Brighton hotel bombing - wikipedia Brighton hotel bombing `` Brighton bomb '' redirects here. For the Angelic Upstarts album, see Brighton Bomb ( album ). Brighton hotel bombing Part of The Troubles The Grand Hotel on the morning after the bombing Location Grand Hotel, Brighton, England Coordinates 50 ° 49 ′ 17 '' N 0 ° 08 ′ 50 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 50.82139 ° N 0.14722 ° W ﻿ / 50.82139 ; - 0.14722 Coordinates : 50 ° 49 ′ 17 '' N 0 ° 08 ′ 50 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 50.82139 ° N 0.14722 ° W ﻿ / 50.82139 ; - 0.14722 Date 12 October 1984 2 : 54 am ( BST ) Target Margaret Thatcher Attack type Bombing Weapons Time bomb Deaths 5 Non-fatal injuries 31 Perpetrator Provisional IRA The Grand Hotel, Brighton, 1986 ( restoration almost completed after bomb damage ) The Grand Hotel at night, 2006 The Brighton hotel bombing was a Provisional Irish Republican Army ( IRA ) assassination attempt against the top tier of the British government in 1984 that occurred on 12 October 1984 at the Grand Brighton Hotel in Brighton, England. A long - delay time bomb was planted in the hotel by IRA member Patrick Magee, with the purpose of killing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet, who were staying at the hotel for the Conservative Party conference. Although Thatcher narrowly escaped injury, five people were killed including a sitting Conservative MP, and 31 were injured. Contents 1 Preparation 2 Bombing 2.1 Casualties 3 Aftermath 3.1 IRA statement 3.2 Thatcher 's response 3.3 Approval in Britain 3.4 Patrick Magee 3.5 Attitudes towards security 4 In popular culture 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 Sources Preparation Patrick Magee had stayed in the hotel under the pseudonym Roy Walsh during the weekend of 14 -- 17 September 1984. During his stay, he planted the bomb under the bath in his room, number 629. The device was fitted with a long - delay timer made from videocassette recorder components and a Memo Park Timer safety device. IRA mole Sean O'Callaghan claimed that 20 lb ( 9 kg ) of Frangex ( gelignite ) was used. The device was described as a ' small bomb by IRA standards ' by a contemporary news report, and may have avoided detection by sniffer dogs by being wrapped in cling film to mask the smell of the explosive. Bombing The bomb detonated at approximately 2 : 54 am ( BST ) on 12 October. The midsection of the building collapsed into the basement, leaving a gaping hole in the hotel 's facade. Firemen said that many lives were likely saved because the well - built Victorian hotel remained standing. Margaret Thatcher was still awake at the time, working on her conference speech for the next day in her suite. The blast badly damaged her bathroom, but left her sitting room and bedroom unscathed. Both she and her husband Denis escaped injury. She changed her clothes and was led out through the wreckage along with her husband and her friend and aide Cynthia Crawford, and driven to Brighton police station. At about 4 : 00 am, as Thatcher left the police station, she gave an impromptu interview to the BBC 's John Cole, saying that the conference would go on as usual. Alistair McAlpine persuaded Marks & Spencer to open early at 8 : 00 am so those who had lost their clothes in the bombing could purchase replacements. Thatcher went from the conference to visit the injured at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. Casualties Five people were killed, none of whom were government ministers. But a Conservative MP, Sir Anthony Berry, was killed, along with Eric Taylor ( North - West Area Chairman of the Conservative Party ), Lady ( Jeanne ) Shattock ( wife of Sir Gordon Shattock, Western Area Chairman of the Conservative Party ), Lady ( Muriel ) Maclean ( wife of Sir Donald Maclean, President of the Scottish Conservatives ), and Roberta Wakeham ( wife of Parliamentary Treasury Secretary John Wakeham ). Donald and Muriel Maclean were in the room in which the bomb exploded, but Mr Maclean survived. Several more, including Walter Clegg, whose bedroom was directly above the blast, and Margaret Tebbit ( the wife of Norman Tebbit, who was then President of the Board of Trade ) were left permanently disabled. 