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Loughgall Ambush
The Loughgall ambush took place on 8 May 1987 in the village of Loughgall, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. An eight-man unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) launched an attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base in the village. An IRA member drove a digger with a bomb in its bucket through the perimeter fence, while the rest of the unit arrived in a van and fired on the building. The bomb exploded and destroyed almost half of the base. Soldiers from the British Army's Special Air Service (SAS) then returned fire both from within the base and from hidden positions around it in a pre-planned ambush, killing all of the attackers. Two of them were subsequently found to have been unarmed when they were killed. A civilian was also killed and another wounded by the SAS after unwittingly driving into the ambush zone and being mistaken for IRA attackers. The joint British Army/RUC operation was codenamed Operation Judy.Brown, Andrew. ''The Difficult War: Perspecti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " irregular war" or " low-level war". The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe. The conflict was primarily political and nationalistic, fuelled by historical events. It also had an ethnic or sectarian dimension but despite use of the terms 'Protestant' and 'Catholic' to refer to the two sides, it was not a religious conflict. A key issue was the status of Northern Ireland. Unionists and loyalists, who for historical reasons were mostly Ulster Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the Unite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Improvised Explosive Device
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechanism. IEDs are commonly used as roadside bombs, or homemade bombs. IEDs are generally done in these terrorism operations or in asymmetric unconventional warfare by insurgent guerrillas or commando forces in a theatre of operations. In the Iraq War (2003–2011), insurgents used IEDs extensively against U.S.-led forces and, by the end of 2007, IEDs were responsible for approximately 63% of coalition deaths in Iraq. They were also used in Afghanistan by insurgent groups, and caused over 66% of coalition casualties in the 2001–2021 Afghanistan War. IEDs were also used frequently by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka during the Sri Lankan Civil War. Background An IED is a bomb fabricated in an improvised m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Double Agent
In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organization for the target organization. Double agentry may be practised by spies of the target organization who infiltrate the controlling organization or may result from the ''turning'' (switching sides) of previously loyal agents of the controlling organization by the target. The threat of execution is the most common method of turning a captured agent (working for an intelligence service) into a double agent (working for a foreign intelligence service) or a double agent into a ''re-doubled agent''. It is unlike a defector, who is not considered an agent as agents are in place to function for an intelligence service and defectors are not, but some consider that defectors in place are agents until they have defected. Double agents are oft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC One Northern Ireland
BBC One Northern Ireland is a Northern Irish television channel based on the UK-wide BBC One, owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland. The service is broadcast from Broadcasting House in Belfast. In the rest of the UK, BBC One Northern Ireland is available as a regional variant on most TV service providers. In the Republic of Ireland, BBC One Northern Ireland is available as a standard channel. On 24 October 2012, an HD variation of BBC One Northern Ireland was launched, to coincide with the completion of the digital switchover process in Northern Ireland. On 18 November 2013, BBC One Northern Ireland HD was swapped with the SD channel on Sky's EPG for HD subscribers. The BBC One Northern Ireland branding is utilised from 6am until the handover to the BBC News Channel with live continuity handled by a team of regional announcers who double up as playout directors. The channel's main competitor is UTV while also competing with RTÉ One, RTÉ 2 and Virgin Media One from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spotlight (BBC Northern Ireland TV Programme)
''Spotlight'' is the name given to a BBC Northern Ireland weekly current affairs programme. It debuted in 1973. The programme is aired on BBC1 Northern Ireland at 10:35pm (and sometimes early) on Tuesday evenings, with a repeat on BBC2. It is available to UK viewers outside of Northern Ireland on BBC iPlayer for a week after the programme. The format usually consists of a half-hour report presented on a rotating basis by a small number of presenters and reporters. At present, these are Brian Hollywood, Stephen Walker, Darragh MacIntyre and Bobby Friedman. Occasionally, the programme consists of a studio format with various reports and panel discussions. ''Spotlight'' is well known for its hard-hitting investigations and recently won a Royal Television Society award for Mandy McAuley's dog-fighting investigation. It has launched the careers of a number of high-profile broadcasters, including Jeremy Paxman Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English broadcast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machine-gun
