0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some scenes
0:00:04 > 0:00:06which some viewers may find upsetting.
0:00:23 > 0:00:31Canary Wharf sent the message that peace and war are both options
0:00:31 > 0:00:33and neither one is a given.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43There was a sense that these were the militants,
0:00:43 > 0:00:45these were the extremists,
0:00:45 > 0:00:47these were the people against the peace process.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53The IRA repeatedly felt that the only way
0:00:53 > 0:00:57they could get the British to listen to them is violence.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04- BILL CLINTON:- You must stand firm against terrorists.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08You must say to those who still would use violence
0:01:08 > 0:01:11for political objectives, "You are the past.
0:01:11 > 0:01:12"Your day is over."
0:01:15 > 0:01:16HUGE EXPLOSION
0:01:18 > 0:01:19SCREAMING AND SIRENS
0:01:23 > 0:01:28The Docklands bomb pointed into the heart of darkness of the IRA
0:01:28 > 0:01:29in South Armagh.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45It was the moment of truth.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54ALARMS WAILING
0:01:59 > 0:02:02The calculation of the IRA was that a bomb in London
0:02:02 > 0:02:04was worth ten bombs in Belfast.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08And a bomb in a sensitive area was worth a lot more
0:02:08 > 0:02:10than one in the middle of nowhere.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38We had Baltic Exchange and Bishopsgate,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40which were on a huge scale.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42And, with effectively the city under attack,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45this wasn't just a small car bomb going off, something like that.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47This was causing really very major damage,
0:02:47 > 0:02:48actually destroying buildings,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50which is something London wasn't used to.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53ALARMS WAIL
0:03:00 > 0:03:04They wanted to demonstrate that they were a force to be reckoned with,
0:03:04 > 0:03:10and, yes, that it was a way of putting pressure on John Major
0:03:10 > 0:03:11and on the British government.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17So, where are you going to be safe?
0:03:17 > 0:03:18That was the real concern.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22The Docklands area was just really a place,
0:03:22 > 0:03:24a part of London everyone had forgotten about.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27So the development that went into it was really very exciting.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36But the tide was running against the men of violence, at that stage.
0:03:42 > 0:03:48APPLAUSE
0:03:48 > 0:03:52We are demanding of Mr Major's government
0:03:52 > 0:03:54that he takes decisive steps, now,
0:03:54 > 0:03:56to move the situation forward
0:03:56 > 0:03:58in a fundamental way
0:03:58 > 0:04:02and that means fundamental political and constitutional change.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06Clearly, we wanted something that was more than just
0:04:06 > 0:04:08a temporary ceasefire,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11because we made clear all along we did not wish to negotiate
0:04:11 > 0:04:14under the duress of a threat to return to violence.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50The United States had always lined up with the British point of view
0:04:50 > 0:04:53and no American president would have dared to interfere
0:04:53 > 0:04:54or be seen in Belfast
0:04:54 > 0:04:57or Northern Ireland before this
0:04:57 > 0:05:00and, yet, here was Clinton breaking a 225-year tradition,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03and landing in Belfast on Air Force One, so...
0:05:03 > 0:05:06It was one of the most historic moments I've ever witnessed.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11Clinton coming when he did...
0:05:13 > 0:05:17..these were moves where the Americans were trying to help us
0:05:17 > 0:05:22to consolidate a process that was clearly coming under strain.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30The Clinton visit
0:05:30 > 0:05:33actually produced a fair degree of euphoria.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37There was a degree of scepticism amongst Unionists...
0:05:37 > 0:05:42but particularly the speech he made and the points which he covered then
0:05:42 > 0:05:44had a really big impact.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46APPLAUSE
0:05:46 > 0:05:49You must stand firm against terror.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52You must say to those
0:05:52 > 0:05:55who still would use violence for political objectives,
0:05:55 > 0:05:56you are the past.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Your day is over.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01Violence has no place at the table of democracy.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04The Irish government, the British government,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08the IRA were all locked in stasis at that point.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10And you were looking for some outside force,
0:06:10 > 0:06:12which is what America was always going to provide.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16I felt, arriving in Belfast, that, yeah, there were problems,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19but they were not sufficient enough to break the ceasefire.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25Let us join our prayers in this season of peace
0:06:25 > 0:06:28for a future of peace in this good land.
0:06:29 > 0:06:30Thank you very much.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33APPLAUSE
0:06:48 > 0:06:51But little did we know, little did he know...
0:06:51 > 0:06:54that the ceasefire was over,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57and that the IRA were planning the Docklands bomb.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18The IRA's so-called England Department,
0:07:18 > 0:07:24the part of the IRA that planned and executed bombings in Britain,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26that was run out of South Armagh.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36It was the IRA's heartland,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40an area where they could operate with relative impunity.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46The reputed Chief of Staff of the IRA lives in South Armagh,
0:07:46 > 0:07:47on the border.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52You've also got IRA snipers here,
0:07:52 > 0:07:54"Sniper at work" signs on the lampposts.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18The sniper team in South Armagh
0:08:18 > 0:08:24was pretty high profile and certainly being very effective
0:08:24 > 0:08:25for the Provisional IRA.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46The shooting happened just after 1:30 on the outskirts
0:08:46 > 0:08:48of Crossmaglen.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52The soldier was a member of the foot patrol, when a gunman opened fire.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Locals reported hearing one shot.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57The soldier was hit in the chest and died a short time later...
