Remembrance Day Bombing - Aftermath

Aftermath

At the time, the British and Irish governments were negotiating an Extradition Act that would make it easier to extradite IRA suspects from the Republic to the UK. The Act was to come before the Irish parliament less than a month after the bombing. The Irish government wanted the British to reform the justice system in Northern Ireland (such as by getting rid of "Diplock courts") before it would pass the Act. Many in the Republic insisted that the Act should only be passed if, and when, the reforms took place. However, after the bombing, opposition to the Act dwindled and it was passed by the Irish government, albeit with some changes.

The bombing harmed Sinn Féin's electoral support. In 1989, in the first local elections held in County Fermanagh after the bombing, Sinn Féin lost four of its eight council seats and was overtaken by the SDLP as the biggest Irish nationalist party. It was not until 2001, fourteen years after the bombing, that Sinn Féin support returned to its 1985 level. In 1997 Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams apologised for the bombing on behalf of the republican movement.

Enniskillen's Remembrance Day service was re-staged two weeks after the bombing. It was attended by about 5,000 people, including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. There was a rise in both Catholic and Protestant attendance at Remembrance Day services in the years after, although this was an acceleration of earlier trends rather than a new development.

The site of the bomb, which was owned by the Catholic Church, was rebuilt as The Clinton Centre, a youth hostel, in 2002. The hostel was opened by and named after former US President Bill Clinton.