Reactions
In the aftermath of the attack the IRA said that it had made a mistake and its Fermanagh Brigade was stood down. The brigade that had carried out the bombing was suspended from operations for the remainder of the Troubles. Many republicans were horrified by the bombing and described it as a blow to the republican cause. Sinn Féin's publicity director Danny Morrison said he was "shattered" on hearing that the IRA was involved. The organization's weekly newspaper, An Phoblacht, called it a "monumental error" that would strengthen the IRA's opponents.
The bombing led to an outcry among politicians in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said: "It's really desecrating the dead and a blot on mankind". The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tom King, denounced the "outrage" in the House of Commons, as did the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Lenihan in Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament), while in Seanad Éireann Senator Maurice Manning spoke of people's "total revulsion". Many public figures used terms such as 'barbarism' and 'savagery' to describe the bombing.
The bombing was widely seen as an attack on the Northern Irish Protestant community. The day after, five Catholic teenagers were injured in an apparent retaliation shooting by loyalists in Belfast, and a Protestant teenager was killed by the Ulster Defence Association after being mistaken for a Catholic.
Irish band U2 were holding a concert in Denver, Colorado the same day. During a performance of their song "Sunday Bloody Sunday", singer Bono passionately condemned the bombing. The footage is included in U2's rockumentary Rattle and Hum.
Read more about this topic: Remembrance Day Bombing
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