0:00:03 > 0:00:06'The first bomb exploded inside the joint police and army...'
0:00:06 > 0:00:09'..overalls and wearing black hoods jumped out of a van...'
0:00:09 > 0:00:14- '..abducted from his...' - '..fired at close range...'
0:00:16 > 0:00:21As 1993 drew to a close, and Northern Ireland was about to begin
0:00:21 > 0:00:24the 25th year of its so-called Troubles,
0:00:24 > 0:00:28it seemed that the conflict itself might have no end.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33'An IRA bomb has killed 8 people in Belfast and injured...'
0:00:33 > 0:00:39The preceding 12 months had once again seen a sequence of tit for tat atrocities
0:00:39 > 0:00:41sink to a new low.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48'A massacre, the scale and brutality of which was scarcely believable.'
0:00:48 > 0:00:52'Armed and masked men walked inside and opened fire indiscriminately.'
0:00:52 > 0:00:55There was an atmosphere in Northern Ireland at that time of
0:00:55 > 0:01:01intense fear and, really, incipient despair.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06More than 3,000 people had now died in the Troubles.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Rumours of peace initiatives had come and gone,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12but the violence went on.
0:01:12 > 0:01:18And as the new year dawned, the question remained, would the killing ever cease?
0:01:19 > 0:01:23We went into 1994 with some hope,
0:01:23 > 0:01:25but with no certainty.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30This is the story of the last year of the Troubles.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33A year of secret peace talks and savage brinkmanship.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39And a year in which the lives of relatives who loved and lost
0:01:39 > 0:01:43were indelibly defined by the last dying days.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45The days before the cease-fire.
0:01:54 > 0:02:01You had a sense that this was it. That you were living through an absolutely historic moment,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04and who knew how bright the future might be?
0:02:20 > 0:02:26In early 1993 it emerged that the seeds of a secret peace process
0:02:26 > 0:02:29had been planted some five years earlier
0:02:29 > 0:02:31by John Hume and Gerry Adams.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36Known as Hume-Adams, these talks were facilitated by Father Alec Reid
0:02:36 > 0:02:39at Belfast's Clonard Monastery.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Father Alec would say that his basic motivation,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48he was representing the next person to be killed.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52You know, so he wanted to prevent that.
0:02:52 > 0:02:58I think we were both motivated for that passion for peace and justice.
0:02:58 > 0:03:04The endeavour then to get John Hume as representative of Northern nationalists
0:03:04 > 0:03:08were constitutional, and Gerry Adams together,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11that was a core objective.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16John Hume had wanted to draw the leaders of the Republican movement
0:03:16 > 0:03:19away from their armed struggle.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Hume and Adams were exploring each other's positions.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Adams, I think, was looking for
0:03:25 > 0:03:28more reassurance than John Hume could give him.
0:03:28 > 0:03:36Gerry Adams and those around him were trying to create belief in an approach that
0:03:36 > 0:03:40had been always thought of as heresy in Republicanism.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Politics and the IRA did not mix.
0:03:46 > 0:03:52In a parallel, secret development, Clonard had also provided a space,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56an opportunity for church leaders from the Protestant community
0:03:56 > 0:04:01willing to take the risk of engaging with the Republican movement.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07We were meeting between the leadership of Sinn Fein
0:04:07 > 0:04:12and a number of clergy, mostly Presbyterian clergy.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17Somebody from the Protestant side would share their story,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20somebody from the Republican side would share their story.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23When you heard stories you knew why people were angry,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25you knew how people were alienated.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28And you knew the journey they were trying to make.
0:04:32 > 0:04:37I can remember my first meeting in Clonard, going to meet Gerry Adams.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39When I met him, walked into the room, I remember
0:04:39 > 0:04:41he reached out his hands to shake hands and I took his hand
0:04:41 > 0:04:45and there was a sort of faint smile on his face,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48but I wasn't really in the smiling mood.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56The atmosphere changed slowly when we started talking about how we grew up.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Then we got on to challenging the whole strategy
0:05:00 > 0:05:04of using violence to perpetrate political goals.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09There was a lot of creative thinking and as, I was really very hopeful,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and I became convinced in 1993, early 1993,
0:05:13 > 0:05:18that Adams definitely had bought into what I would call a peace process.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24But that fragile peace process was dealt what looked like a mortal blow
0:05:24 > 0:05:30on the 23rd October 1993 on Belfast's Shankill Road.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37NEWSREADER: An IRA bomb has killed 8 people in Belfast
0:05:37 > 0:05:39and injured up to 40 others.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40There was no warning.
0:05:41 > 0:05:46- NEWSREADER:- The IRA said its aim was to kill Loyalist paramilitary leaders.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49But the people here believe that the planting of the bomb
0:05:49 > 0:05:51in the fish shop show they didn't care who was killed.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00This was the IRA trying to kill the UDA leadership on the Shankill Road.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05But when you bring a bomb on a short fuse into a fishmonger's shop
0:06:05 > 0:06:08on a busy Saturday afternoon on the Shankill Road,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11you were always going to kill civilians.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15- NEWSREADER:- As every emergency crew in the city converged on the scene,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18bodies began to be brought out.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20I counted five in the first half an hour,
0:06:20 > 0:06:21many more followed.
0:06:23 > 0:06:30It was a desperate result in all ways, and it just looked so much like mindless violence.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33It set the mood back immensely,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36the mood already strained and already anxious,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39many people thinking, "What is this?"
0:06:40 > 0:06:44NEWSREADER: The Shankill Road tonight. Quiet, almost eerie
0:06:44 > 0:06:48as the clearing up operation continues.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51It was a very poisoned atmosphere,
0:06:51 > 0:06:56and it was one of the darkest days when nobody thought
0:06:56 > 0:06:59that there was any hope in the aftermath of that.
