The Allsop Arms is a traditional English pub located on Gloucester Place. The pub features a cozy interior with a wood-burning fireplace, leather banquettes, and a range of classic pub games like darts and pool. Harry Duggan was one of four children of Mr and Mrs Harry Duggan, of Feakle, Co Clare. He was born in Kilburn, London, before returning to Co Clare with the family when he was three. He left school at 14 and became a carpenter in a local factory. He became active in Sinn Fein when the troubles started in the late 1960s and in 1972 his family was told he was "killed in action". His father searched a graveyard in Scarriff, Co Clare, after gardai had said his son had been buried secretly. After serving 23 years in English prisons, the four men were transferred to Portlaoise Prison, County Laois, Republic of Ireland, in early 1998. [9] They were presented by Gerry Adams to the 1998 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis as 'our Nelson Mandelas', [3] and were released in 1999 as part of the Good Friday Agreement. [2] See also [ edit ]

In 1956, Imbert joined Special Branch, learning shorthand and Russian during his 17 years with the unit. In 1973, he was made deputy head of the Anti-Terrorist Branch, where he became an expert on European terrorist groups such as Baader-Meinhof, and gave lectures on hostage negotiation and counter-terrorism tactics.

Police appear prepared for a long siege. A large mobile headquarters has been brought in and there is an army personnel carrier in a nearby street where several diplomats are believed to live. Two other police vehicles are known to have been involved in the shoot-out that ensued: one was a van carrying members of the special patrol group who exchanged fire with the terrorists after attempting to cut them off in Rossmore Road; the other was an unmarked yellow Ford Granada carrying a driver and three unarmed flying squad detectives led by Detective Inspector Henry Dowswell. The census collection is designed so that each group of postcodes should contain at least 100 people (50 in Scotland).

There is also evidence that the IRA active service unit potentially targeted the BBC Crystal Palace transmitter, Wormwood Scrubs and Brixton prisons, and the prison service headquarters then in Eccleston Square, as well as power stations and water and sewage treatment plants. Announcement of his retirement in the House of Commons, House of Commons Hansard Debates, 23 October 1992 They were responsible for the Guildford and Woolwich pub bombings which left seven people dead, as well as the murder of broadcaster and author Ross McWhirter.But if they thought charm was going to help get them what they wanted – a plane to take them to Ireland – they were mistaken. During the negotiations O’Connell let slip that the men were confined to the front living room in the Matthews’ flat. Mr Justice Cantley described the four as "criminals who call themselves soldiers". He recommended that each serve at least 30 years. Not long after the press conference, on the 27th of November, Duggan and Doherty staked out McWhirter’s house in Enfield. When Mrs McWhirter arrived home they confronted her with two hand guns and demanded her keys. She ran past them and rang the house’s doorbell. When Ross opened the door, Duggan shot him in the abdomen and then at point-blank range in his head. Leaving him bleeding profusely on his doorstep they made their escape in Mrs McWhirter’s blue Ford Granada. Ross McWhirter died not long after he was admitted to hospital and Duggan later said:

The Balcombe Street gang, as they became known after the dramatic siege of a flat in Balcombe Street, London, in December 1975, was part of a specialist IRA unit which sometimes numbered as many as 20. It was described as "the most violent, ruthless and highly-trained unit ever sent to Britain by the Provisional IRA". Sir Hugh Fraser, the original target of the IRA ASU died of lung cancer in 1984. His wife, Antonia, had left him to marry Harold Pinter for years earlier in 1980. His house-guest, Caroline Kennedy, has recently become the first female American Ambassador to Japan. Born in Kent, Imbert was educated at the Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone, spent his National Service in the Royal Air Force Police and worked for a short time with Kent County Council, before joining the Metropolitan Police in 1953 at Bow Street Police Station. The gang and their hostages were held in a single room, with no access to running water or a toilet. Although police initially refused requests for food, they did give them water and a chemical toilet.One reporter who was covering the events for radio was Jon Snow, now a Channel 4 newsreader. “I think we all fell victim to Balcombe Street fever,” he recalled. It was the second time the building had been targeted. On 12 November a bomb containing ball-bearings was thrown into the restaurant, killing one and injuring 15 others. Photo: Policemen draw their guns outside flat 22b Balcombe Street, Marylebone, where a middle-aged couple are being held as hostages of a group of gunmen. Moysey remains sceptical about Sir Ian's description of his role in the pursuit, pointing out that according to witnesses it was not a high-speed chase. In his book he reports that the driver of the taxi commandeered by Mr Purnell and Mr McVeigh later told BBC radio news that the IRA vehicle had not been driven erratically as he tailed it: "He wasn't going mad, this car ... he wasn't causing any attraction to himself." Mr Purnell yesterday told the Guardian that he and Mr McVeigh followed the IRA car at normal speed.