0:08:59 > 0:09:03They would have shot from the car, a mile away perhaps.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07The soldier or police officer was killed, car left the scene.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11They had built up a reputation.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14You know, signs on the streets. "Watch out, snipers about."
0:09:15 > 0:09:17It was definitely mentally very draining.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22We knew the terrorists. We knew them well, actually.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24We knew very much who was doing what.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29I mean, yes, they were pretty hard to catch.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51We were consistently hearing the same thing...
0:09:51 > 0:09:54that the Unionists really didn't trust this process
0:09:54 > 0:09:57and they needed the decommissioning, in order to have their own politics
0:09:57 > 0:10:01moving forward, and the Nationalists were...
0:10:03 > 0:10:07..really in need of some more from the peace process,
0:10:07 > 0:10:09to show progress for this end of this violence.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11I personally never supported the violence,
0:10:11 > 0:10:13I thought it made it harder.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17Others in the IRA felt that it was the only way to get
0:10:17 > 0:10:18the British to talk to you.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20CAMERAS CLICKING
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Almost anybody concerned with the health of the peace process
0:10:23 > 0:10:25was very worried about the lack of progress
0:10:25 > 0:10:29towards the comprehensive negotiations that had been promised
0:10:29 > 0:10:34and then, Sir Patrick Mayhew put decommissioning on the table
0:10:34 > 0:10:38as a new precondition for political talks.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41We can't and, therefore, we won't,
0:10:41 > 0:10:46fudge the issue of arms and explosives.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50We don't ask for everything all at once, that would not be realistic.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52But if Sinn Fein and the other parties associated
0:10:52 > 0:10:56with the paramilitaries have truly given up justifying violence,
0:10:56 > 0:11:02then there is no longer any need for paramilitary weapons, is there?
0:11:04 > 0:11:07INTERVIEWER: Could we say that speech by Patrick Mayhew
0:11:07 > 0:11:10set in train the events that led us ultimately to Docklands?
0:11:10 > 0:11:13I think any analyst who comes to write the history,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17with the benefit of records and so on, in the future will, I think,
0:11:17 > 0:11:18give it a significant place.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22In my view, that was probably the single most serious mistake
0:11:22 > 0:11:26made by any of the governments involved in the peace process.
0:11:27 > 0:11:28The IRA guns are silenced.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31That we have this unprecedented opportunity for peace
0:11:31 > 0:11:35and that we must build upon it, and move the entire situation on,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38and that includes, of course, the decommissioning of all the weapons.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41How are you, Peter? I'm glad we are sharing this moment of history.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Certainly I, and, I think, others,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47didn't anticipate just what a difficulty
0:11:47 > 0:11:49decommissioning was going to turn out to be.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10I mean, I think we counted every month in 1995
0:12:10 > 0:12:13where there hadn't been any killings was a bonus.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20But later that summer,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24there was a preoccupation with the problems over the marches
0:12:24 > 0:12:25and Drumcree.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30GUNSHOT
0:12:31 > 0:12:32GUNSHOT
0:12:42 > 0:12:48What I remember the concern being in the centre of government,
0:12:48 > 0:12:52in Number Ten, was doing what we could,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56grasping at the positive initiatives
0:12:56 > 0:12:58that would help to keep the process going.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28CAMERAS CLICKING
0:13:29 > 0:13:33We had to try to figure out a way to create a process
0:13:33 > 0:13:41that would permit the entry of the paramilitary groups to negotiations,
0:13:41 > 0:13:46but at the same time, allow the constitutional parties to stay in.
0:13:46 > 0:13:47On both sides.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51The mechanism that the British government had chosen,
0:13:51 > 0:13:53prior decommissioning of weapons,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55simply wasn't feasible.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59None of the paramilitaries would agree to it,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03and even some of those who advocated it publicly,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05said to us privately, "We know it won't work.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07"You guys have got to figure out a way around this."
0:14:07 > 0:14:11CROWD SHOUTING
0:14:21 > 0:14:28When the president decided to go to Northern Ireland, in the fall,
0:14:28 > 0:14:30it was really frustrating,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34because there was just no movement on the peace process.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38The decommissioning had become an issue
0:14:38 > 0:14:42way out of proportion, in the nationalist community's view.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47And we knew that Adams was trying to avoid a split in the IRA,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50that the entire IRA was not on board.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58INTERVIEWER: Do you remember, through that period in 1995,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01hearing any concerns about a split within the Republican movement,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04if the British government and the Unionists stuck to this demand
0:15:04 > 0:15:07that decommissioning would have to happen first?
