A MEMORIAL concert will be held in Birmingham today (Friday 21) to mark the 40th anniversary of the IRA pub bombings.
The event has been organised by the Justice for the 21 campaign group, who have renewed their appeal for a new inquiry into the case.
On November 21, 1974 IRA devices were planted in two central Birmingham pubs – the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town. Although warnings were sent, the pubs were not evacuated in time and 21 people were killed, with a further 182 injured.
Irish men – Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Joseph Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker— were wrongly arrested and later sentenced to life imprisonment.
They served 16 years before their sentences were quashed in 1991. This week Hugh Callaghan backed the renewed call for a new inquiry into the attack, claiming “It could mean the real killers being caught and the last bit of suspicion gone.
See More: Birmingham, IRA, Ireland, Pub Bombing
