Brighton hotel bombing
The Brighton hotel bombing took place on October 12, 1984. The Provisional IRA detonated two large bombs in the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England, where many politicians, including Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, were staying for the Conservative party conference.
The bombs failed to kill Thatcher or any of her ministers, but did kill five people including Tory MP Anthony Berry and John Wakeham's wife Roberta Wakeham. Norman Tebbit's wife was left crippled. The bomb shredded Thatcher's bathroom barely two minutes after she had left it.
The IRA claimed responsibility the next day, and said that they would try again. Their statement famously included the words
- Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always.
In September 1986, 1999, having served only 14 years in prison (including the time before his sentencing), under the terms of the Good Friday agreement.