0:15:07 > 0:15:11Yes, I do remember talk of that,
0:15:11 > 0:15:16but... And I remember there was some intelligence reports about that.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18CROWD SHOUTING AND CHEERING
0:15:19 > 0:15:21They gave them a little running room to see,
0:15:21 > 0:15:28but if it didn't deliver on the agenda for the nationalist community
0:15:28 > 0:15:30they would pull the plug out from him.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34We knew he was walking quite a tightrope.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:15:46 > 0:15:49This was huge symbolism
0:15:49 > 0:15:54and that was the moment that seemed to crown the trip.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02But then Gerry came over, after the handshake, and came with us,
0:16:02 > 0:16:04and said, "Come with me", and we went down the street.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11We were asked to go to a particular house in West Belfast,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15and we arrived, really not expecting what happened.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17DOG BARKS
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Niall O'Dowd and I met with Gerry Adams, just himself,
0:16:24 > 0:16:30and he told us that if the peace process didn't bear fruit quickly,
0:16:30 > 0:16:32the ceasefire was not going to last.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41There was a very dire message,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44which was given to us in no uncertain terms.
0:16:49 > 0:16:55Gerry said, "When are they going to stop kicking the dog?
0:16:55 > 0:16:56"The dog is sleeping"...
0:16:57 > 0:16:59..being the IRA.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02It's not engaged in actions.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Whether it has arms or not is really not the key,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10it's a question of whether it uses arms. That...
0:17:10 > 0:17:12And the more they kick the dog,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16the more the dog is going to wake up and go back to its old habits.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24In this tiny Belfast housing estate,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27we were told very much that, no, things were very bad,
0:17:27 > 0:17:31that we could expect something very bad, unless something improved.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38INTERVIEWER: You were being told by Gerry Adams, effectively,
0:17:38 > 0:17:40that the ceasefire was over
0:17:40 > 0:17:43and that this was the fault of the British government?
0:17:43 > 0:17:47Well, I don't know we that we were told that it was over, per se,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51we were told that it would be over, unless...
0:17:52 > 0:17:55And the "unlesses" were talks,
0:17:55 > 0:17:59and a deferral of the decommissioning issue.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:18:05 > 0:18:08For people to do their holiday shopping
0:18:08 > 0:18:11without worry of searches or bombs.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13To visit loved ones on the other side of the Border
0:18:13 > 0:18:17without the burden of checkpoints or roadblocks.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20To enjoy these magnificent Christmas lights
0:18:20 > 0:18:23without any fear of violence.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Peace has brought real change to your lives.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29APPLAUSE
0:18:29 > 0:18:32We definitely felt, leaving that house, it was on the brink.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37And we went to the town hall in Belfast thinking, "My God.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40"This might be the worst-ever moment of the whole thing,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43"where it should be the happiest one."
0:18:43 > 0:18:47That was a pretty stiff, cold bucket of water
0:18:47 > 0:18:49thrown over my high expectations.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Ten...
0:18:53 > 0:18:55ALL: Nine...
0:18:55 > 0:18:56eight...
0:18:56 > 0:18:58seven...
0:18:58 > 0:19:00six...
0:19:00 > 0:19:02five...
0:19:02 > 0:19:03four...
0:19:03 > 0:19:05three...
0:19:05 > 0:19:07two...
0:19:07 > 0:19:08One!
0:19:08 > 0:19:10CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:19:20 > 0:19:22So, when President Clinton was here,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24speaking at the front of City Hall,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27and telling terrorists that their day was over,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29South Armagh was already preparing to bomb London?
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Yes.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33- I said it then, I'll say it now. - That's a fact?- Yeah.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37- They would have had to have been doing that?- Absolutely.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39You just don't wake up in the morning and say,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42"I'm going to bomb London" and load it up that night.
0:19:47 > 0:19:48The workforce,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52the active people that come in and load the heavy-duty stuff
0:19:52 > 0:19:55into the lorry, to them, it's just a job,
0:19:55 > 0:19:56you know, they'll not know the target,
0:19:56 > 0:19:58they'll not know where it's going.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01They'll know it's a bomb, because that's what they're packing,
0:20:01 > 0:20:03and you know, weeks, months later,
0:20:03 > 0:20:04it happens.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31I mean, South Armagh IRA has always been very much based
0:20:31 > 0:20:35around families, interconnected by marriage,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37but you know, you're talking about six or eight families
0:20:37 > 0:20:41of brothers and sons, sometimes grandsons,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43sometimes working together on the same operation.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49This is where trust, you know, ran through people's blood.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51CHOPPER WHIRRING
0:20:57 > 0:21:00There was a sense that these were the militants,
0:21:00 > 0:21:01these were the extremists,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04these were the people against the peace process.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16These were very dangerous people,
0:21:16 > 0:21:21who had a number of other skills and tactics.
0:21:28 > 0:21:34It's the sort of skills you find in rural communities, you know,
0:21:34 > 0:21:39where you want to be mending your own farming equipment yourself,
0:21:39 > 0:21:44you want to be able to weld, and put your tractor back together again,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48and where you find the tools about that you need,
0:21:48 > 0:21:55and you find odd pieces of angle iron and aluminium
0:21:55 > 0:21:58to build the truck that they did.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03It was an unusual-looking vehicle,
0:22:03 > 0:22:08and the bomb was buried deep into the fabric of the vehicle,
0:22:08 > 0:22:13and welded into place, so that it could survive...
