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Northern Ireland bomb blast causes injuries
IRA denies responsibility
July 14, 1996
Web posted at: 8:00 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT)NORTHERN IRELAND (CNN) -- The first bomb explosion in 22 months in Northern Ireland went off early Sunday, following several nights of rioting by both Catholics and Protestants.
Bombers left a device in a jeep just after midnight outside the Killyhevlin hotel at Enniskillen, near the Irish border. A telephone warning was given and guests were evacuated two minutes before the explosion. Forty people were injured, none seriously.
It was the first bombing in Northern Ireland since the Irish Republican Army called a cease-fire in 1994. A caller to Ireland's state-run television and radio network, using a recognized codeword, denied the IRA was responsible.
On Saturday in Londonderry, Catholics angered by Protestant marches through their neighborhoods clashed with police for a third day. A Catholic man, Dermot McShane, was killed; dozens of people were injured.
McShane was the first person to die in nearly a week of violence. He was run over by an army jeep. Thousands of people, many marching with black flags, attended a vigil in his honor.
Several hundred rioters confronted police in Londonderry until dawn Sunday, throwing an estimated 1,000 gasoline bombs that destroyed several vehicles, a post office and a pub. Police fired hundreds of plastic bullets from behind lines of armored cars and beat protesters with truncheons.
Catholics have rioted for three nights in a row, following four nights of rioting by pro-British Protestants.
Protestants rioted after police blocked the Orange Order -- a Protestant fraternal organization -- from marching through Catholic neighborhoods. Catholics began rioting when police reversed the decision and escorted the group's members and supporters through Catholic areas Thursday and Friday.
The parades were to commemorate the Protestant victory over Catholics in the 17th century.
The Irish government was scathing in its criticism of the British response to Protestant rioting, straining relations between the two at a time when they are jointly overseeing multi-party peace talks.
Leaders of the IRA-allied Sinn Fein party alleged that police have been far quicker to fire at rioting Catholics than at disruptive Protestants.
More than 230 people -- police and civilians -- have been wounded since rioting began July 7.
CNN's Siobhan Darrow and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Man killed in Northern Ireland riot - July 12, 1996
- Protestant power on parade after Catholics riot - July 12, 1996
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