34 people were taken to hospital and recovered from their injuries. When hospital staff asked Norman Tebbit, who was less seriously injured than his wife, whether he was allergic to anything, he is said to have answered `` bombs ''. Aftermath IRA statement The Troubles Northern Ireland 1960s Battle of the Bogside August 1969 riots 1970s Battle of St Matthew 's Falls Curfew 1970 RUC booby - trap bombing Official IRA clubs attack Scottish soldiers ' killings Operation Demetrius Ballymurphy massacre Newry killings McGurk 's bombing Balmoral showroom bombing Bloody Sunday Abercorn bombing Donegall St bombing Battle at Springmartin Battle of Lenadoon Springhill massacre Bloody Friday Operation Motorman Claudy bombing Four Square Laundry attack Benny 's bombing New Lodge Six shooting Coleraine bombings UWC strike Rose & Crown Bar bombing Conway 's Bar attack Mountainview Tavern attack Strand Bar Bombing Miami Showband killings Bayardo Bar Tullyvallen massacre Belfast and Coleraine attacks Drummuckavall ambush Donnellys bar & Kays tavern Reavey - O'Dowd killings Kingsmill massacre Hillcrest Bar bombing Chlorane Bar Ramble Inn Step Inn bombing Jonesboro Gazelle downing La Mon bombing Lisnamuck Battle Bessbrook bombing Warrenpoint ambush 1980s Dunmurry train bombing Lough Foyle Bessbrook landmine attack Glasdrumman ambush Ballykelly bombing Ballygawley land mine Darkley killings Kesh ambush Gransha hospital shootings Newry barracks Killeen Landmine attack Ballygawley barracks The Birches barracks Loughgall ambush Enniskillen bombing Milltown Cemetery Corporals killings Avenue Bar shooting Lisburn van bombing Ballygawley bus bombing Orange Cross shooting Jonesborough ambush Derryard checkpoint 1990s Downpatrick bombing Derrygorry Gazelle shootdown Operation Conservation Fort Victoria 1990 proxy bombs Mullacreevie ambush Cappagh killings Glenanne barracks Coagh ambush Donegall Arms shooting Teebane bombing Bookmakers ' shooting Clonoe ambush Cloghoge checkpoint Coalisland riots South Armagh sniper campaign Night of the Long Knives James Murray 's bookmakers Castlerock killings Cullaville occupation Battle of Newry Road 1993 Shankill bombing Greysteel massacre Crossmaglen Lynx shootdown 1994 Shankill Road killings Loughinisland massacre Drumcree crisis Thiepval barracks 1997 Coalisland attack July 1997 riots Newtownhamilton bombing Omagh bombing Republic of Ireland 1970s Belturbet bombing Dublin bombings Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape Dublin - Monaghan bombings Dublin Airport bombing Donnellys bar & Kays tavern Flagstaff incident 1980s Clontibret invasion Great Britain 1970s Aldershot bombing Old Bailey bombing King 's Cross & Euston stations M62 coach bombing Houses of Parliament bombing Guildford bombings Brook 's bombing Harrow School Woolwich bombing Birmingham bombings Pillar box bombs Oxford Street bombing Caterham bombing London Hilton bombing Green Park bombing Scott 's bombing Walton 's bombing Balcombe St siege Assassination of Airey Neave 1980s Hyde and Regent 's Park bombings Harrods bombing Woolwich barracks Brighton bombing Inglis barracks Deal barracks 1990s Lichfield attack Downing St attack Victoria station & Paddington station bombings London Bridge bombing 1992 Manchester bombing Warrington bombings Bishopsgate bombing Heathrow mortar attacks Docklands bombing 1996 Manchester bombing Mainland Europe Rheindahlen bombing ( Germany ) Operation Flavius ( Gibraltar ) 1988 Netherlands attacks Nick Spanos & Stephen Melrose Killings ( Netherlands ) Osnabrück barracks ( Germany ) The IRA claimed responsibility the next day, and said that it would try again. Its statement read : Mrs. Thatcher will now realise that Britain can not occupy our country and torture our prisoners and shoot our people in their own streets and get away with it. Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always. Give Ireland peace and there will be no more war. Thatcher 's response Margaret Thatcher began the next session of the conference at 9 : 30 am the following morning, as scheduled. She dropped from her speech most of her planned attacks on the Labour Party and said the bombing was `` an attempt to cripple Her Majesty 's democratically elected Government '' : That is the scale of the outrage in which we have all shared, and the fact that we are gathered here now -- shocked, but composed and determined -- is a sign not only that this attack has failed, but that all attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail. One of her biographers wrote that Thatcher 's `` coolness, in the immediate aftermath of the attack and in the hours after it, won universal admiration. Her defiance was another Churchillian moment in her premiership which seemed to encapsulate both her own steely character and the British public 's stoical refusal to submit to terrorism ''. Immediately afterwards, her popularity soared almost to the level it had been during the Falklands War. The Saturday after the bombing, Thatcher said to her constituents : `` We suffered a tragedy not one of us could have thought would happen in our country. And we picked ourselves up and sorted ourselves out as all good British people do, and I thought, let us stand together for we are British ! They were trying to destroy the fundamental freedom that is the birth - right of every British citizen, freedom, justice and democracy. '' Approval in Britain At the time of the bombing, the miners ' strike was underway. Morrissey, frontman of the English alternative rock band the Smiths, joked shortly after : `` the only sorrow of the Brighton bombing is that Thatcher escaped unscathed ''. David Bret wrote in the book Morrissey : Scandal & Passion that `` The tabloids were full of such remarks ; jokes about the tragedy were cracked on radio and television programmes. A working - men 's club in South Yorkshire seriously considered a whip - round ' to pay for the bomber to have another go '. '' In 1986, English punk band the Angelic Upstarts celebrated the IRA 's assassination attempt with their single `` Brighton Bomb ''. They released an album of the same name in 1987. Patrick Magee Main article : Patrick Magee ( Irish republican ) Once investigators had narrowed the seat of the blast to the bathroom of Room 629, police began to track down everyone who had stayed in the room. This eventually led them to ' Roy Walsh ' ( IRA member Patrick Magee ). On 24 June 1985 he was arrested in Glasgow with other members of an IRA active service unit while planning further bombings. In September 1985, Magee ( then aged 35 ) was found guilty of planting the bomb, detonating it, and of five counts of murder. Magee received eight life sentences : seven for offences relating to the Brighton bombing, and the eighth for another bomb plot. The judge recommended that he serve at least 35 years. Later Home Secretary Michael Howard lengthened this to `` whole life ''. However, Magee was released from prison in 1999 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, having served 14 years ( including the time before his sentencing ). A British Government spokesman said that his release `` was hard to stomach '' and an appeal by then Home Secretary Jack Straw to forestall it was turned down by the Northern Ireland High Court. Four members of an IRA unit were also imprisoned for involvement in the plot. Magee, while admitting being part of the IRA unit responsible, maintains that the fingerprint evidence on a registration card from the hotel was faked. In 2000, Magee spoke about the bombing in an interview with The Sunday Business Post. He told interviewer Tom McGurk that the British government 's strategy at the time was to depict the IRA as mere criminals while containing the Troubles within Northern Ireland : As long as the war was kept in that context, they could sustain the years of attrition. But in the early 1980s we succeeded in destroying both strategies. The hunger strike destroyed the notion of criminalisation and the Brighton bombing destroyed the notion of containment (... ) After Brighton, anything was possible and the British for the first time began to look very differently at us ; even the IRA itself, I believe, began to fully accept the priority of the campaign in England. Of those killed in the bombing, Magee said : `` I deeply regret that anybody had to lose their lives, but at the time did the Tory ruling class expect to remain immune from what their frontline troops were doing to us ? '' Attitudes towards security Daily Telegraph journalist David Hughes called the bombing `` the most audacious attack on a British government since the Gunpowder Plot '' and