0:22:13 > 0:22:16As long as the terrorists kept their nerve,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19it could survive a cursory search.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41The first time it comes over,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45on 15th January,
0:22:45 > 0:22:47there is no bomb inside the vehicle,
0:22:47 > 0:22:53so the dummy run gave them the opportunity
0:22:53 > 0:22:56to test the various security systems,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58you might call them,
0:22:58 > 0:23:04or chokepoints, where they might be at greater risk on the way in.
0:23:05 > 0:23:10Looking for traffic officers on the route,
0:23:10 > 0:23:12all the things that might cause them risk.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16They fitted it up with a tachograph and everything,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19it looks like what it is,
0:23:19 > 0:23:23which is a vehicle that is being used to transport
0:23:23 > 0:23:26second-hand vehicles to and from Ireland.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35Napoleon said time spent on reconnaissance is rarely wasted.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06We said in our report
0:24:06 > 0:24:10that we did not think prior decommissioning was feasible,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12but we suggested the possibility
0:24:12 > 0:24:16of parallel negotiation and decommissioning,
0:24:16 > 0:24:17that you begin talks
0:24:17 > 0:24:22and you try to do both talk and decommissioning in parallel.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25We approached it with a sense of urgency
0:24:25 > 0:24:29because we believe that is what the situation demands.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31I think we were a little bit...
0:24:33 > 0:24:35..shocked, in a way,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38by the idea he came up with of parallel decommissioning.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42While the decommissioning of arms may be segregated in theory,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44in the real life of Northern Ireland,
0:24:44 > 0:24:47it is interwoven with many other issues
0:24:47 > 0:24:49and with much history.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52John Major chose to deal with it in a particular way,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56by not focusing on that particular bit of his report,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59but by picking up the idea which was, sort of,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01buried rather obscurely in the report, about elections.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06We believe, that in the light of the Mitchell Report,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09there are two ways in which all-party negotiations
0:25:09 > 0:25:11can now be taken forward.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14The first is for paramilitaries to make a start
0:25:14 > 0:25:17to decommissioning before all-party negotiations.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20They can, if they will.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23If not, the second is to secure a democratic mandate
0:25:23 > 0:25:25for all-party negotiations
0:25:25 > 0:25:28through elections especially for that purpose.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Would he now fix a date for all-party talks,
0:25:32 > 0:25:36rather than the 17 months that he has wasted up till now?
0:25:36 > 0:25:38CLAMOURING
0:25:38 > 0:25:40And could I...
0:25:40 > 0:25:42I live with it, you don't.
0:25:42 > 0:25:43CLAMOURING
0:25:46 > 0:25:52It was clear that, despite the Clinton visit,
0:25:52 > 0:25:54despite the Mitchell initiative,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58that John Major just couldn't bring himself
0:25:58 > 0:26:01to do what needed to be done.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03I always saw John Major as the guy who,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06if you start with the Downing Street Declaration,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08he knew there was a door, the door was open,
0:26:08 > 0:26:12he peeked through the door, but he could never go through the door.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17I think there wouldn't have been Canary Wharf
0:26:17 > 0:26:20if the British reaction to the Mitchell proposal had been,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22"OK, talks start on March 1"
0:26:22 > 0:26:25and, you know, "We'll follow this formula."
0:26:30 > 0:26:32If the ceasefires were to break down,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36we might receive very little, if any, warning and without doubt,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38many of the key targets would, as before,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41be on this side of the water.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55I don't think we necessarily thought that,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58"OK, this is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02"This is the last thing that's going to break the ceasefire,"
0:27:02 > 0:27:05but in any case, we had to react in the way that we had to react
0:27:05 > 0:27:08and everybody has to, sort of, take their positions in these things
0:27:08 > 0:27:11and then try and work it out from there.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16Although we didn't think it was going to help, I don't think
0:27:16 > 0:27:19we thought that this was necessarily the end of the peace process.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27I don't know that I ever said, "Well here it comes, here comes the bomb."
0:27:27 > 0:27:30I don't think I would ever rule out myself to do that,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33almost becoming complicit in the bomb.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41They know exactly what they're doing
0:27:41 > 0:27:43and where they're going to go to.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47They absolutely replicate the dummy run.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58They stay the night in Carlisle, in the truck stop.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06And then head all the way towards London.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Here you are on the old agenda once again.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34The guns have been silenced for the last 18 months.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36I mean, would you prefer they weren't silenced?
0:28:36 > 0:28:39Mr Adams knows that those guns should never have been used
0:28:39 > 0:28:41in the first instance.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44They keep on saying they're now silent and give themselves
0:28:44 > 0:28:46a pat on the back. It's a lot of codswallop. He knows that.
0:28:49 > 0:28:55At River Road, I would think they're a bit nervous by that time.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11They were driving from River Road in the East End of London...
0:29:16 > 0:29:21..to put it right in the heart of the Docklands.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29They know that they have to put the vehicle down,
0:29:29 > 0:29:36tell whoever is in control that the vehicle is in place,
0:29:36 > 0:29:42then the calls can go in, "There's a big bomb in the Docklands."
0:29:54 > 0:29:57There's clearly two of them.
