As we sat in the Piano Lounge of The Europa Hotel, enjoying a fancy high tea, in the back of our minds was the terrorism that occurred in our very seats just 20 years earlier. You couldn’t tell by the teacart with exotic teas, or the delicious finger sandwiches and sweets, or the view from our seat of the busy streets below that this hotel is the most bombed hotel in Europe.
On July 26th, 1993 I was born at Kaiser Moanalua. 2 months earlier, on the 20th of May, half way around the world in Belfast, a 1,000-pound bomb exploded in the city center, injuring 13 people. The bomb was placed on Glengall Street, Belfast, right outside the Grand Opera House and close to the Headquarters of the Ulster Unionist Party. The bomb was placed in a trashcan, by the Irish Republican Army, near to where vote-counting for local elections of Ulster were going on. The explosion occurred just minutes after experts set off a controlled explosion in an attempt to disarm the bomb
The I.R.A. issued the first of several warnings by telephone about the bomb just before 8 A.M., saying it had a 20-minute timer. The area was still being evacuated when the bomb went off less than 30 minutes later. The bomb shattered almost every window in the Europa Hotel, blew a hole in the side of the Grand Opera House, and caused extensive damage over a wide area of the city center. The wounded included police officers and civilians, most being shock and cuts.
The bombs had caused around 4million pounds of damage and so the hotel sold for just £4.4million. The hotel closed and did not reopen until January 1994. The new Europa opened in February 1994, just in time for the IRA ceasefire and Bill Clintons visit on November 30th 1995. This was the first time a current US President was visiting Northern Ireland. The Clintons entourage took 3 floors of rooms and the President stayed in room 1011, which is known as the Clinton Suite.
On July 26th, 1993 I was born at Kaiser Moanalua. 2 months earlier, on the 20th of May, half way around the world in Belfast, a 1,000-pound bomb exploded in the city center, injuring 13 people. The bomb was placed on Glengall Street, Belfast, right outside the Grand Opera House and close to the Headquarters of the Ulster Unionist Party. The bomb was placed in a trashcan, by the Irish Republican Army, near to where vote-counting for local elections of Ulster were going on. The explosion occurred just minutes after experts set off a controlled explosion in an attempt to disarm the bomb
The I.R.A. issued the first of several warnings by telephone about the bomb just before 8 A.M., saying it had a 20-minute timer. The area was still being evacuated when the bomb went off less than 30 minutes later. The bomb shattered almost every window in the Europa Hotel, blew a hole in the side of the Grand Opera House, and caused extensive damage over a wide area of the city center. The wounded included police officers and civilians, most being shock and cuts.
The bombs had caused around 4million pounds of damage and so the hotel sold for just £4.4million. The hotel closed and did not reopen until January 1994. The new Europa opened in February 1994, just in time for the IRA ceasefire and Bill Clintons visit on November 30th 1995. This was the first time a current US President was visiting Northern Ireland. The Clintons entourage took 3 floors of rooms and the President stayed in room 1011, which is known as the Clinton Suite.