Name: Clip from the documentary Voices from the Grave about Bloody Friday, with the voices of Brendan Hughes and David Ervine
Uploaded: 2022-07-22T15:25:41.000Z
Duration: 213 s
Description: Clip from the documentary Voices from the Grave about Bloody Friday, with the voices of Brendan Hughes and David Ervine

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But the commander in charge of the bombing campaign, Brendan Hughes (aka ‘The Dark’), went on to claim that the IRA had “absolutely” not intended to kill anyone.

Estimates vary, but there were over 20 bombs in different locations around the city – some just a couple of hundred yards from each other – that detonated between 2pm and 4pm on July 21, 1972.

Added to that were a series of hoax alerts designed to confuse the police.

In some cases, this meant that no evacuation was possible, or even that people were unwittingly evacuated towards other unexploded bombs.

Despite this, Hughes told the Boston Tapes (a project to record the recollections of paramilitaries, on the proviso that they not be publicised while they were alive) that killing people had not been an objective.

He said that he had “a fair deal of regret” about the bloodbath.

He was never convicted for masterminding the conspiracy, and died in 2008.

VIDEO: Listen to IRA commander in charge of Bloody Friday claim ‘we absolutely did not intend to kill anyone’ with over 20 explosions at civilian targets on a Friday afternoon