0:29:57 > 0:30:04And they park it, set the...set the timer...
0:30:04 > 0:30:06get out and walk away.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23Typical Friday evening.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25The six o'clock bulletin being put to bed.
0:30:25 > 0:30:31I've sat there at the news desk and a phone call came through.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37A Northern Ireland accent, a man said, from six o'clock that evening,
0:30:37 > 0:30:39the IRA ceasefire would end.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44Initially, there was a sense of disbelief.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50A friend of mine came down and said,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53"Come on, let's go and have a glass of wine."
0:30:53 > 0:30:56I started getting messages - "Phone the commissioner, urgently."
0:30:56 > 0:30:58And I hadn't even got the glass up to my lips.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00And they just kept coming.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06I was in the White House, in the West Wing, and I got a call
0:31:06 > 0:31:09from Gerry Adams that he'd been hearing things,
0:31:09 > 0:31:12basically warning us that he thought this was going to happen.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18I had a call from Nancy Soderberg,
0:31:18 > 0:31:20because they'd also heard from Sinn Fein that,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23I don't know exactly what the message was,
0:31:23 > 0:31:25but I think it was to the effect that, from Gerry Adams,
0:31:25 > 0:31:28that, "The ceasefire's going to break and it's not my fault."
0:31:28 > 0:31:31- HE LAUGHS - Erm, something like that.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35We go over to Peter Sissons in the newsroom, for a news report.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38According to reports on the Irish state broadcaster RTE,
0:31:38 > 0:31:42in Dublin, the IRA has broken off its ceasefire.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45The television and radio station received a call,
0:31:45 > 0:31:47claiming to be from the IRA, early this evening.
0:31:47 > 0:31:52And frankly, my first reaction was, "RTE have got excited about this.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54"This doesn't make sense. There's just no point in,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57"from the point of view of the Republican movement,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00"in having a ceasefire and then resorting to violence."
0:32:00 > 0:32:04It was only going to do damage to the Republican movement.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30The Commissioner said to me, "The ceasefire is broken
0:32:30 > 0:32:34"and we think there's a bomb in the Docklands."
0:32:35 > 0:32:39The IRA, they said, "You've got an hour to clear the area."
0:32:39 > 0:32:42And they were desperately clearing it.
0:32:43 > 0:32:48At six o'clock, I came on duty. I reported to my control centre.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52I placed on my uniform and I went to work.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57RADIO CHATTER
0:32:57 > 0:33:01At about 6:30 to 6:45,
0:33:01 > 0:33:07Inam phoned up, saying that, "We've been told to leave the premises."
0:33:07 > 0:33:10RADIO CHATTER
0:33:14 > 0:33:18I could hear John Jeffries, one of our members of staff,
0:33:18 > 0:33:21could hear him in the background laughing and joking.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24I think he was talking to PC McGrath.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26And Inam was saying, "We're coming out, we're going,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29"we're just going to make the premises safe and we're leaving."
0:33:32 > 0:33:35I started to realise something might have gone wrong
0:33:35 > 0:33:38when I saw police vehicles in the road.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42But we had no warning whatsoever there was a bomb in Marsh Wall.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44We had no warning whatsoever.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48RADIO CHATTER
0:33:48 > 0:33:51LOUD EXPLOSION
0:33:55 > 0:34:03We saw this whoosh of light, a long, flat flash across the horizon.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08You could see, looking right across London,
0:34:08 > 0:34:10it was a big bomb had gone off.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16SOBBING, WHIMPERING
0:34:19 > 0:34:21Initially, I thought, "Where's that light...?"
0:34:21 > 0:34:23I thought, "Well, that's... Where's that come from?"
0:34:23 > 0:34:25And then, then, actually,
0:34:25 > 0:34:31I was blown into the air and I woke up with all rubble on top of me.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34SIRENS
0:34:34 > 0:34:37I couldn't hear, initially, very well.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41Erm... I dug my way out the wreckage.
0:34:41 > 0:34:42Erm...
0:34:42 > 0:34:46And I remember thinking... I knew I was alive.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48I knew I was alive at that time.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52But I remember thinking to myself, where had everything gone?
0:34:52 > 0:34:56And I could see people on the road...
0:34:56 > 0:34:59some with horrific injuries. Appalling injuries.
0:35:02 > 0:35:07About 7:10, one of my sellers that work at Fleet Street with us
0:35:07 > 0:35:09said, "Look, a bomb's gone off around Docklands,
0:35:09 > 0:35:14"have you heard anything?" I said, "No, let me call the shop quickly,
0:35:14 > 0:35:16"but they haven't reported in."
0:35:16 > 0:35:19So I called, called, called, numerous times
0:35:19 > 0:35:23and we went straight to...the scene.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25And it was all cordoned off.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28We were told by a police officer that,
0:35:28 > 0:35:31"Look, all the injured people
0:35:31 > 0:35:34"have been moved to different hospitals."
0:35:36 > 0:35:40Hundreds of people are injured by flying glass.