wrote that it `` marked the end of an age of comparative innocence. From that day forward, all party conferences in this country have become heavily defended citadels ''. In popular culture Jonathan Lee 's 2015 novel High Dive is a fictionalized account of the bombing, written largely from the alternating perspectives of the hotel manager, his teenage daughter, and an IRA bombmaker who helps Magee. Rights to the book were purchased and it is in development as a potential feature film. The third novel in Adrian McKinty 's `` Troubles Trilogy, '' In the Morning I 'll be Gone, features his RUC detective hero Sean Duffy trying to prevent the Brighton bombing. See also 1980s portal Terrorism portal 1981 Irish hunger strike Assassination of Spencer Perceval Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions ( 1980 -- 89 ) Downing Street mortar attack References Jump up ^ The assassination attempt targeted the entire Cabinet at the Grand Hotel ( as well as the Prime Minister ). ^ Jump up to : Gareth Parry ( 10 June 1986 ). `` Patrick Magee convicted of IRA terrorist attack ''. London : The Guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2007. Jump up ^ Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher : At Her Zenith ( 2016 ) 2 : 309 - 16 Jump up ^ Kieran Hughes, Terror Attack Brighton - Blowing up the Iron Lady ( 2014 ). Jump up ^ Parry, Gareth ; Pallister, David. Timer clue to Brighton bombing, The Guardian ; 10 May 1986 Jump up ^ Clarke, Liam. IRA mole warned police about Brighton bomb, Sunday Times 15 December 1996 ^ Jump up to : Lucy Williamson. `` ' Witness ' Episode : The Brighton Hotel Bombing ''. BBC. Retrieved 16 Oct 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` 1984 : Tory Cabinet in Brighton bomb blast ''. BBC ' On This Day '. ^ Jump up to : David Hughes ( 11 October 2009 ). `` Brighton bombing : Daily Telegraph journalist recalls ''. London : The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 May 2011. Jump up ^ `` Nice to have you back where you belong... '' - Blackpool Gazette, 15 April 2013 Jump up ^ Taylor, Peter ( 2001 ). Brits : The War Against the IRA. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 265. ISBN 0 - 7475 - 5806 - X. Jump up ^ Margaret Thatcher, Speech to Conservative Party Conference, 12 October 1984 Jump up ^ John Campbell, Margaret Thatcher. The Iron Lady ( Jonathan Cape, 2003 ), p. 432. Jump up ^ Campbell, p. 432. Jump up ^ Margaret Thatcher, Speech to Finchley Conservatives, 20 October 1984 Jump up ^ Bret, David. Morrissey : Scandal & Passion. Franz Steiner Verlag, 2004. p. 111 Jump up ^ Bucklet, Peter. The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides, 2003. p. 31 Jump up ^ Wilson, Jamie ( 28 August 2000 ). `` Brighton bomber thinks again ''. The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 April 2010. ^ Jump up to : `` Brighton Bomb was a turning point -- Magee ''. An Phoblacht, 31 August 2000. Jump up ^ Jennifer Senior, `` Review : Jonathan Lee 's ' High Dive ' Revisits a Plot to Kill Margaret Thatcher '' New York Times March 13, 2016 Further reading Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher : At Her Zenith ( 2016 ) 2 : 309 - 16. Kieran Hughes, Terror Attack Brighton - Blowing up the Iron Lady ( 2014 ). Sources Text of the BBC television news report on the morning of the attack BBC News photo journal of the attack BBC News report on Straw 's attempt to prevent the early release of Magee Guardian story on the release of Magee in 1999 An Phoblacht : Interview with Pat Magee regarding the Brighton bombing BBC report on Magee being convicted of the bombing The Troubles History of Northern Ireland History of Ireland Irish nationalism Irish republicanism Ulster unionism Ulster loyalism Books about the Troubles Participants Republican paramilitaries Provisional IRA ( timeline ) Official IRA Irish National Liberation Army ( timeline ) Continuity IRA ( timeline ) Real IRA ( timeline ) IPLO ( timeline Security forces United Kingdom British Army Royal Air Force Royal Navy Northern Ireland Ulster Defence Regiment / Royal Irish Regiment Royal Ulster Constabulary / Ulster Special Constabulary Republic of Ireland Garda Síochána Irish Army Loyalist paramilitaries Ulster Defence Association ( timeline ) Ulster Volunteer Force ( timeline ) Loyalist