Sister Kate by Kate O'Hanlon

Author:Kate O'Hanlon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackstaff Press Ltd
Published: 2011-11-16T16:00:00+00:00

1972: The Abercorn, Donegall Street and Bloody Friday

The situation worsened considerably in 1972, which had the highest death toll (496) of all the years of the Troubles. The year started badly. January ended with Bloody Sunday, when thirteen unarmed civil rights marchers in Derry were shot dead by the Parachute Regiment, and a fourteenth was fatally wounded. ira recruitment accelerated as a result. Loyalist killings of Catholics intensified. ira car-bombs – a new tactic – caused death, injury and widespread panic in Belfast and in towns across the North. Two bomb attacks in March were particularly horrific.

On the first Saturday of the month, a bright, sunny afternoon, the centre of Belfast was packed with people shopping. They may have been uneasy; the city was a dangerous place to be, and there had been shootings, bomb scares and two explosions that day. The A & E department at the Royal was experiencing an unexpected and unusual lull. There were no patients. Five nurses – three of whom were students – and the staff nurse in charge, Norma Grindle, were enjoying the break. There were also two junior doctors on duty – as it was a weekend, there was a minimum of doctors on duty and no surplus nurses, just the number required on duty in each unit. And on the levels above the department, the outpatient clinics were closed. I was on holiday that day and the other casualty sister was off duty for the afternoon.

There were three patients waiting for transport in the observation ward. When Norma rang ambulance control to find out why the patients were still waiting, ambulance control told her that they had no time to talk to her – there had been a big explosion downtown which had caused many, many casualties, and they were all on their way to the Royal. Norma hurried back down to the office and telephoned Matron’s office to ask for help. As she was on the phone, being told that there were no nurses to spare, she heard the sirens of the first ambulances arriving at the department.

The Abercorn, a popular city-centre restaurant, was situated between two narrow streets off Cornmarket. It was crowded that afternoon, with customers waiting for tables, and 250 people were in a cabaret club upstairs. Without thought for man, woman or child, a 5lb bomb was planted under a table at the back.

Anne Owens and her friend Janet Bereen were having a coffee when the bomb exploded without warning. They were killed outright. Over one hundred people were hurt in the blast, some with horrendous injuries. Two sisters, Rosaleen and Jennifer McNern, both lost their legs, and Rosaleen lost part of her right arm as well. She was to be married shortly. Jimmy Stewart was also about to be married. He had called into the Abercorn before meeting up with his fiancée; he lost both legs. Irene Arnold was working her last day as a waitress; she lost both legs and an eye. Many people

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