Revealed: Thirty-eight years after Enniskillen atrocity that killed 12, the new evidence that a smartly dressed grandmother was the IRA chief who masterminded it | Retrui News | Retrui
Revealed: Thirty-eight years after Enniskillen atrocity that killed 12, the new evidence that a smartly dressed grandmother was the IRA chief who masterminded it
SOURCE:Daily Mail
More than 38 years after the world was repulsed by the Enniskillen bombing much about that terrible day remains a mystery. Why has no one faced justice? Was there a cover-up?
Nothing about her infrequent forays on social media suggest she is anything other than an upstanding, much-loved grandmother. Whether showcasing her ever-expanding family, ranged across the lawn of a large house, posing with her cockapoo or standing proudly with her daughter on her wedding day, nothing seems remotely out of the ordinary.
She posts birthday wishes, compliments her relatives and expresses interest in wellbeing. All standard fare, in other words.
Certainly nothing to so much as even hint that she was once allegedly a ruthless IRA commander who, if startling reports that surfaced last week are accurate, played a key role in the Enniskillen bombing, one of Northern Ireland's most notorious atrocities.
Even now, more than 38 years after the world was repulsed by the attack on the County Fermanagh border town, much about that terrible day remains a mystery. Why has no one faced justice? Was there a cover-up? Was the truth about the bombing sacrificed, as many suspect, to protect the peace process?
Then there is the deeper question of how anyone could find it in themselves to detonate 40lbs of Semtex next to families huddled in solemn repose on, of all days, Remembrance Sunday.
The device exploded on November 8, 1987, in a Catholic Church-owned building called the Reading Rooms, sending masonry flying and bringing a gable wall crashing down on those paying their respects at a war memorial.
Rescuers clawed at the rubble to free the trapped. By the end of the day, 11 people were dead and 63 injured. A 12th victim, Ronnie Hill, died in 2000 after 13 years in a coma.
To the families of the victims, the idea that a woman might have had a hand in the deaths, as reported last week, is an unexpected twist to say the least. More so, the startling news that she has occasionally been spotted in the town.
The cenotaph at Enniskillen with the devastated community centre in the background after the bombing
The device exploded on November 8, 1987, in a Catholic Church-owned building called the Reading Rooms, sending masonry flying and bringing a gable wall crashing down on those paying their respects at a war memorial
One local man told The Mail on Sunday yesterday: 'My wife recognised her in the shopping centre two months ago. She said she was immaculately turned out, a very well-polished person. Someone that would remind you of Hyacinth Bucket from the TV show Keeping Up Appearances.'
Stephen Gault, whose father Samuel was killed in the bombing, says: 'It's very difficult to think that this person is walking the streets of Enniskillen and that I could have passed her without realising. It sickens me to the core.'
It matters little to Stephen, himself injured in the blast, that the latest suspect, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is a woman. But it doubtless will to some.
As barrister Helena Kennedy, who defended Moors murderer Myra Hindley, once said: 'We feel differently about a woman doing something consciously cruel because of our expectations of women as the nurturing sex.'
Women, though, have long been vital to the Irish republican movement, something explored in the television drama Say Nothing, broadcast by Channel 4 last month, which charts the real-life story of Dolours Price's transition from civil rights activist to IRA bank robber, bomber and prison hunger-striker.
Rarely, if ever, has a woman been linked in such an integral way to an outrage on the scale of Enniskillen, shocking even by Ulster's blood-soaked standards. Condemnation at the time was universal. Then prime minister Margaret Thatcher called the attack 'a blot on mankind'.
Criticism also came from more surprising quarters. Support drained among normally unquestioning republicans, for instance. Even the murderous Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi, a long-time backer of the IRA who supplied the Semtex used in the explosion, withdrew his support. In time, the attack came to be seen as a turning point in the conflict and helped galvanise the peace process, ultimately leading to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
What, though, is the truth about the grandmother's dark secret? The claim emanates from the An Garda Siochana, the police in the Irish Republic, which suggested she led the IRA's South Fermanagh brigade at the time of the bombing.
Bodies covered at the roadside in Enniskillen following the bomb's detonation
Rescuers clawed at the rubble to free the trapped people underneath
By the end of the day, 11 people were dead and 63 injured. A 12th victim, Ronnie Hill, died in 2000 after 13 years in a coma
Separate police sources have confirmed the woman's identity to The Mail on Sunday. And a British security source told us last week that the claims 'demand consideration' because at the time of the attack the Garda Siochana was receiving intelligence about IRA activity in the Fermanagh border region 'that was superior to our own'.
What seems beyond doubt is that the woman in question, outwardly a respected professional, was secretly an IRA member whose name was well known on both sides of the border. 'She was very disciplined, articulate, bright as a button - smarter than most of the men around her,' a security source recalled.
The MoS has learned that British military intelligence attempted to recruit her as an informant in the weeks after Enniskillen, in the hope that the full horror of the bombing could have weakened her republican resolve.
At the time they didn't suspect that she was so directly involved. But their overtures quickly stopped because she was deemed 'too resolutely committed' to the cause.