0:07:01 > 0:07:07The peace process, which had barely begun, was already in danger of collapsing.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12For the mediators, the risks were now all too clear.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17I remember going over the following morning,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21it was really, just terrible just to be there.
0:07:21 > 0:07:28And I was dressed as a clergyman and I went to the, um,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31the other side of the road from where the bomb was and,
0:07:31 > 0:07:36um, some of the people saw me and were very angry with me.
0:07:39 > 0:07:45I, personally, didn't know what to believe. I certainly felt betrayed,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48I didn't really know what was happening.
0:07:48 > 0:07:55And in that confusion I was increasingly angry and disappointed.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Northern Ireland held its breath,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and just seven days after the Shankill bomb
0:08:08 > 0:08:11came the reprisal that everybody had feared.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20NEWSREADER: A massacre the scale and brutality of which was scarcely believable.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25In the village of Greysteel on the shores of Loch Foyle,
0:08:25 > 0:08:29UDA gunmen burst into the Rising Sun Bar
0:08:29 > 0:08:31and shot dead eight people.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Six Catholics and two Protestants.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39You had this awful scene described of a gunman
0:08:39 > 0:08:42just shooting the bar, riddling people, trying to kill
0:08:42 > 0:08:44as many as possible.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Suddenly you felt a lot of the old rules have gone,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50we've descended into something we haven't seen before.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54And you could hear people saying, "This is absolutely hellish."
0:08:57 > 0:09:01The funerals came at a time when people were so distressed
0:09:01 > 0:09:05by the spectacle of one community turning on the other.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Out of that, curiously, came something hopeful.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11The daughter of one of the Greysteel dead turned to
0:09:11 > 0:09:15John Hume, who was among the mourners and said,
0:09:15 > 0:09:22"Round my father's coffin we were thanking you for your efforts. Please keep going."
0:09:22 > 0:09:26And Hume turned away and was seen on camera crying.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35My sense as reporter at that time was that anything was now acceptable
0:09:35 > 0:09:39to the IRA and to the UVF and UDA.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46Amidst the fear of an increasingly vicious cycle of violence
0:09:46 > 0:09:49the British and Irish governments were compelled to act.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53And as 1993 drew to a close
0:09:53 > 0:09:57they unveiled their own plans for peace.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03The declaration was important more in the kind of appearance of it,
0:10:03 > 0:10:05because whenever you looked at the actual language of it
0:10:05 > 0:10:07it was very dense, it was very obscure,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10and there weren't very many commitments in it.
0:10:10 > 0:10:16The Taoiseach and I have now agreed on a joint declaration on Northern Ireland.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Within the Loyalist community they sensed sell-out.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23Within the IRA and Republican community the sense was that Albert Reynolds,
0:10:23 > 0:10:27the Taoiseach at that time, had abandoned the Hume-Adams process
0:10:27 > 0:10:30to involve himself in another process with John Major.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35So there was no certainty that the Downing Street declaration was going to delivery anything
0:10:35 > 0:10:38that would end the violence.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41The governments had produced this bureaucratic document,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45the paramilitaries were doing what the paramilitaries had always done,
0:10:45 > 0:10:49so the year ended on a bleak note.
0:10:49 > 0:10:54NEWSREADER: A few minutes into the new year, the first fire was discovered
0:10:54 > 0:10:56at the B&Q store in Newton Abbey.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01Before long, it seemed that 1994 might be no different to 1993.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Belfast was in flames once again.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09A clear message from the IRA that its campaign was to continue.
0:11:12 > 0:11:18Soon, the Loyalists would follow suit and the killing would begin yet again.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48- He was very kind and generous and... - A good family man.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Yes, he loved his family.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53He was just a great man, he used to love sitting out in the sun,
0:11:53 > 0:11:57pair of shorts on, doing his crossword and...
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Danielle. Playing with Danielle, his granddaughter,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02and Shane, his grandson, so...
0:12:02 > 0:12:05Great, happy times like that.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13He worked in the telephone exchange,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15he was an installer.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20We lived in Belfast and then we built our house here in Mullaghdun.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27He opened a new telephone exchange in Enniskillen and thought,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30"This is great, this is my opportunity to get out of Belfast
0:12:30 > 0:12:32"and maybe move back down to Fermanagh again, so...
0:12:32 > 0:12:36the telephone exchange didn't stay open too long and he had to go away again, you know, so...
0:12:38 > 0:12:41- He used to leave about six o'clock on a Monday morning.- Yeah.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44But he'd ring nearly every evening to see how we were and
0:12:44 > 0:12:49then we always used to look forward to him coming back in on a Friday evening.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53I remember I was making my lunch for the next day's work.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55And I just popped my head into the window and I said,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58"Daddy, do you want me to make you a sandwich for lunch the next morning?"
0:12:58 > 0:13:00And he said, "Yeah, that'd be great."
0:13:00 > 0:13:02So I stuck my head around the door and I said,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06"I'm away to bed, I'll see you on Friday evening." He said, "That's all right, no bother, son." So...
0:13:06 > 0:13:08That was the last time I seen him.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16He'd just gone to Belfast that morning.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19I spoke to him at seven o'clock,
0:13:19 > 0:13:23and he was dead at one o'clock, 1am.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28NEWSREADER: Desy Doherty was staying at number 8 Candahar Street
0:13:28 > 0:13:31while he was working on a contract for British Telecom in Belfast.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36Around one o'clock this morning at least one gunman broke in the door of the house with a sledgehammer,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40went upstairs and shot Mr Doherty at least once in the head.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Father Finnegan came to the door,
0:13:54 > 0:14:00and a policeman, I said, "Oh, he's had an accident, where has he had the accident?"
0:14:00 > 0:14:05I asked all... I was asking the questions
0:14:05 > 0:14:10so they didn't tell me for a wee while then, so...
0:14:10 > 0:14:13there was a lot of commotion then.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19I came down then, and my mum said, "Oh, your dad's been killed in an accident."
