Bloody Friday (July 21, 1972) refers to a series of bomb attacks allegedly carried out by the IRA on July 21, 1972, in response to the Bloody Sunday tragedy of January 30, 1972, when the British army opened fire on a crowd of peace demonstrators. In revenge, the IRA then planned a series of attacks around Belfast, calling the operation “Bloody Friday”.
More than 6 months after the Bloody Sunday scandal, the IRA decided to retaliate by planting more than 22 bombs around Belfast. The aim was to plunge the British occupation troops into terror, and thus avenge the victims of Bloody Sunday.
However, the IRA would have warned British troops 30 minutes before the explosions through the local media. According to the IRA, the British only partially heeded these warnings, as they were disrupted by a succession of false alarms, and were too absorbed in the idea of evacuating people to areas deemed safer (and which, in truth, were not).
Following the explosion of the 22 bombs, the toll was clear: more than 9 people were killed and over 130 injured. Victims came from all walks of life, including Protestants and Catholics.
In the aftermath of Bloody Friday, the people of Northern Ireland fiercely criticized the IRA’s actions, blaming the organization for the deaths of honest Irish Catholics, whereas the action was intended to target English Protestants only.
