Irish" accents. It really demonstrates how little effort the media in the UK went to to clarify the issue in NI for people in the rest of the UK.

absolutely agree apocalypse.

Please can this not become a 'we were bombed more than you' debate? Or a debate about the fear of bombs /terrorism.

One thing we can all learn from the people of NI is that peace is fragile and needs working at on a daily basis, but that it can happen.

I know that at least on person has posted on MN that her relative's killer will never be brought to justice and that is the price of peace.

I was lucky, I have been evacuated or not been able to get to where I was going, but I have not had a friend or relative die or be injured, I have a deep respect for the ordinary people of NI who had worked so hard and I think the least we can do is be civil when discussing the troubles, it's such a little thing to do, just be civil about this.

And yes I know I am not always very civil on MN.

Yes I remember it (and a lot more) but then I was 13 when "the Troubles" started (in 1969).

I agree, as a forces child it was very black and white, and the media didn't help.
Basically the message seemed to be that Ireland wanted to take NI over and remove it from the UK, the British government and NI didn't want that. So the IRA was prepared to carry out terrorist attacks agains soft and hard targets until they got what they wanted.
Ireland bad. NI good. Ian Paisley was just scary, as if both sides were fuelling an endless conflict.
When you are a child, or in your early teens, complex political theories are beyond many of us. Fear wasn't.

Apologies sashh, I'll bow out and leave the debate to more measured arguments.

BTW the fact that there are people who have not heard of it all has quite cheered me up. Let's chuck it in the "dustbin of history" where it belongs and move on.

When you are a child, or in your early teens, complex political theories are beyond many of us. Fear wasn't.

Possibly, but the difference between "southern Ireland" and the IRA is much clearer than this suggests.

Maybe it would be clearer then to refer to the Provisional IRA..

Nutters from both sides of the border were in IRA so the comment about the accent is valid.
NI is moving on though. Lovely place!

Basically the message seemed to be that Ireland wanted to take NI over and remove it from the UK, the British government and NI didn't want that.

Whereas actually, the Irish gov were terrified the British would withdraw in the mid70s and got Kissinger to tell PM Wilson to wind his neck in and stop him making a statement to that effect.

Shows how wrong media portrayals can be.

I've just Googled, I wasn't aware of it. I am aware that I have little knowledge of the Troubles.

I grew up in the Midlands in the 90s, so was reasonably removed from it, and I think my parents sheltered is from the news a lot, although I do remember bomb scares in our local town, and a shared fear over unattended bags. I remember more than once hearing of a sighting of a 'bag with wires coming out'.

Sorry, phone went funny:

I hadn't realised that there had been bombs in Shrewsbury, we weren't far away so suddenly makes an awful lot more sense.