0:14:19 > 0:14:23And then the policeman said, "No, I'm sorry, Mrs Doherty, it wasn't an accident. He's been shot."
0:14:23 > 0:14:29I kept thinking, "He couldn't have been shot, it must be mistaken, it must have been somebody else."
0:14:30 > 0:14:34Just couldn't get my head around it that somebody had killed him, you know?
0:14:37 > 0:14:41- It's hard to describe it. - Just devastating, you know?
0:14:41 > 0:14:46It's very hard on my two sisters, they took it really bad.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Just devastated the whole family - we just couldn't get our head around it. Why?
0:14:57 > 0:15:01- Can't be bitter about it.- Definitely not bitter, no. Definitely not.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03Can't be bitter about it.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05We've got to learn to forgive.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Despite the resurgence in their violence, Loyalist paramilitaries
0:15:22 > 0:15:26were also engaged in secret dialogue with Protestant church leaders.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30And once again, the idea of a cease-fire was broached.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35The Reverend Roy Magee, Presbyterian minister,
0:15:35 > 0:15:41had been in touch with me about the possibility of talking to Loyalism about the way forward.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51It was suggested to them that morally they would score a lot
0:15:51 > 0:15:53were they to take the first step.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57But I'm afraid that was a voice in the wilderness.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02The majority at that stage were using the argument, "Until the OTHER side takes a step
0:16:02 > 0:16:07"we can't risk doing what you're asking."
0:16:10 > 0:16:14But within some quarters of Loyalism, change was taking place.
0:16:14 > 0:16:19A belief that the way forward might be through politics, not the gun.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26There were progressive voices coming from the Loyalist community
0:16:26 > 0:16:30and in particular David Ervine, who sought to get
0:16:30 > 0:16:35Loyalist paramilitaries out of the kind of mindset
0:16:35 > 0:16:37that they had gone into.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42He tried to interest them in a kind of class politics.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50In fact, David Ervine and the UVF were already planning their own peace initiative,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54and in 1993 had opened a secret channel to the Irish government
0:16:54 > 0:16:58through a Dublin-born trade unionist.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00I met David Ervine initially
0:17:00 > 0:17:04as a community worker from Belfast.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09But I learned that David was, in actual fact, still a volunteer in the UVF
0:17:09 > 0:17:13and had done time for his involvement in the UVF.
0:17:13 > 0:17:20David said to me, if you can set up a meeting with the Dublin government for us, directly,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22we will deliver a big prize.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25And I said, "And what do you mean?"
0:17:25 > 0:17:28And he said, "Well, the obvious. We will deliver peace.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32"We will call a cease-fire prior to any IRA cease-fire."
0:17:35 > 0:17:38But then everything went dead for some time.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42And I don't think at the end of the day
0:17:42 > 0:17:47they were able to bring everybody together to call a cease-fire
0:17:47 > 0:17:51because Loyalist paramilitaries are not now, and never were,
0:17:51 > 0:17:54a homogenous organisation.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58So I think maybe they just couldn't deliver it.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03While some leading Loyalists were seeking communication with Dublin,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07the stakes were also high for Republicans as they came under pressure
0:18:07 > 0:18:10to respond to the Downing Street declaration.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14There were mixed signals. Clarification was the buzzword.
0:18:14 > 0:18:20Confusion was what we were seeing and there was no certainty about where any of that was leading.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25But while the IRA's campaign continued,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29Sinn Fein looked for another way forward.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Granted a visa waiver to travel to the United States,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35following the intervention of President Bill Clinton,
0:18:35 > 0:18:37Gerry Adams and the Republican movement now had
0:18:37 > 0:18:41the encouragement they needed for the change in strategy.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45America was now a big, big player.
0:18:45 > 0:18:53It was moving Republicanism from the sidewalk in New York and in Washington
0:18:53 > 0:18:55into the corridors of power.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30That's a photo of Jack and his fiancee, because they were getting married.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36He was working for to buy a house for him and her.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41That grin was always on his face.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45And anybody that knew him would have told you that,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48he just had the same look about him all the time.
0:19:48 > 0:19:49Never seen him angry.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56Full of devilment. But just very, very good people.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01He used to help everybody out.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04That's him and his two brothers at Wesley's wedding.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07Nearly all his friends were all Catholics.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12They never would have asked, "Are you a Catholic or a Protestant or
0:20:12 > 0:20:15"what are you?" They just were the Smyths.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18"I'm Jack Smyth, doesn't matter who you are,
0:20:18 > 0:20:20"come on up to my house."
0:20:21 > 0:20:26He was doing the weights, he was going down to the weightlifting.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31That is when he heard about the job and he was delighted he got the job,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35as a bouncer. Loved it, he loved that job.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41I had to put the news on and it said about the doorman being shot.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45Right away, I phoned my sisters then to see if they had heard anything.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49Jean says, "It is, it's our Jack."
0:20:49 > 0:20:53So it was just bedlam after that.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59- NEWSREADER:- Two gunmen walked up to the entrance of the Bob Cratchit pub
0:20:59 > 0:21:02and nightclub and fired a number of shots at Jack Smyth, who
0:21:02 > 0:21:04was on duty as a doorman.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Afterwards, some tried to give Mr Smyth emergency first aid
0:21:07 > 0:21:08but it was too late.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12Staff at Bob Cratchit's say they are devastated and describe him
0:21:12 > 0:21:15as extremely popular with the regular customers.
0:21:18 > 0:21:24That is him lying after the gunman had decided to take
0:21:24 > 0:21:27a life of somebody that was working.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Everybody just was so fond of Jack, it was
0:21:33 > 0:21:38so unfair that somebody could come and just shoot him for no reason.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40You know?
0:21:40 > 0:21:46It is hard to think that there are people like that going about.
0:21:50 > 0:21:55Do you know, if whoever done that would have taken five minutes to
0:21:55 > 0:21:58speak to him, they wouldn't have pulled the trigger.