Volunteer Force Red Hand Commando Ulster Resistance Linked to : Some RUC and British Army members Political parties Unionist Ulster Unionist Party Democratic Unionist Party Progressive Unionist Party UK Unionist Party Traditional Unionist Voice Ulster Vanguard Ulster Democratic Party Nationalist Social Democratic & Labour Party Sinn Féin Irish Republican Socialist Party Workers ' Party of Ireland Republican Sinn Féin Irish Independence Party Other Alliance Party Chronology Northern Ireland civil rights movement begins ( 1967 ) August riots and beginning of Operation Banner ( 1969 ) Falls Curfew ( 1970 ) Internment without trial begins with Operation Demetrius ( 1971 ) Irish government enacts broadcasting restrictions ( 1971 ) Bloody Sunday by British Army ( 1972 ) Northern Ireland government dissolved ; direct rule from London begins ( 1972 ) Bloody Friday by IRA ( 1972 ) Operation Motorman ends no - go areas ( 1972 ) Sunningdale Agreement establishes power - sharing Assembly ( 1973 ) Ulster Workers ' Council strike brings down Agreement and power - sharing ( 1974 ) Dublin and Monaghan bombings by UVF ( 1974 ) Guildford and Birmingham pub bombings by IRA ( 1974 ) Kingsmill massacre by IRA ( 1976 ) Warrenpoint ambush by IRA ( 1979 ) 1981 Irish hunger strike ; hunger striker Bobby Sands elected MP ; Sinn Féin begins to move towards electoral politics ( 1981 ) Brighton hotel bombing by IRA ( 1984 ) Anglo - Irish Agreement ( 1985 ) Loughgall ambush by British Army ( 1987 ) Remembrance Day bombing by IRA ( 1987 ) Peace Process begins ( 1988 ) Operation Flavius, Milltown Cemetery attack and Corporals killings ( 1988 ) British government introduces broadcasting restrictions ( 1988 ) Attack on Derryard checkpoint by Provisional IRA ( 1989 ) Baltic Exchange bombing ( 1992 ) Bishopsgate bombing ( 1993 ) Downing Street Declaration ( 1993 ) First IRA and loyalist ceasefires ( 1994 ) Docklands and Manchester bombings by IRA ( 1996 ) Dumcree riots ( 1997 ) Second IRA ceasefire ( 1997 ) Good Friday Agreement ( 1998 ) signals the end of the Troubles Omagh bombing by the Real IRA ( 1998 ) Other issues and topics Segregation Peace lines / Interface areas Parades Flags Collusion The Disappeared Shoot - to - kill policy Diplock courts Special Category Status Five techniques Punishment shootings Murals The Troubles in popular culture List of books about the Troubles City of Brighton and Hove Topics History Brighton Blitz Brighton in fiction Brighton in film Cemeteries and crematoria Conservation areas LGBT community Libraries Notable people Schools Sewers Transport Events Battle of Lewes Road Trunk murders Beaching of Athina B Grand Hotel bombing Culture Artists Open Houses Brighton Festival Brighton Fringe The Great Escape Brighton Photo Biennial Brighton Marathon Brighton Half Marathon Brighton Pride Skint Records Brighton Speed Trials London to Brighton events Veteran Car Run Politics City Council Local elections 2003 2007 2011 2015 Brighton, Kemptown Simon Kirby Brighton, Pavilion Caroline Lucas Hove Peter Kyle Transport Roads A23 A27 A259 Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company The Big Lemon Railway Open stations Brighton Preston Park Hove Aldrington Portslade London Road Moulsecoomb Falmer Closed stations Golf Club Halt Hartington Road Holland Road Halt Kemp Town Lewes Road Rowan Halt Infrastructure Brighton railway works Cliftonville Curve London Road viaduct Lovers Walk depot Other Auto rickshaws Daddy Long - Legs Trams Trolleybuses Volk 's Railway Media Brighton Herald ( defunct ) Brighton Voice BBC Sussex Heart Sussex Juice 107.2 Radio Reverb The Argus SchNEWS Sport Football Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C. Brighton United F.C. Mile Oak F.C. Saltdean United F.C. Whitehawk F.C. Goldstone Ground Withdean Stadium Falmer Stadium Brighton, Worthing & District Football League Cricket Sussex C.C.C Brighton & Hove C.C. County Cricket Ground Rugby Union Brighton F.C. Hove Rugby Club Other Brighton & Hove Greyhound Stadium Brighton Bears Brighton Racecourse Brighton Rockers Roller Derby Brighton Tigers Buildings and architects Buildings and architecture Places of worship Grade I listed buildings Grade II * listed buildings Landmarks Charles Busby John Nash Amon Henry Wilds Amon Wilds Parks Hove Park Old Steine