A machine gun is a automatic firearm, fully automatic, rifling, rifled action (firearms)#Autoloading operation, autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as Automatic shotgun, automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) are typically designed more for firing burst fire, short bursts rather than continuous firepower, and are not considered true machine guns. As a class of military kinetic projectile weapon, machine guns are designed to be mainly used as infantry support weapons and generally used when attached to a bipod or tripod, a weapon mount#Static mount, fixed mount or a heavy weapons platform for stability against recoils. Many machine guns also use belt (firearms), belt feeding and open bolt operation, features not normally found on other infantry firearms. Machine guns can be further categorized as light machine guns, medium machine guns, heavy machine guns, gene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Birches, County Armagh
The Birches is a small village in northern County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is 6 miles northwest of Portadown, close to junction 12 on the M1 Motorway and to the southern shore of Lough Neagh. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 150. It is within the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon council area. The Birches is part of the civil parish of Tartaraghan, and most of the settlement is within the townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...s of Ballynarry and Clonmakate. Two parts to the village can be distinguished, that at Robinstown Road, centred on a public housing estate and a school, and that part adjacent to the M1 junction. Places of interest * Stonewall Jackson's ancestral site is at Waugh's Farm, The Birches (Jackson also had roots in Coleraine, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attack On RUC Birches Barracks
On 11 August 1986, the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base at The Birches near Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The unmanned base was raked with gunfire before being destroyed by a bomb, which was driven through the gate of the base in the bucket of a JCB digger. Background In 1985 the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade, commanded by Patrick J Kelly, began a campaign of destroying remote RUC stations and preventing anyone from rebuilding them, to create no-go zones. On 7 December 1985 it launched an attack on the RUC barracks in Ballygawley, destroying the base and killing two RUC officers. On 22 January 1986 the East Tyrone Brigade fired mortars at the UDR base in Dungannon, injuring two UDR soldiers and damaging the base. Just over a week later, on 1 February, it carried out a large van bomb attack on Coalisland RUC base, damaging the base and several houses and shops. Attack It was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attack On Ballygawley Barracks
On 7 December 1985 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base at Ballygawley, County Tyrone. Two RUC officers were shot dead and the base was raked with gunfire before being destroyed by a bomb, which wounded a further three officers. Background In 1985, Patrick Kelly became leader of the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade. He, along with East Tyrone Brigade members Jim Lynagh and Pádraig McKearney, advocated using flying columns to destroy isolated British Army and RUC bases and stop them from being repaired. The goal was to create and hold "liberated zones" under IRA control that would be gradually enlarged. Although IRA Chief of Staff Kevin McKenna turned-down the flying column idea, IRA Northern Command approved the plan to destroy bases and prevent their repair. In that year alone there were 44 such attacks. Among the most devastating was the mortar attack on Newry RUC barracks in March. The attack The attack involve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited, Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pádraig McKearney
Pádraig Oliver McKearney (18 December 1954 – 8 May 1987) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) paramilitary. He was killed during a British Army ambush at Loughgall, County Armagh in May 1987, aged 32. He had 15 years of service as an IRA Volunteer when he was shot dead at Loughgall, making him one of the most experienced IRA Volunteers ever killed by British forces. Background Pádraig McKearney was raised in Moy, County Tyrone, in a staunchly Irish republican family. Both his grandfathers had fought in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence, his maternal grandfather in south County Roscommon and his paternal grandfather in east County Tyrone. He was educated at local Catholic schools in Collegeland, County Armagh, Collegeland and Moy, and later went to St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon. IRA career He joined the Provisional IRA and was first arrested in 1972 on charges of blowing up the post office in Moy. He spent six weeks on remand, but wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Lynagh
Jim Lynagh ( ga, Séamus Ó Laighneach; 13 April 1956 – 8 May 1987) was a member of the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), from Monaghan Town in the Republic of Ireland. Background One of twelve children, Lynagh was born and raised on the Tully Estate, a housing estate in the townland of Killygowan on the southern edge of Monaghan Town, County Monaghan, in the Republic of Ireland. He joined the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA) in the early 1970s. In December 1973 he was badly injured in a premature bomb explosion, arrested, and spent five years in the Maze Prison. While imprisoned, he studied and became a great admirer of Mao Zedong. After his release from prison in 1979 Lynagh was elected as a Sinn Féin councillor for Monaghan, and held this position when he was killed. At the time of his death, Lynagh had been living in a flat on Dublin Street in Monaghan Town. East Tyrone Brigade After his release from prison Lynagh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