0:21:58 > 0:22:04Because they would have seen what Jack was made of, you know?
0:22:06 > 0:22:10He was just a gem, like. You know?
0:22:18 > 0:22:23Sinn Fein's return from America raised expectations that the
0:22:23 > 0:22:27IRA might indeed be persuaded to end their armed struggle.
0:22:27 > 0:22:33But five weeks later, that seemed like a vain hope.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35- NEWSREADER:- Around Heathrow's northern runway,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38the police search for further evidence of the mortar attack
0:22:38 > 0:22:41continued from first light this morning.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44At the height of the alert last night, the runway remained open for
0:22:44 > 0:22:48around half an hour after two of the mortars landed on the runway.
0:22:48 > 0:22:55It was a classic case of the twin track approach at that point in time.
0:22:55 > 0:23:01You had all this diplomacy going on but the IRA were reminding
0:23:01 > 0:23:07the British of their potential and what they were capable of.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13At first, everybody was absolutely stunned.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16Then it came out afterwards that this was some
0:23:16 > 0:23:20sort of attempted or tailored attack where these devices
0:23:20 > 0:23:24weren't actually going to explode, they were more designed to say,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26"This is the sort of thing we can do.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28"If things don't go our way, who knows,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32"we might do this this time with devices that would explode.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35"But for the moment we are just demonstrating
0:23:35 > 0:23:37"the strength of terror."
0:24:04 > 0:24:07My daddy was a family man.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10He was a quiet person and he was a very private person
0:24:10 > 0:24:15if you know what I mean. But a joy to be around, like, know what I mean?
0:24:15 > 0:24:19We had some laughs, the craic sometimes was 90, like.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22It was always in the back of your head,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24would my daddy be shot doing his job?
0:24:24 > 0:24:27Because taxi drivers were an easy target.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29He was probably like everybody else,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31never thought it was going to happen to him.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34All he wanted to do was get his day's work over with,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37come home to his family and that was it.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43Within minutes of it happening, when I came down the street there,
0:24:43 > 0:24:46as soon as I turned the corner and I said to a friend of mine,
0:24:46 > 0:24:47"What's going on?"
0:24:47 > 0:24:50He said to me, "Just get up there, to Mummy's house."
0:24:50 > 0:24:52I knew then, you know what I mean, butterflies,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55the adrenaline running through you, you just...
0:24:55 > 0:24:57You don't know what to expect.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04So when I came in here, my daddy was lying on the floor
0:25:04 > 0:25:06and I knew by looking at him, like.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09I knew by looking at him that he was dead.
0:25:09 > 0:25:16Oh, God. The worst nightmare. That is something I will never, ever forget.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20- NEWSREADER:- Despite the frequency of Loyalist attacks
0:25:20 > 0:25:21in the New Lodge area,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Joe McCloskey felt no need to lock his door.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Last night the UFF were able to walk in
0:25:27 > 0:25:30and shoot their victim at close range.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37I lost the plot, to be honest with you.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40I can only describe it like being on a roller coaster ride
0:25:40 > 0:25:42and didn't know how to get off it.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45And it took me down the road of drink and drugs
0:25:45 > 0:25:47and really abusing myself.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53My father was dead, I had no father figure left,
0:25:53 > 0:25:55you know what I'm saying?
0:25:55 > 0:26:00I had nobody or my mummy, everybody in my family's head was pickled.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03They were trying to deal with it in their own way
0:26:03 > 0:26:06and I was just left on my own devices, if you know what I mean.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08I was left on my own, basically.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11That's the only way I can describe it.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15I will take it to the grave with me.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18No counselling in this world would cure me away from my dad.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20It can't.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Cos the people out there who are counselling you has never
0:26:23 > 0:26:26experienced this. So how can they put people right?
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Do you know what I mean?
0:26:30 > 0:26:33- NEWSREADER:- A senior police officer said the security forces had
0:26:33 > 0:26:36been in the area before the attack took place
0:26:36 > 0:26:40but they rejected outright any suggestion of collusion.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42There are a lot of questions to be answered.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45There wasn't even an investigation, to be honest with you.
0:26:45 > 0:26:50Some forensic work. They didn't care, do you know what I mean?
0:26:50 > 0:26:53And that is the way we felt as a family. Let down by the system.
0:26:58 > 0:27:04I don't know whether I will ever find it any way easier to deal with.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Another 20 years, I'd still feel the same way.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10But hopefully I will have answers, all of us will have answers.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15Because it will help us in some way or other.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19To be able to get some closure on it. Know what I mean?
0:27:19 > 0:27:22That's all we need, is closure.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31At the end of March 1994,
0:27:31 > 0:27:35an IRA statement declared an unexpected cease-fire.
0:27:35 > 0:27:40It was scheduled to last just three days but it was also a sign
0:27:40 > 0:27:44that some kind of political process was gaining momentum.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48- NEWSREADER:- While the IRA's three-day cease-fire is a welcome development,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52it has also dismayed those who had hoped for more.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55It is aimed primarily at the British government in an attempt to
0:27:55 > 0:27:58prove that the Republican movement is serious about...
0:27:58 > 0:28:02At the time, there was a bit of cynicism around about a three-day
0:28:02 > 0:28:05cease-fire but it was an attempt by the IRA to show,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08we are a disciplined organisation
0:28:08 > 0:28:12and we have the capacity to turn this thing on and off.
0:28:12 > 0:28:18So it was a marker as to the potential of what could
0:28:18 > 0:28:22happen down the line if the right circumstances were realised.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26So it was quite seminal but overtly, publicly,
0:28:26 > 0:28:31few understood the import of that particular three-day cease-fire.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36I think that that cease-fire announcement in 1994 had
0:28:36 > 0:28:39an importance internally within the IRA
0:28:39 > 0:28:43and also had an importance externally, in terms of sending
0:28:43 > 0:28:46a message to the States, to Dublin and to London,
0:28:46 > 0:28:50that Republicans were serious about peace.