A source recalls: 'In fact, she and a friend turned the tables on us by revealing to our man that they knew more about him than he did about them. They had his car registration number, knew where he worked, his phone number and so on. Terrifying.'
A military intelligence source recalled that on one occasion in the 1980s, the woman, whom he says was renowned for her striking good looks, 'picked up a young soldier' during a night out.
'Nothing happened between them, but she made a point of purposely dropping the lad off at his barracks. The guards at the gate who well knew she was IRA were gobsmacked when they saw her - and she looked up at them with a faint smile. She was toying with them, letting them know she could have had the soldier 'slotted' if she wished.'
Others recall that she rose through IRA ranks with rare speed, owing not only to her own 'sharp instincts' and courage but to the organisation's approach to equality. By contrast, female paramilitaries from tradition-adhering loyalist organisations were frequently held back.
Princess Diana in hospital talking to a victim of the bombing
Sources interviewed by the MoS dispute reports from last week suggesting the woman led the South Fermanagh unit at the time of the bombing, though they agree she was active in the area. Instead, they say she took charge a few years later before abroad.
Press reports detailing the story of one Enniskillen survivor, Gordon Wilson, who spoke powerful words of forgiveness after the bombing and later became a peace campaigner, would not have escaped the woman's notice.
Mr Wilson held his dying 20-year-old daughter's hand after the explosion. He said at the time: 'I shouted to Marie was she all right and she said yes, she found my hand and said, 'Is that your hand, Dad?'
'Now remember we were under six foot of rubble. I said, 'Are you all right?' and she said yes, but she was shouting in between.
'Three or four times I asked her, and she always said yes, she was all right. When I asked her the fifth time, 'Are you all right, Marie?' she said, 'Daddy, I love you very much.' Those were the last words she spoke to me.'
How his heartbreaking testimony made the woman accused of the bombing feel as she raised her own family is anyone's guess.
Ultimately she 'never truly settled' overseas, according to a source, and returned to Northern Ireland where she set up her own business. It is not known if she has ever been questioned by authorities there or in the Republic in connection with the bomb.
An off-duty officer previously claimed to have seen a suspected female terrorist wearing a green dress and carrying a brown bag outside the Reading Rooms where the bomb was planted on the night before the attack. Other suspects were also in the area. The sighting was outlined in a 2015 application to the attorney-general for Northern Ireland by a small group of Enniskillen victims and their families calling for a new inquest, but was never followed up.
Thirteen people have been arrested in connection with the bombing, but nobody has been charged.
People try to help one of the victims of the attack which took place on Remembrance Sunday
A funeral hearse and police motorcycle drive past the wreckage
The funeral procession of Marie Wilson, one of the victims of the bombing
The RUC, Northern Ireland's police force during the conflict, and its successor, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), have carried out several reviews but some victims have questioned whether these were conducted as meticulously as required.
The apparent freedom of those accused of visiting the most appalling horror on innocent civilians to walk the very streets of their crime scene will not be lost on SAS veterans of the Troubles.
Today, British soldiers live in fear that their past actions to apprehend terrorists - carried out at the behest of the state - will be the subject of new court proceedings, following the Labour Government's decision to repeal their protection from historic prosecution.
In Enniskillen, the Clinton Centre now stands on the site of the bombing. Opened by former US President Bill Clinton, it was described at the time as a symbolic peace and reconciliation facility. In truth it has provided little comfort to the victims' families who feel that justice has eluded them.
Donald Crawford, chairman of the local branch of the Traditional Unionist Voice party, says: 'To think that there's somebody strutting around with blood on their hands... but then it's nothing new to Northern Ireland.
'Of course, everybody's innocent until proven guilty but if the allegations that have been made against this female are correct then there should be a campaign to get her into court and get her charged with the murder of those 12 innocent people.'
Lee McDowell, of the Ely Centre in Enniskillen, which 'supports victims and survivors of the Troubles', says: 'Any new information that could assist families in finally achieving the truth would be very welcome, the truth of what happened that day is the least they deserve.
'We would welcome any clarification from the PSNI in relation to this recent information and how it may impact any future investigations and ultimately provide answers that the victims of Enniskillen demand.'
Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin lays a wreath at a Remembrance Sunday service in Enniskillen on 9th November 2025
Wreaths laid during a Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in Enniskillen on 9th November 2025
Meanwhile, The Mail on Sunday can reveal that fresh legal action over Enniskillen is being prepared by KRW Law, one of Northern Ireland's leading firms, which represents some of the victims' families.
Solicitor Kevin Winters told us: 'We are working on a renewed civil action against the state over allegations of an intelligence agenda in relation to the initial police investigation.
'Any new information regarding the Enniskillen bomb atrocity is to be welcomed as we continue our fight for justice.'
But some survivors are sceptical. Stephen Gault, who was 18 at the time, says: 'I live in hope that one day the people will be held accountable and face justice, but I can't see it.
'Those responsible have lost that right to have cherished times with parents or loved ones. They had countless years of watching their kids grow up and having grandkids. Unfortunately the innocent victims have not had that privilege.'