Gardens Preston Park Queen 's Park St Ann 's Well Gardens Stanmer Park Wild Park ( Brighton Parks Police ) Areas Aldrington Balsdean ( lost village ) Bear Road / Coombe Road Bevendean Black Rock Brighton Brighton Marina Brunswick Town Carlton Hill City centre Coldean Elm Grove Hangleton Hanover Hollingbury Hollingdean Hove Kemp Town Kemptown The Knoll The Lanes Mile Oak Montpelier Moulsecoomb New England Quarter North Laine Old Steine Ovingdean Patcham Portslade - by - Sea Portslade Village Preston Park Preston Village Prestonville Queen 's Park Roedean Rottingdean Round Hill Saltdean Seven Dials Stanmer Stanmer Park West Blatchington West Hill Westdene Whitehawk Withdean Woodingdean Provisional Irish Republican Army General Anti-Treaty IRA Sinn Féin Republican News An Phoblacht The Green Book The Troubles ( Timeline ) Haughey arms crisis Officials - Provisionals split Provisional IRA campaign Arms importation Disappeared Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape Blanket protest Dirty protest HM Prison Maze Anti H - Block 1981 Irish hunger strike Maze Prison escape Armalite and ballot box strategy Smithwick Tribunal Northern Ireland peace process North American arrests Barrack buster Good Friday Agreement Organisation IRA Army Council Internal Security Unit Active Service Unit ( ASU ) Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade Provisional IRA Derry Brigade Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade Provisional IRA Balcombe Street Gang ASU Attacks Insurgency, 1969 -- 1977 Battle of St Matthew 's 1970 RUC booby - trap bombing Scottish soldiers ' killings Balmoral showroom bombing Abercorn bombing Donegall St bombing Battle at Springmartin Bloody Friday Claudy bombing Coleraine bombings M62 coach bombing Guildford pub bombings Brook 's Club Bomb Attack British Airways bombing attempt Birmingham pub bombings Bayardo Bar attack Caterham Arms pub bombing London Hilton bombing Green Park Tube Station Bombing Scott 's ( restaurant ) bombing Walton 's Restaurant bombing Drummuckavall ambush Balcombe Street siege Kingsmill massacre Long War, 1977 -- 1988 Jonesboro Gazelle downing La Mon restaurant bombing Warrenpoint ambush Dunmurry train explosion Lough Foyle attacks Hyde Park and Regent 's Park bombings Harrods bombing Woolwich barracks Brighton hotel bombing Ballygawley Land Mine Attack Newry mortar attack Ballygawley attack JHQ Rheindahlen bombing ( Germany ) Peace Process, 1988 -- 1998 Corporals killings Lisburn van bombing 1988 Netherlands Attacks Inglis Barracks Ballygawley bus bombing Jonesborough ambush Deal barracks bombing Derryard attack Derrygorry Gazelle downing RFA Fort Victoria bombing Proxy bombings Downing St mortar attack Mullacreevie ambush Glenanne barracks bombing Teebane bombing Cloghoge attack 1992 Manchester bombing South Armagh sniper campaign Warrington bomb attacks Cullaville occupation Bishopsgate bombing Battle of Newry Road Shankill Road bombing Crossmaglen Lynx downing Drumcree conflict Docklands bombing 1996 Manchester bombing Osnabrück mortar attack Thiepval barracks bombing Coalisland attack July 1997 riots Chiefs of Staff Seán Mac Stíofáin ( 1969 -- 72 ) Joe Cahill ( 1972 -- 73 ) Seamus Twomey ( 1973 ) Éamonn O'Doherty ( 1973 -- 74 ) Seamus Twomey ( 1974 -- 77 ) Gerry Adams ( 1977 -- 78 ) Martin McGuinness ( 1978 -- 82 ) Ivor Bell ( 1982 -- 83 ) Kevin McKenna ( 1983 -- 97 ) Thomas `` Slab '' Murphy ( 1997 -- 2005 ) Personalities ( Volunteers ) Billy McKee Gerry Kelly Dolours Price Marian Price John Joe McGirl Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Dáithí Ó Conaill George Harrison Billy Reid Michael Gaughan Pat Doherty Hugh Doherty Séanna Breathnach Proinsias MacAirt John Kelly Rose Dugdale John Francis Green Peter Cleary Kevin Coen Frank Stagg Kieran Nugent Francis Hughes Brendan Hughes Tommy McKearney Raymond McCartney Gerry McGeough Gerard Casey Thomas McMahon Eamon Collins Gerard Tuite Patrick Magee Bobby Sands Raymond McCreesh Joe McDonnell Martin Hurson Kieran Doherty Thomas McElwee Michael McKevitt Alex Maskey Fra McCann Owen Carron Paul Butler Dessie Ellis Angelo Fusco Breandán Mac Cionnaith Rita O'Hare Martin Meehan Arthur Morgan Danny Morrison Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde Kieran Fleming William Fleming Bernard Fox Paddy