0:29:20 > 0:29:26My dad, his name was Eric, and he was just a big, honest, decent man.
0:29:26 > 0:29:27He was my daddy.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31He worked in the water service in Armagh,
0:29:31 > 0:29:35where he had lots of friends of all sorts of different backgrounds.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39He did serve in the UDR on a part-time basis.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46I can remember him always going out on duty at the time that most
0:29:46 > 0:29:48people would be going to bed.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50He would have gone out as we were going to bed
0:29:50 > 0:29:54and he would always say good night to us.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57He was actually medically discharged from the UDR and I can
0:29:57 > 0:30:01remember almost a sense of relief, thinking that danger is gone.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07There was such a sense of, thank goodness that part's over and gone.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10This isn't going to happen to us.
0:30:16 > 0:30:21He had been at my aunt and uncle's farm and was on his way home.
0:30:21 > 0:30:26I was in bed and I could hear the shots and I just knew,
0:30:26 > 0:30:28I knew what had happened.
0:30:28 > 0:30:34I went downstairs and my mum was just standing at the bottom
0:30:34 > 0:30:37of the stairs, you know, didn't know where to turn or what to do.
0:30:37 > 0:30:42- NEWSREADER:- Eric Smyth was shot by at least two gunmen as he arrived
0:30:42 > 0:30:45at his home after a day working on a friend's farm.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48His killers fired several bullets into his van and Mr Smyth,
0:30:48 > 0:30:53a former UDR soldier, died almost immediately.
0:30:55 > 0:30:57I just remember the house being full of people
0:30:57 > 0:31:02but no-one actually ever telling me, you know, "Your daddy's dead."
0:31:07 > 0:31:09It is just a surreal feeling.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12It just felt like this wasn't supposed to happen,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14it shouldn't happen to anyone,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17but it had come to our door and it was just devastating.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24It was just like a huge hole was just in our lives.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28Along the way there have been a lot of different life events
0:31:28 > 0:31:32that, you know, your daddy should be there for. And he wasn't there.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35At my wedding, at graduation, you know,
0:31:35 > 0:31:37whenever the children were born.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40I just know that they have a really good relationship
0:31:40 > 0:31:43with their other grandad and I just feel that there is that
0:31:43 > 0:31:46emptiness that they haven't with my dad.
0:31:46 > 0:31:51I know that he would have just loved them and they would have loved him.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58I suppose this year being the anniversary as well, you know,
0:31:58 > 0:32:02it did bring back more memories.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04My husband never met my dad.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08Other people who have come into my life since my dad,
0:32:08 > 0:32:10I don't always tell them what happened but, you know,
0:32:10 > 0:32:14if they start to ask questions, it does bring back memories.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17Some of them are good but whenever you think of what actually
0:32:17 > 0:32:20happened, obviously it is always going to be with us.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35After their short-lived cease-fire in April 1994,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39the following month the IRA was active once again.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46IRA violence was still going, they were still trying to kill soldiers
0:32:46 > 0:32:48and police.
0:32:50 > 0:32:51But at the same time,
0:32:51 > 0:32:55you could see they were trying to tailor their campaign of violence.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58They weren't trying to escalate, they weren't trying to build it up.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01But they were still going.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08At the same time, the ferocity of Loyalist attacks was striking
0:33:08 > 0:33:11terror within the Catholic community.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15And by May, there were fears of an even more violent offensive.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20The language was becoming more hostile.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22There was a lot of nervous tension.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26And there was still a voice within Loyalism that felt
0:33:26 > 0:33:30that in actual fact, they could beat the IRA.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34- NEWSREADER:- In Dublin at the weekend, the UVF carried out a gun
0:33:34 > 0:33:37and bomb attack on a pub where Sinn Fein was holding
0:33:37 > 0:33:40a function to raise funds for the families of Republican prisoners.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43They were trying to prove that they were now developing military
0:33:43 > 0:33:48capacity and they wanted the other side to understand that,
0:33:48 > 0:33:52you know, if this war goes on, we can deliver.
0:34:19 > 0:34:24I was first stationed here in 1970.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27I never really understood anything about Northern Ireland
0:34:27 > 0:34:29until I came over here.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33It was just a place with odd-named football teams.
0:34:38 > 0:34:43You would probably say that Nigel was the sort of lad that in his short
0:34:43 > 0:34:47life, he probably enjoyed most things.
0:34:47 > 0:34:48Put in that way.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51He packed a lot into it.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57He got a job in a security company
0:34:57 > 0:35:02but he ended up in Anderson and McAuley department store,
0:35:02 > 0:35:05where he worked mostly dayshift.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10He wasn't involved in anything
0:35:10 > 0:35:15so I had nothing really to be worried about.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20The last time I saw Nigel was in the morning, about 7.20,
0:35:20 > 0:35:23when I left for work.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26He would have been getting ready for work
0:35:26 > 0:35:28so I would have said cheerio.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31And that was the last time I saw him.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35- NEWSREADER:- Around 1:40, a number of gunmen entered the back
0:35:35 > 0:35:39entrance of the Anderson and McAuley's building in Fountain Street.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42They approached the security guard who was standing at the back of the
0:35:42 > 0:35:46building and shot him several times in the body and head at close range.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54Just numb.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58It's something...
0:36:04 > 0:36:07The victim is believed to be in his mid-20s
0:36:07 > 0:36:09and comes from the Shankill Road area.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12He was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital
0:36:12 > 0:36:14and died several hours later.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35To this day, I don't really know why, that is the most infuriating thing.
0:36:35 > 0:36:40I just can't understand the reason why anyone would want to do that.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47This is only the sort of thing I kept.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49This was the tie he had on.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53And the shirt.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58The Good Friday Agreement has been tough...
