The Troubles in Coleraine
During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a total of 13 people were killed in or near the town of Coleraine in County Londonderry. Ten of these people were killed in two separate car bomb explosions, although in very different circumstances.
On 12 June 1973 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a car bomb on Railway Road, with inadequate warning. Six Protestant civilians, all in their 60s and 70s, were killed. The second most fatal incident occurred on 2 October 1975 but in this case all four victims were all members of the loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), killed when their own bomb went off as they travelled through Farrenlester near Coleraine. A third bombing occurred on 13 November 1992 when the IRA detonated a large van bomb in the town centre. Although extensive property damage was caused, which resulted in several major buildings being demolished, no one was killed. The Coleraine Town Hall required major structural work, and was not reopened until August 1995.
The other three people to be killed in Coleraine were all shot by loyalist paramilitaries. One was Danny Cassidy, a Sinn Féin electoral worker and former Provisional IRA Prisoner, who was killed by the Ulster Freedom Fighters and the other two were civilians with no paramilitary connections. One was killed by the UVF and the other by a non-specific loyalist group.