0:35:40 > 0:35:42A scene of utter devastation, you know,
0:35:42 > 0:35:44like anything you've ever seen in a movie,
0:35:44 > 0:35:47and, you know, that sort of flickering light
0:35:47 > 0:35:51from the Fire Brigade and torches and all that,
0:35:51 > 0:35:54like a scene from the apocalypse.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57Shortly before six o'clock this evening...
0:35:57 > 0:35:59Can you speak up, please?
0:35:59 > 0:36:02Shortly before six o'clock this evening,
0:36:02 > 0:36:08there were a series of warnings, coded, of a recognised nature,
0:36:08 > 0:36:12that brought the police and the emergency services here.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14Whilst they were clearing the scene,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18an explosion occurred at seven o'clock.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21There have been a number of casualties.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24It's too early to say the precise nature of those casualties.
0:36:25 > 0:36:30The Metropolitan Police has never dismantled its ability
0:36:30 > 0:36:34to respond quickly to this kind of incident.
0:36:34 > 0:36:35Thank you.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40Irish violence returned to the streets of Britain tonight,
0:36:40 > 0:36:43cruelly, unexpectedly and with a deafening retort.
0:36:43 > 0:36:44Even at lunchtime today,
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Sinn Fein leaders were talking about the ceasefire holding.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Tonight, they were nowhere to be seen.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06- Are we ready to go? - Yes, we are. I am.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11- Gerry Adams, did you know this was going to happen?- No, of course not.
0:37:11 > 0:37:12Why did you not know?
0:37:12 > 0:37:15I mean, you've had this whole run-up to the ceasefire,
0:37:15 > 0:37:19where you were advising the IRA, you persuaded them
0:37:19 > 0:37:23that the best option was to go with the nationalist consensus,
0:37:23 > 0:37:26you've at times attempted to preserve that ceasefire since.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30It seems outrageous and strange that they would take a decision like this
0:37:30 > 0:37:33without consulting either you or some of your senior colleagues.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35Well, none of the senior Sinn Fein people
0:37:35 > 0:37:38and presumably none of the Sinn Fein people were consulted
0:37:38 > 0:37:42and it's no surprise the IRA would not consult Sinn Fein
0:37:42 > 0:37:44about military operations.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01'You look at it and you think, where do you start,
0:38:01 > 0:38:05'with this scale of devastation?'
0:38:05 > 0:38:07How do you even begin?
0:38:25 > 0:38:27Stay to the swept area, please.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36- JOHN MAJOR:- Sinn Fein must decide
0:38:36 > 0:38:39whether they are a front for the IRA,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41or a democratic political party
0:38:41 > 0:38:43committed to the ballot and not to the bullet.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53BILL CLINTON: The people of Great Britain do not deserve
0:38:53 > 0:38:55to have this violence wreaked upon them.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00We will not stop in our efforts until peace has been secured.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10Do you look back now and see it as an intelligence failure?
0:39:10 > 0:39:12Well, it WAS an intelligence failure, in the sense that
0:39:12 > 0:39:14whenever anything like that happens
0:39:14 > 0:39:17and you don't know and you can't prevent it,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19it is, in that sense, an intelligence failure.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21But, erm, there have been
0:39:21 > 0:39:24a lot of intelligence failures over the years.
0:39:45 > 0:39:50I think it was suggested that this had come from South Armagh.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54Within the first few days,
0:39:54 > 0:39:5748 hours, I would have thought,
0:39:57 > 0:40:03the finger was pointing towards the engineers in South Armagh.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08Did you immediately think that South Armagh...
0:40:08 > 0:40:10- Yes. Yes.- ..IRA were responsible for this?
0:40:10 > 0:40:14The only ones it could have been. South Armagh. And I was right.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16You knew straightaway?
0:40:16 > 0:40:19Instinctively knew. Didn't know through anybody telling me.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22Just instinctively knew, "That has to be South Armagh."
0:40:24 > 0:40:28We know this vehicle has been in the border area
0:40:28 > 0:40:34for a considerable time, between November of '95 and January of '96.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37Did you see it parked outside somebody's house
0:40:37 > 0:40:40in the last few weeks? Have you seen somebody working on it?
0:40:40 > 0:40:44Perhaps you work in the motor trade, perhaps in the conversion industry,
0:40:44 > 0:40:46have you seen somebody working on this vehicle?
0:40:47 > 0:40:52We make the appeal and show the picture of the truck.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57A call, number several hundred, comes in
0:40:57 > 0:41:01from somebody who clearly knows what he's talking about,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04who says, "I'm telling you, that truck was here
0:41:04 > 0:41:08"at River Road, Barking, on this piece of waste ground."
0:41:09 > 0:41:12Exhibit officers go out there, talk to him,
0:41:12 > 0:41:13look at what they've got,
0:41:13 > 0:41:18instantly recognise that they've got something very useful here and said,
0:41:18 > 0:41:24"We've got to fingertip search this and see what we've got here."
0:41:27 > 0:41:34That gives us the Truck & Driver magazine. We find the tachographs.
