Who is Susan McHugh? Dublin peace campaigner played in Warrington bomb drama, Mother’s Day, by actress Vicky McClure
Here's what you need to know about Susan McHugh, the Irish mother who led the rally for peace against the IRA
AN IRISH mother who led a peace campaign to call for an end to violence following the IRA bombing in Warrington in 1993 is to be depicted in Mother's Day on BBC.
Here's what you need to know about Susan McHugh, the Dublin peace campaigner.
Who is Susan McHugh?
Susan McHugh is an Irish peace campaigner who organised rallies in Dublin for peace in Northern Ireland and against the IRA following the bombing in Warrington on March 20, 1992.
McHugh, at the time a 37-year-old mother of three from Clontarf, was outraged following the deaths of two young children in the massacre.
Johnathan Ball aged just three-years-old died in the blasts when he was in town with his babysitter buying a Mother's Day Card.
Tim Parry, aged 12, was caught in the full force of the blast and died five days later in hospital.
The atrocity also left 56 people injured in the blasts which the IRA admitted carrying out.
McHugh organised a public meeting at Trinity College Dublin first and then a rally on O'Connell Street in Dublin City Centre where an estimated 20,000 people turned out.
It was thought the demonstration was the largest peace rally in Irish history and the most intense public expression of anger at the IRA.
she said: "The IRA did not kill Johnathan Ball in my name or in your name. I want to tell the world tonight they did not kill him in the name of Ireland. There's nothing wrong with being emotional about a little baby's death.
"I feel horror, revulsion and sadness. But that's not enough. Tonight I feel anger.
"I feel angry and frustrated because the political will is not there to end the violence. We've listened too long to rhetoric with no results.
"Sincere people will say everything has been tried. Maybe it's time it was looked at from a different angle. Maybe it's time we asked for UN troops and independent arbitrators from Europe or the outside world."
In an interview before the demonstration she said: "I'm only saying what the majority of people in the country say. Enough is enough. We don't want any more deaths. We want a cease-fire."
At the time, McHugh was heralded as a new figure of the peace movement, but , she insisted she was "an ordinary mum, a housewife."
McHugh then took the 'Peace 93' campaign for non-violence to Belfast and then addressed several thousand people in Hyde Park, London.
Journalist Bernie Ní Fhlatharta McHugh managed to do what politicians failed to do - kick start the peace process and remake the political landscape of Northern Ireland.
Vicky McClure, who is set to play McHugh in the BBC's upcoming production Mother's Day, said: "Susan McHugh's actions back in 1993 remain just as inspirational today as they were 25 years ago.
"I feel truly privileged to play her in this incredibly moving new film."
When were the Warrington IRA bombings?
There were actually two separate but linked Provisional IRA bombings.
The first was on February 26 and targeted gas holders in Winwick Road, with its explosion mushroom cloud reaching 1,000ft.
Although there was extensive damage, no-one was injured.
But it was the second attack which will live in infamy.
On March 20 1993 two bombs ripped through the town’s shopping area.
What happened during the second bombing?
On the day of the bomb, authorities said "inadequate" warnings had been received.
The IRA later confirmed it made two telephone bomb warnings, one to police and one to a charity helpline, although Cheshire police chiefs said there was no mention of Warrington, making predicting a location impossible.
Less than 30 minutes after the warnings, the blasts happened within a minute of each other.
Two bombs, hidden in separate cast-iron litter bins, exploded on Bridge Street just after 12.12pm, the first outside a British Gas showroom and the second near Argos and Boots.
The first explosion drove panicking shoppers into the path of the next blast just seconds later, with police describing the bins and shrapnel as "huge hand grenades".
Buses were organised to ferry people away from the scene and 20 paramedics, some on motorcycles, were sent to administer on the spot treatment.
Crews from 17 ambulances dealt with casualties and a team of four plastic surgeons travelled to Warrington Hospital from the regional burns unit at Whiston Hospital, Knowsley.
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What was the reaction to the attack?
The atrocity in Warrington, Cheshire, shocked the world.
Over the past quarter of a century, the innocent victims' names have become synonymous with the campaign for peace.
The Cranberries penned and devised their massive 1994 hit Zombie in tribute to the young boys’ deaths.
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