0:36:58 > 0:37:02I am glad there is peace and they're not shooting everybody
0:37:02 > 0:37:07but that particular part of it where I have had that justice
0:37:07 > 0:37:12taken out of my hands has been tough.
0:37:12 > 0:37:17A lot of people will end up saying, "I forgive them," and all this.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20Well, unfortunately I don't and I never will.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23I will take that to the grave with me.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26They should be paying for their crime.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32Something like this just never goes away.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35You know, we are left basically with a life sentence.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40There is always something missing there.
0:37:40 > 0:37:45There is always an empty chair at Christmas.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00Nobody really knew what was coming next, and suddenly
0:38:00 > 0:38:04out of nowhere, we had this awful shooting on the Shankill Road.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07- NEWSREADER:- The shooting happened just after one o'clock
0:38:07 > 0:38:09outside a Co-op building.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11It is believed two gunmen were involved.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13The men had been standing outside a Co-op building
0:38:13 > 0:38:16when the INLA gunmen drove up and opened fire.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19Four men were hit.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24The shooting in June claimed the lives of three members of the UVF.
0:38:24 > 0:38:29Once again, Northern Ireland held its breath for the inevitable
0:38:29 > 0:38:30Loyalist response.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35The only questions were when and where the gunmen which strike.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39Everybody knew that there would be retaliation.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43Within days, we had the awfulness, the ugliness,
0:38:43 > 0:38:47the grotesqueness of Loughinisland.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49- NEWSREADER: - Their grief was instantaneous
0:38:49 > 0:38:51and impossible to hide.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54The unthinkable had happened in this small County Down village.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56It had been a night of high emotion.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00Ireland was on its way to defeat Italy in the World Cup.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04The bar was packed with local people watching the match on TV.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08Then two UVF gunmen walked through the front door.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11Automatic rifles cut down one person after another.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13There was pandemonium.
0:39:19 > 0:39:24The Loughinisland attack was the most simple of circumstances.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28A group of people gathered together in their local pub to
0:39:28 > 0:39:30watch the World Cup.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36Again, it was people thinking, "Can we not have normal lives?
0:39:36 > 0:39:39"Can we not go to the pub and watch a football match?
0:39:39 > 0:39:42"Is nobody exempt from this?"
0:39:44 > 0:39:47Again, we were plunged into darkness.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51It didn't appear possible that we could move forward.
0:39:51 > 0:39:57It looked as if we were conspiring against our own future, yet again.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29Barney and Brigid married when I was six.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32They had a long life together.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35They just, hand in glove,
0:40:35 > 0:40:39and they both made everybody very welcome into their home.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41It was a very open house.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44They weren't blessed with any family of their own,
0:40:44 > 0:40:49so I was always about it and, you know, all the wee treats and whatnot.
0:40:50 > 0:40:56With working in the building trade, with being a pig farmer
0:40:56 > 0:41:00and with playing whist, he was very...known here near and far.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08It was the World Cup match
0:41:08 > 0:41:12and his nephew was going into hospital the next week
0:41:12 > 0:41:15and they were going out for their...
0:41:15 > 0:41:19what would be their last drink, maybe, for a few weeks.
0:41:23 > 0:41:28He got himself spruced up, the good bits on and the good hat.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33He got dressed and...away they went.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42- NEWSREADER:- Two UVF gunmen walked through the front door.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44It was not a frenzied attack.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47They calmly walked in and carefully targeted their victims.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50All six men who died were Catholics.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53The eldest, Barney Green, was 87.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03It was just...incredible
0:42:03 > 0:42:09that a wee country pub and six innocent men,
0:42:09 > 0:42:12just gunned down in cold blood.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16You can imagine what that was like.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28You don't ever get over it.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31You learn how to live differently,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34but you don't ever go back to the way it was before.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42I can see him sitting up in bed,
0:42:42 > 0:42:45bringing his breakfast down to him.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48The glasses off him.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50Sitting in the bed, the wee red cheeks.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55I've a lot of memories.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08We want what we've always wanted which is truth and justice.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11We have learned a lot over the years
0:43:11 > 0:43:15and we still feel that there should have been more done,
0:43:15 > 0:43:18we really do, and we're not going to stop.
0:43:22 > 0:43:26We're the voices of our loved ones, and we have to continue.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29That's the way I look at it,
0:43:29 > 0:43:35and that's the way, as a group, we function. We have to...keep going.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50It was another one of those moments that shook
0:43:50 > 0:43:54the confidence of ordinary people. It certainly shook me.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56Again, it put me in a place where
0:43:56 > 0:43:59I really didn't know what was happening. Was I being deceived?
0:43:59 > 0:44:00Were we being betrayed?
0:44:08 > 0:44:13Loughinisland was an awful erosion on our hopes.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17I said to Roy Magee, "I'm sorry, Roy,
0:44:17 > 0:44:19"I'm going to have to walk away."
0:44:21 > 0:44:26If they were capable of Loughinisland, what was the point
0:44:26 > 0:44:31of doing anything about encouraging them to think of peaceful means?
0:44:36 > 0:44:39It was, for me, an extremely difficult time
0:44:39 > 0:44:43because I began to question my own involvement
0:44:43 > 0:44:47in engaging with these people, whether it was the right thing to do.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52I travelled up to Belfast after Loughinisland
0:44:52 > 0:44:57and at that meeting, David Ervine said to me,
0:44:57 > 0:45:01Loughinisland was "returning the serve"
0:45:01 > 0:45:06and he also said to me, you know, the UVF, not him personally
0:45:06 > 0:45:11but the UVF could do this every day of the week, but they chose not to.
0:45:13 > 0:45:14But he said to me that
0:45:14 > 0:45:17we both had to ignore what happened on the street.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19We still had to continue with this
0:45:19 > 0:45:23because this was about the bigger picture and the final goal
0:45:23 > 0:45:26and that was a cessation of violence.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32More than ever, the picture was contradictory.