0:41:39 > 0:41:43Anything else inflammable inside the tyre, I think
0:41:43 > 0:41:46they would probably have wanted to burn it.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48That was their MO, get rid of anything.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52So I think it was probably taken out of the vehicle to be burnt
0:41:52 > 0:41:54so it would disappear.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57I think they were spooked at that point,
0:41:57 > 0:42:02that there's some suggestion that there was engineers working nearby,
0:42:02 > 0:42:06or maybe even the people who gave us the information
0:42:06 > 0:42:10showed too much interest in them and they didn't get to burn it.
0:42:14 > 0:42:20That gives us a thumbprint on that magazine, so you've got a start.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27We eventually track back to where that was bought
0:42:27 > 0:42:33and you start matching the tachograph with the CCTV
0:42:33 > 0:42:39from the motorway, so you get to track the bomb vehicle backwards,
0:42:39 > 0:42:43if you like, up to Carlisle.
0:42:48 > 0:42:53That gets us to room 107 in the truck stop.
0:42:56 > 0:43:01It's lucky that the cleaner hadn't polished the ashtray,
0:43:01 > 0:43:05because there is his thumbprint on that.
0:43:09 > 0:43:14They get to Stranraer, get the ticket back from the ferry
0:43:14 > 0:43:19and there is his thumbprint on the Stenna ticket.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24The initial three thumbprints,
0:43:24 > 0:43:28which tell us that we can link the three sites, are,
0:43:28 > 0:43:33one, on the trucking magazine,
0:43:33 > 0:43:38two, on the ashtray in the truck stop at Carlisle
0:43:38 > 0:43:42and, three, on the ticket
0:43:42 > 0:43:47for the ferry that brings it over.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53So, here we've got three thumbprints.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00We went through all our records and there was nothing coming up,
0:44:00 > 0:44:03which is quite unusual because, nine times out of ten,
0:44:03 > 0:44:05we would have had suspects in custody at some point
0:44:05 > 0:44:08through the Troubles and they would've been fingerprinted.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11So for us not to get a hit,
0:44:11 > 0:44:14if you like, on that was quite significant.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43We had evidence from the bits of truck
0:44:43 > 0:44:48that looked as though they had been cut from something else.
0:44:48 > 0:44:49So, you were looking for...
0:44:49 > 0:44:53it might just be an inch chopped off to make it fit,
0:44:53 > 0:44:58or filings. It was that sort of stuff we were looking for.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02We also knew that the truck had been painted a different colour,
0:45:02 > 0:45:07so there would be paint splashes that you can perhaps match.
0:45:07 > 0:45:08Now, none of those things
0:45:08 > 0:45:11would prove an individual was attached to it,
0:45:11 > 0:45:14but it might give us that that was where the truck
0:45:14 > 0:45:16had been made or adapted.
0:45:16 > 0:45:22Then, together, that would begin to give you a picture.
0:45:26 > 0:45:32That operation, in personnel, planning, finance,
0:45:32 > 0:45:35was probably the largest I've ever witnessed.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39If successful, it had the opportunity
0:45:39 > 0:45:44of literally taking out a team in South Armagh.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50Were you sceptical about its, um...
0:45:50 > 0:45:51its ambitions?
0:45:54 > 0:46:00Not sceptical. However... the longer you leave evidence,
0:46:00 > 0:46:02the less opportunity you have of getting it
0:46:02 > 0:46:07and that could be for a whole lot of reasons - weather, contamination -
0:46:07 > 0:46:13so, for an investigator, as I would have been, yeah, I would probably
0:46:13 > 0:46:16put the chances quite low in getting what they were setting out to get.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39LOUD EXPLOSION
0:46:43 > 0:46:45It was a Saturday morning and, I think,
0:46:45 > 0:46:46the morning of Trooping the Colour
0:46:46 > 0:46:49when we suddenly heard that news, which was very grim.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53A huge lorry bomb devastated Manchester city centre,
0:46:53 > 0:46:55injuring 200 people,
0:46:55 > 0:46:57the first time the IRA had struck
0:46:57 > 0:46:59since the Docklands bomb in February.
0:47:01 > 0:47:06From a criminal investigation point of view, we were struggling...
0:47:06 > 0:47:07to put it mildly.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36We needed solid, solid evidence.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39So we were not getting that and we were aware we weren't getting it
0:47:39 > 0:47:42and, from my point of view and my team's point of view,
0:47:42 > 0:47:44the morale was low because we weren't achieving, cos it was...
0:47:44 > 0:47:46it would've been our team that would've put them away,
0:47:46 > 0:47:50so we were starting to feel that weight on our shoulders.
0:48:15 > 0:48:1823-year-old Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick
0:48:18 > 0:48:20was shot as he chatted to a motorist...
0:48:20 > 0:48:23The soldier died after being hit by a single bullet
0:48:23 > 0:48:25while manning a vehicle checkpoint.
0:48:27 > 0:48:28When that happened,
0:48:28 > 0:48:33we were full-on, in terms of we knew that this was it.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24They would have gone to a vantage point,
0:49:24 > 0:49:26waited for an opportunity, and the opportunity,
0:49:26 > 0:49:29if it had presented itself, they would have shot a soldier dead.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33The opportunity didn't present itself.
0:49:33 > 0:49:38On the way back, the wheel literally came off their vehicle
0:49:38 > 0:49:42and I think you could see quite clearly that the axle
0:49:42 > 0:49:45had gone into this farm. You could see the mark, the arc.