Quinn Laurence McKeown Pat McGeown Matt Devlin Pat Sheehan Siobhán O'Hanlon Jackie McMullan Patrick Joseph Kelly Larry Marley Jim Lynagh Pádraig McKearney Brendan McFarlane Charles Breslin Sean O'Callaghan Séamus McElwaine Gabriel Cleary Daniel McCann Seán Savage Mairéad Farrell Martin McCaughey Dessie Grew Fergal Caraher Patricia Black Malachy Carey Martin McGartland Joseph MacManus Paul Magee Pearse Jordan Thomas Begley Martin Doherty Ed O'Brien Diarmuid O'Neill Carál Ní Chuilín Ian Milne Conor Murphy Martina Anderson Jennifer McCann Liam Campbell Colin Duffy Espionage & Supergrasses Denis Donaldson Freddie Scappaticci ( allegedly `` Stakeknife '' ) Martin McGartland Raymond Gilmour Kevin Fulton Joseph Fenton Eamon Collins Associates Cumann na mBan Fianna Éireann South Armagh Republican Action Force Direct Action Against Drugs NORAID Provisional Clan na Gael Friends of Sinn Féin Cairde na hÉireann Troops Out Movement Derivatives Continuity Irish Republican Army Real Irish Republican Army Prominent killings Michael Willetts Jean McConville Columba McVeigh Billy Fox Martin McBirney Steven Tibble Ross McWhirter Sammy Smyth Christopher Ewart - Biggs Jeffery Stanford Agate Robert Nairac Richard Sykes Gerard Evans Lord Mountbatten Baroness Brabourne Norman Stronge James Stronge Robert Bradford Lenny Murphy Kenneth Salvesen Anthony Berry Maurice Gibson Robert Seymour Heidi Hazell Joseph Fenton Nick Spanos Stephen Melrose Ian Gow Donald Kaberry Thomas Oliver Sammy Ward Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Ray Smallwoods Joe Bratty Raymond Elder Martin Cahill Jerry McCabe Andrew Kearney Eamon Collins Matthew Burns Robert McCartney ( allegedly ) James Curran Joseph Rafferty ( allegedly ) Paul Quinn Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ( 1979 -- 1990 ) Leader of the Conservative Party ( 1975 -- 1990 ) MP for Finchley ( 1959 -- 1992 ) Member of Parliament Public Bodies ( Admission to Meetings ) Act 1960 Circular 10 / 70 Shadow Cabinet Ideology Thatcherism Conservatism Free market Premiership Ministers wets and dries First ministry ( 1979 -- 1983 ) Second ministry ( 1983 -- 1987 ) Third ministry ( 1987 -- 1990 ) Cold War 1st term 2nd & 3rd term 1981 United Kingdom budget 1981 Irish hunger strike `` The lady 's not for turning '' Falklands War Brighton hotel bombing Opposition to trade unions 1984 -- 85 miners ' strike Local Government Act Westland affair Sermon on the Mound 1988 broadcasting restrictions Community Charge poll tax riots Gulf War Resignation Honours Party elections General elections 1979 Books The Downing Street Years ( 1993 autobiography ) The Path to Power ( 1995 memoir ) Statecraft : Strategies for a Changing World ( 2003 ) Family Sir Denis Thatcher ( husband ) Mark Thatcher ( son ) Carol Thatcher ( daughter ) Alfred Roberts ( father ) Cultural depictions Film and television Thatcher : The Final Days ( 1991 film ) The Falklands Play ( 2002 play ) Pinochet in Suburbia ( 2006 docudrama ) The Long Walk to Finchley ( 2008 film ) Margaret ( film ) The Iron Lady ( film ) The Hunt for Tony Blair ( 2011 episode ) In Search of La Che ( 2011 film ) Statues Statue in the Guildhall Art Gallery Statue in the Palace of Westminster Book Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brighton_hotel_bombing&oldid=796250571 '' Categories : 1984 in British politics 1984 in England 20th century in East Sussex Assassination attempts Attacks on hotels Explosions in England Terrorist incidents in 1984 History of Brighton and Hove History of the Conservative Party ( UK ) Provisional IRA bombings in England October 1984 events 1984 crimes in the United Kingdom Hidden categories : Use British English from November 2013 Use dmy dates from September 2013 Coordinates on Wikidata All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from June 2017 Articles with unsourced statements from June 2016 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Български Deutsch Español Français 한국어 עברית Nederlands Norsk Português Simple English Svenska Türkçe 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 19 August 2017, at 14 : 58. 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Question: of all the places for a terrorist to strike why brighton
Answer: assassination attempt against the top tier of the British government