No, never. But once, by taking a bus earlier than usual on a Friday (when I hitch-hiked up to Belfast, visited my mother, and took a bus home) I missed a likely death or serious injury from an IRA bomb at the bus-station, in which several were killed and many badly maimed. That was the nearest I got to experiencing the Northern Irish 'Troubles' in the 1970s.
Auban, That was really a near death experience,specially in Belfast. What did the IRA expect to achieve by targetting a bus station? Were there British troops? Raúl
The object of the IRA as with all 'terror groups' is simply to spread fear and so destroy 'normal' life and expectations. The IRA could easily have chosen real targets - such as semi-private, fee-paying schools for the rich and aspirational. Instead, they bombed pubs and bus-stations, restaurants etc. The mentality of the Paris and Brussels bombers is the same.
Auban,
ReplyDeleteDid you ever see an accident like the ones you mentioned? Raul
No, never. But once, by taking a bus earlier than usual on a Friday (when I hitch-hiked up to Belfast, visited my mother, and took a bus home) I missed a likely death or serious injury from an IRA bomb at the bus-station, in which several were killed and many badly maimed. That was the nearest I got to experiencing the Northern Irish 'Troubles' in the 1970s.
ReplyDeleteAuban,
ReplyDeleteThat was really a near death experience,specially in Belfast. What did the IRA expect to achieve by targetting a bus station? Were there British troops? Raúl
The object of the IRA as with all 'terror groups' is simply to spread fear and so destroy 'normal' life and expectations. The IRA could easily have chosen real targets - such as semi-private, fee-paying schools for the rich and aspirational. Instead, they bombed pubs and bus-stations, restaurants etc. The mentality of the Paris and Brussels bombers is the same.
ReplyDelete