0:50:05 > 0:50:10So they couldn't take the trailer anywhere.
0:50:10 > 0:50:12They came back the next day
0:50:12 > 0:50:16and there was a reception committee waiting for them
0:50:16 > 0:50:20and they were detained by the British Army.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25The police have confirmed that two rifles have been recovered.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28One was a Barrett .50 with a telescopic sight
0:50:28 > 0:50:31and the other an AK-47 assault rifle.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33A number of arrests have been made,
0:50:33 > 0:50:35although police have not confirmed how many.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41I was at a Bryan Adams rock concert
0:50:41 > 0:50:44and I got a phone call,
0:50:44 > 0:50:48"OK, we've arrested the sniper team," and I said,
0:50:48 > 0:50:50"Congratulations, that's wonderful."
0:50:50 > 0:50:53"We've got the car," um...
0:50:53 > 0:50:55"We got the rifle," um...
0:50:56 > 0:51:00"And we've got them all alive,"
0:51:00 > 0:51:04which was really good, and he said...
0:51:04 > 0:51:08"And the fingerprint officers had a look
0:51:08 > 0:51:10"at the first set of fingerprints
0:51:10 > 0:51:13"they've taken from the people they've arrested,"
0:51:13 > 0:51:16he said, "And your..." He just took one look at it
0:51:16 > 0:51:19and he said, "This is the triple thumbprint man."
0:51:24 > 0:51:26Once they'd got his complete set,
0:51:26 > 0:51:29they identified that McArdle was
0:51:29 > 0:51:31up to his neck in the Docklands.
0:51:40 > 0:51:47Not only was he caught for being in the car, with the rifle,
0:51:47 > 0:51:51but also he was the suspect in the Canary Wharf bomb
0:51:51 > 0:51:56and that was, in the policing world, that was just like,
0:51:56 > 0:51:59you know, it was like winning the lottery.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08This was a very clean arrest operation.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12It's a very fragile political process
0:52:12 > 0:52:14and I'm sure that that filtered down,
0:52:14 > 0:52:18right down to the SAS, and I think that,
0:52:18 > 0:52:22if there had been half a dozen IRA martyrs created that day,
0:52:22 > 0:52:26then the peace process could have taken a very different turn.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57It's fascinating that Bernard McGinn was even part of the team,
0:52:57 > 0:53:00because he was from County Monaghan so he wasn't a South Armagh man.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04There's this sort of sense that they were betrayed
0:53:04 > 0:53:05by somebody who wasn't one of them,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08and, you know, there will still be questions
0:53:08 > 0:53:11about why you allowed an outsider,
0:53:11 > 0:53:15an outsider being someone not from South Armagh, into that operation.
0:53:15 > 0:53:20And, once he started talking, it all came tumbling out.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31He gave names of the IRA volunteers.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33He talked about Michael Caraher being the sniper
0:53:33 > 0:53:37on the Lance Bombardier Restorick operation,
0:53:37 > 0:53:41when Bernard McGinn had ridden shotgun in the passenger seat
0:53:41 > 0:53:45with an AK-47, and that Michael Caraher had actually taken the shot.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53He gave the names of the people who mixed the Docklands bomb
0:53:53 > 0:53:57and so it was the kind of information
0:53:57 > 0:53:59that the British authorities
0:53:59 > 0:54:03very, very rarely got about South Armagh and it was a real break,
0:54:03 > 0:54:06not just in the sniper investigation,
0:54:06 > 0:54:08but in the Docklands investigation.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37The bomb truck would have had to have come probably right round
0:54:37 > 0:54:40and then up Marsh Road, so it's on the right,
0:54:40 > 0:54:44on this side of the road, to park.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48Bits of the bomb truck finished up in the dock.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51Bits finished up half a mile down there.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56It was very, very good teamwork
0:54:56 > 0:55:00and it includes the Royal Ulster Constabulary,
0:55:00 > 0:55:04it includes MI5 and the intelligence people,
0:55:04 > 0:55:07it includes the British Army,
0:55:07 > 0:55:12not to mention elements of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.
0:55:12 > 0:55:19This was the United Kingdom Anti-terrorism plc.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38- JOHN MAJOR:- Those negotiations will start on 10th June.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42We're determined not to allow terrorism
0:55:42 > 0:55:45to interfere with the democratic process.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48There can be no ministerial talks with Sinn Fein
0:55:48 > 0:55:51and nor can Sinn Fein take part in negotiations
0:55:51 > 0:55:53without a restoration of the ceasefire.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00The great irony, to me,
0:56:00 > 0:56:04is Canary Wharf got the Republicans to the table.
0:56:05 > 0:56:11The British are so much...the words are here and the actions are there.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13And the actions of the British are,
0:56:13 > 0:56:16"Yes, you can bomb your way to the conference table."
0:56:16 > 0:56:18That's really what Canary Wharf was.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22It was the moment of truth.
0:56:22 > 0:56:28It was the moment that sent the message that...
0:56:28 > 0:56:31peace and war are both options
0:56:31 > 0:56:33and neither one is a given.