The 21 Podcast: Recent Episodes
Adrian Goldberg
Telling the story of the Birmingham Pub Bombings, 21 November 1974 - and the battle to get justice for the victims.
Proposals for a "Statute Of Limitations" on violence associated with "The Troubles" by Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis amount to an amnesty for the killers responsible for the Birmingham Pub Bombings.
Adrian Goldberg gets reaction from Julie Hambleton from the Justice 4 The 21 campaign.
A group of survivors and victims' families met with Home Secretary Priti Patel to discuss the possibility of a Public Inquiry into the Birmingham Pub Bombings.
Campaigner Julie Hambleton shares her observations.
As victims' families prepare for the 46th anniversary - or "memorial" - of the pub bombings their supporters are planning a car convoy around Birmingham's Outer Circle route to highlight the Justice 4 The 21 campaign.
This comes in wake of the arrest of a man in Belfast by counter terrorism police - although he has since been released. Home Secretary Priti Patel has also pledged to look at calls for a public enquiry and two murals highlighting the campaign have sprung up in Brum.
Julie Hambleton talks about a visit by Justice 4 The 21 campaigners to meet Irish President Michael Higgins and Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney in pursuit of a public inquiry into the Birmingham Pub Bombings.
Spokesperson for the Justice 4 The 21 campaign Julie Hambleton has announced that she plans to stand as an independent candidate for West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner - a job which involves holding the force to account on behalf of the public. But as she explains, if she's elected she would have to stand down from her campaigning role.
On April 3, 2019 a jury concluded that the 21 victims of the Birmingham pub bombings had been unlawfully killed. In this episode we hear from lead campaigner Julie Hambleton on the morning of the first day of the inquest; then again six weeks later at its conclusion. The most sensational moment of the trial came when a convicted IRA bomber identified as Witness O named four men as being responsible for the killings. Another suspect was suggested by a lawyer. Two of the five men are still alive. They must be presumed innocent but the families now want them interviewed by Police to see if they can shed any light on what happened on the night of November 21, 1974. A report from every day of the inquest can be found at Facebook.com/the21podcast/
Later this month, on the 21st anniversary of the Birmingham Pub Bombings, a memorial to the victims will be unveiled in a ceremony led by the city’s Irish community.
This is no small thing. In aftermath of the bombings, the Irish were scapegoated for what had – apparently - been done in their name by members of the IRA, breeding years of mistrust.
Would creating a memorial be an admission of guilt by association? That's how it appeared to some.
But others argued that it would be a way of healing wounds – by showing that the Irish community too was outraged by what was done in its name on that fateful night. And in the end it was their view that prevailed.
Maurice Malone, CEO at the Birmingham Irish Association in Digbeth, was one of the main movers of the project and helped secure funding from Network Rail for the memorial which will be sited outside the revamped New Street Station/Grand Central complex.
In an episode of ITV's Exposure documentary series, journalist John Ware names the two prime suspects in the Birmingham pub bombings. He uses as his starting point the book by former MP Chris Mullin, An Error Of Judgement, which helped exonerate the "Birmingham Six" who were wrongly convicted of planting the bombs.
John Ware names the suspects as former British soldier James Gavin who died in 2002; and Michael Reilly who denies all the allegations and says they are "completely unfounded".
In this interview John talks about why he wanted to make the programme, and assesses the likelihood of securing justice for the victims' families.
Julie Hambleton explains why relatives have been forced to accept defeat in a court battle aimed at extending the scope of the Coroner's investigation into the deaths of their loved ones. The Justice for The 21 families wanted the inquest into the 1974 atrocity - which is currently on hold - to name the suspected bombers and explore their motives.
The full story of the Inquest Impasse is told in Episode 4.
Judith Thompson, the Commissioner for Victims and Survivors of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, travelled to Birmingham on Monday, August 20 to meet family members of the Birmingham pub bombing victims. Despite initial scepticism among campaigners, the result was a remarkable breakthrough. The Commissioner said that she would advocate for families in England to have the same right as families in Northern Ireland to an independent review into the deaths of their loved ones. Judith also believes the families should have access to same kind of support services such as counselling as their counterparts in NI.
In 2014, the Belfast-based legal firm KRW Law was instructed by families of 10 of the Birmingham pub bombings victims to pursue the fight for justice. Two years later, KRW successfully fought for the re-opening of the inquest into the deaths of the 21. The original inquest had been suspended in 1974 when the Birmingham 6 were charged, and although their convictions were overturned in 1991, the legal investigation into the deaths wasn't re-opened at the time. Pre inquest hearings eventually resumed in 2016, but there's currently an impasse. The Coroner Sir Peter Thornton QC is seeking to limit the scope of the hearings to exclude the perpetrators of the bombings. KRW successfully challenged this in the High Court in January 2017, but the Coroner went to the Court of Appeal in July 2018. The decision of the Appeal Court judges is expected in the autumn. Chris Stanley from KRW Law explains the issues involved.
Bill Craig lost his brother Jimmy in the Birmingham Pub Bombings. He talks movingly about the night of the blasts and their aftermath - and of his belief that someone somewhere in the British state knew in advance about the bombings but chose not to raise the alarm, in the belief that the murder of innocent civilians would discredit the IRA.
Episode 2 follows the campaigners from Birmingham to Belfast where they meet the leaders of the two main parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly; Arlene Foster of the DUP and Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Fein. The picture shows (back row) Brian Hambleton, George Jones, Paul Bodman, Bill Craig (front row) Margaret Hambleton, Julie Hambleton