0:45:32 > 0:45:33Like the Loyalists,
0:45:33 > 0:45:38the Republicans were rumoured to be moving towards another cease-fire.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44But trust on either side was in short supply.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49Again and again,
0:45:49 > 0:45:53we had IRA voices saying, "There will be no cease-fire,"
0:45:53 > 0:45:56while at the same time we were hearing from other Republicans,
0:45:56 > 0:45:59"Hmm, we are working at this
0:45:59 > 0:46:01"and Adams is involved in something very serious,"
0:46:01 > 0:46:08but because the violence kept going, what were you to believe?
0:46:08 > 0:46:13Certainly you had the Loyalists trying to kill Sinn Fein
0:46:13 > 0:46:14and, if they could, IRA people
0:46:14 > 0:46:18and on the IRA side, you had them settling the scores,
0:46:18 > 0:46:21people like Ray Smallwoods.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25- NEWSREADER:- Hundreds of people crowded into a small street
0:46:25 > 0:46:27in the Tonagh estate in Lisburn
0:46:27 > 0:46:31while a private family service was held in Ray Smallwoods' home.
0:46:31 > 0:46:32Catholic priests Alec Reid
0:46:32 > 0:46:36and Gerry Reynolds from Clonard in West Belfast were also present.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44We had been meeting Ray Smallwoods as part of a little group.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46My impression of Ray Smallwoods was
0:46:46 > 0:46:51that he was a man who was very committed to moving the thing
0:46:51 > 0:46:53into a political form.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59There was a view within Loyalism
0:46:59 > 0:47:05that the IRA were out to take out all the thinking people within Loyalism,
0:47:05 > 0:47:09the people like Ray Smallwoods, people like David Ervine and others,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12and to use that awful phrase that was used to me,
0:47:12 > 0:47:14there was a bit of book-keeping.
0:47:14 > 0:47:19People were trying to score a few points before the actual cease-fires.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25Within the Republican movement,
0:47:25 > 0:47:30intense debate was building over the implications of an IRA cease-fire.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34And when Sinn Fein called a special conference in Donegal
0:47:34 > 0:47:38at the end of July, an expectant media watched intently.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42I think we believed at that stage
0:47:42 > 0:47:45we were closer to the possibility of cease-fire
0:47:45 > 0:47:48and I think some people misread Letterkenny,
0:47:48 > 0:47:51that that might be the moment for some sort of announcement.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01It was part of the process of preparation. It was consultation.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04It was the Republican community talking to itself.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08It was about getting ready for what might come down the road.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14Well, certainly you felt something was coming, but you didn't know
0:48:14 > 0:48:18what it was going to be, you were just in a mood of uncertainty.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21There were lots of rumours going around that Sinn Fein had been
0:48:21 > 0:48:26engaged in an extensive dialogue with its own constituency
0:48:26 > 0:48:29and that the vibes were good.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35I think by mid-August we knew something was coming
0:48:35 > 0:48:37and of course we all had doubts
0:48:37 > 0:48:40because we continued to see those killings and that violence
0:48:40 > 0:48:45right up to the last, the last minute of the last hour.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49- NEWSREADER:- A cease-fire by the IRA is now expected very soon.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52The Government has moved to reassure Unionists that
0:48:52 > 0:48:56there have been no concessions to Republicans. Downing Street...
0:48:56 > 0:48:58Everyone else is left with their hopes and their fears, and
0:48:58 > 0:49:02all sections wondering if violence will at last give way to politics.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06I can remember taking a call around nine o'clock.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08The caller on the other side of the line said to me,
0:49:08 > 0:49:11"Same place as Saturday. 11 o'clock.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14"Bring Eamonn," meaning my journalist colleague, Eamonn Mallie.
0:49:14 > 0:49:20That fateful phone call came to myself and Brian Rowan
0:49:20 > 0:49:24to go to meet somebody in West Belfast.
0:49:33 > 0:49:38At 11 o'clock, we went to a coffee shop in West Belfast.
0:49:38 > 0:49:45A well-dressed lady walked in to inform us that she had a statement.
0:49:49 > 0:49:54The IRA woman sat at the table with Eamonn Mallie and myself,
0:49:54 > 0:49:58whispered the words of that cease-fire announcement very quietly.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00I can remember the opening sentences,
0:50:00 > 0:50:04"the complete cessation of military operations that would take effect
0:50:04 > 0:50:05"at midnight that night,
0:50:05 > 0:50:08"that all units had been instructed accordingly."
0:50:09 > 0:50:13We knew that we were witnessing history.
0:50:13 > 0:50:19We had the most anticipated message in the western world in our hands.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25I called a copy typist in the BBC newsroom.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27I gave them those two sentences,
0:50:27 > 0:50:30that from midnight there would be a complete cessation of IRA operations,
0:50:30 > 0:50:34that all IRA units had been instructed accordingly
0:50:34 > 0:50:38and within seconds, that became the newsflash across the BBC.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41It's just been announced that from midnight tonight,
0:50:41 > 0:50:43the leadership of the IRA
0:50:43 > 0:50:47have decided that as of midnight, August 31st,
0:50:47 > 0:50:50there will be a complete cessation of military operations.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00I can remember the huge buzz.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04I remember reporting that day that none of us could dare say
0:51:04 > 0:51:06that this was the end of the IRA,
0:51:06 > 0:51:09but what it certainly was was the start of something new.
0:51:12 > 0:51:16We had what we deemed to be the ultimate statement, saying, "it's over."
0:51:16 > 0:51:19You couldn't help but feel relieved and excited.
0:51:19 > 0:51:20It was a remarkable moment.
