Pop Goes Northern Ireland blends news footage, archive and the musical hits of the time to provide an enthralling and entertaining potted history of Northern Ireland dealing with our difficult recent past in a way that is entertaining, informative, fresh and accessible to all.
This episode focuses on 1989. The violence continues in Northern Ireland.
February sees allegations of ‘state collusion’ in the killing of solicitor Pat Finucane. In March, two senior RUC officers are shot dead as they return from a meeting with the Garda, leading to allegations that an IRA mole is operating in the Irish police force. Claims of security force collusion appear to be confirmed when intelligence documents are found in the possession of loyalist paramilitaries.
In September an IRA bomb kills eleven members of the Royal Marine band at their barracks in Deal. A few weeks later the ‘Guildford Four’ are released after serving 15 years in jail. The Appeal Court finds that their convictions were a miscarriage of justice. In November, secretary of state Peter Brooke infuriates unionists when he states that the IRA cannot be beaten militarily.
