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McGurk's Bar bombing

1970s in County Antrim1970s murders in Northern Ireland1971 in Northern Ireland1971 murders in Ireland1971 murders in the United Kingdom
20th-century mass murder in Northern IrelandAnti-Catholicism in Northern IrelandAttacks on bars in Northern IrelandAttacks on buildings and structures in 1971Attacks on buildings and structures in BelfastBuilding bombings in Northern IrelandDecember 1971 events in EuropeImprovised explosive device bombings in 1971Improvised explosive device bombings in BelfastMass murder in 1971Mass murder in BelfastTerrorist incidents in Ireland in the 1970sTerrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1971The Troubles in BelfastUlster Volunteer Force actionsUse British English from August 2011

On 4 December 1971, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group, detonated a bomb at McGurk's Bar in Belfast, Northern Ireland, frequented by Irish Catholics–nationalists. The explosion caused the building to collapse, killing fifteen Catholic civilians—including two children—and wounding seventeen more. It was the deadliest attack in Belfast during the Troubles.Despite evidence to the contrary, the British security forces asserted that a bomb had exploded prematurely while being handled by Irish Republican Army (IRA) members inside the pub, implying that the victims themselves were partly to blame. A report later found that the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the police force in Northern Ireland at the time, were biased in favour of this view and that this hindered their investigation. The victims' relatives allege that the security forces deliberately spread disinformation to discredit the IRA. In 1977, UVF member Robert Campbell was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the bombing and served fifteen years. He died in 2013.The bombing sparked a series of tit-for-tat bombings and shootings by loyalists and republicans, which contributed to making 1972 the bloodiest year of the conflict.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article McGurk's Bar bombing (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

McGurk's Bar bombing
Great George's Street, Belfast New Lodge

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N 54.607416666667 ° E -5.9304722222222 °
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B&P McGurk 83 (Retail Wine Co.)

Great George's Street
BT15 1FH Belfast, New Lodge
Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
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Belfast Central Library
Belfast Central Library

Belfast Central Library is a public library in Royal Avenue, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Opened in 1888, it was one of the first major public library buildings in Ireland. A competition for the design of the building was won by architect William Henry Lynn in 1883 and it was built by H & J Martin builders. Designed to reflect the ambitions of the growing city of Belfast, its architecture is a fine example of a public building at the height of the Victorian age. On a black granite base, the Dumfries red sandstone exterior with a slightly Italianate feel, houses a three-floor interior with a sweeping staircase, a pillared foyer, and a fine domed first-floor reading room. The top floor originally included a museum and art gallery. The building is a notable part of the 19th-century cityscape of modern Belfast. It survived undamaged through the Belfast Blitz of World War II and the Troubles of the late 20th century. The library is in the library and Cathedral Quarter, on the edge of Belfast City Centre and close to the Belfast Campus of the University of Ulster. Two additional buildings were added to the site in the 1960s and 1980s, providing staff accommodation and extra storage. These reflect the growth in the book stock of the library in the intervening decades. A newspaper library is in the 1980s building and accessed from Library Street. The Library is now run by Northern Ireland Libraries, a public authority covering the whole of Northern Ireland. Belfast Central Library houses a range of sections, including a lending library & Information and Business library still based in the original reading room. A Belfast, Ulster and Irish Department & Music Library on the top floor. It is a major provider of IT facilities on the ground floor providing free internet access.