0:51:22 > 0:51:2531st August is a day I will never forget
0:51:25 > 0:51:29because I took that as an absolutely marvellous affirmation
0:51:29 > 0:51:31of our three to four years' dialogue,
0:51:31 > 0:51:37that if the armed struggle was now being put on the back burner,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40that political, inclusive political talks
0:51:40 > 0:51:42would be put onto the front burner.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48That was the announcement of this new era in Irish politics,
0:51:48 > 0:51:55where the armed force tradition and the constitutional tradition
0:51:55 > 0:52:00came together in a new alliance and initiative for peace.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03CAR HORNS BEEP
0:52:03 > 0:52:06The IRA announcement provoked jubilant scenes
0:52:06 > 0:52:09on the streets of West Belfast.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12Finally, after many years of violence,
0:52:12 > 0:52:15the cease-fire would begin within hours,
0:52:15 > 0:52:20at the stroke of midnight on 31st August, 1994.
0:52:22 > 0:52:27CLOCK STRIKES
0:52:28 > 0:52:33But within hours, the focus turned to the Loyalists.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36Were they also ready to declare a cease-fire
0:52:36 > 0:52:39or would their campaign of violence continue?
0:52:39 > 0:52:43After the IRA cease-fire, the onus was obviously on Loyalists,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46that they were going to have to wind down their campaign
0:52:46 > 0:52:51because they had kept up this pretence, fairly thin pretence,
0:52:51 > 0:52:55that their violence was reactive to the IRA's violence,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58so there was no longer any justification,
0:52:58 > 0:53:02even in their own eyes, for their campaign of violence.
0:53:06 > 0:53:11The Loyalist reaction to the cease-fire was one of suspicion.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13There was an element of saying,
0:53:13 > 0:53:17"Has John Major sold us out? Is there a secret deal here?"
0:53:19 > 0:53:22The Loyalists had placed great importance on Robin Eames
0:53:22 > 0:53:24and Roy Magee at that stage.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28Probably more Eames because he was the Church of Ireland Archbishop.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31I suppose what the Loyalists thought was,
0:53:31 > 0:53:33"Would a Prime Minister lie to the Archbishop?"
0:53:37 > 0:53:39I went to Number 10.
0:53:39 > 0:53:44I told the Prime Minister that there was a chance
0:53:44 > 0:53:46that Loyalism might take a step.
0:53:48 > 0:53:50He said, "You can tell Loyalism
0:53:50 > 0:53:57"no deal was done with the IRA to bring about their cease-fire."
0:54:01 > 0:54:03- NEWSREADER:- Speculation pointing to the possibility of
0:54:03 > 0:54:06a Loyalist terrorist cease-fire has been running for weeks,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09and it's now being suggested that an announcement is imminent
0:54:09 > 0:54:10and could come within hours.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20Finally, on 13th October 1994,
0:54:20 > 0:54:23six weeks after the IRA cease-fire,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26the Combined Loyalist Military Command summoned the media
0:54:26 > 0:54:28to a press conference.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33'They launched it in a very formal way,
0:54:33 > 0:54:36'this table full of middle-aged men
0:54:36 > 0:54:38'with Gusty Spence,'
0:54:38 > 0:54:44the pipe-smoking grandfatherly figure as the kind of elder statesman.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48The Combined Loyalist Military Command will universally cease
0:54:48 > 0:54:52all operational hostilities as from 12 midnight
0:54:52 > 0:54:56on Thursday, 13th October, 1994.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00'We always talked about that
0:55:00 > 0:55:04'they needed to be penitent towards those innocent people'
0:55:04 > 0:55:07who had died or were murdered
0:55:07 > 0:55:11and damaged by the UVF and Loyalist paramilitaries.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14And I think these words helped remarkably,
0:55:14 > 0:55:16and I think they did have an impact.
0:55:16 > 0:55:21We offer to the loved ones of all innocent victims,
0:55:21 > 0:55:26over the past 25 years, abject and true remorse.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29'The attempt to reach out and say,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32'"We regret it, we regret what has happened,"'
0:55:32 > 0:55:34was really the dominant tone,
0:55:34 > 0:55:37and it was something we hadn't, none of us, I think, had expected
0:55:37 > 0:55:41of Loyalist paramilitarism, and it was perhaps their finest moment.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59It was profoundly relieving to know
0:55:59 > 0:56:03that this was actually all finally coming to an end.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06It seemed a bit unbelievable and it was fantastic
0:56:06 > 0:56:11and it was wonderful, but it was also, you just felt so sad
0:56:11 > 0:56:15about the horrific violence that had preceded it.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22The cease-fires marked a dramatic turning point
0:56:22 > 0:56:25in the history of Northern Ireland.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29But they came after a heavy price had been paid by many,
0:56:29 > 0:56:34and none more so than those who lost their lives or their loved ones
0:56:34 > 0:56:37in the dying days of the Troubles.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48As the snow fell at midnight on New Year's Eve, 1994,
0:56:48 > 0:56:52hopes were high that the peace would hold.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55In the years to come, there would be tragic lapses,
0:56:55 > 0:57:01but the Troubles, as the people of Northern Ireland had experienced them for 25 years, were over.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07People no longer were being killed at that horrendous rate
0:57:07 > 0:57:11and the figures for deaths in those first couple of years
0:57:11 > 0:57:13bring it home just in itself.
0:57:13 > 0:57:17In 1993, there were 90 deaths.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20In 1994, there were 69 deaths.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23In 1995, there were nine deaths.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48Who among us didn't know somebody
0:57:48 > 0:57:52who had been killed, decimated, blown apart?
0:57:54 > 0:57:56Who among us?
0:57:58 > 0:58:01There are many, many empty chairs there still.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10The remembrance of the Troubles
0:58:10 > 0:58:13and all the ways in which it dehumanised us
0:58:13 > 0:58:17is a very important thing to reflect on
0:58:17 > 0:58:24because what happened before could happen again unless we're careful.
0:58:24 > 0:58:28We have to remember the history so as not to repeat it.