Former soldier speaks out on dissident attacks

The MP for Beckenham in Kent, served in Londonderry at the outset of the Troubles in 1970, in 1978 and during 1981/82. Mr Stewart, a former Lieutenant Colonel, was also a company commander on duty in Ballykelly on December 6, 1982 when an INLA bomb devastated the Droppin' Well bar, killing 11 soldiers-some of which were directly under his command, as well as six civilians.

Speaking after a mortar bomb was fired at Strand Road PSNI Station last Friday, Mr Stewart told the Sentinel that he was "devastated" to learn that such attacks were still prevalent in Londonderry.

At around 12.15 last Friday night, police say that a mortar, which failed to explode on impact, hit a wall of the police station, after being fired from the back of a Vauxhall car. A fold for elderly people and a number of other houses were evacuated because of the attack. It is understood the device partially exploded inside the car. No one was injured and bomb disposal experts later carried out a controlled explosion. Earlier on Friday, bomb disposal experts attended a bar in the Stanley's Walk area of the city when a pipe bomb was discovered in an upstairs room.

"I regard Londonderry or Derry with affection and I know the city better than any other in Northern Ireland. All the people there are totally hospitable and descent.

"I went to Londonderry in 1970 as a 20-year-old officer. I joined the military to serve outside the UK, not inside the UK and the fact that I found myself in Northern Ireland was extraordinary.

"I found a dichotomy of great hospitality and sometimes great hostility. So my feelings her first time were mixed. I had a Catholic girlfriend who lived in the Rossville flats and someone attacked her family's home because I was a military officer. I can never forgive people who took up arms on both sides, that was, to use an Irish saying, beyond the pale. I say that as someone who loves Ireland."

Mr Stewart, who later commanded British troops in Bosnia and who has held posts at the Ministry of Defence and NATO, said he believes there are three reasons why dissident republicans are continuing their campaign.

"First, here is some latent or residual support for what these people are doing. The second reason is bravado-they think they are being one of the 'boys'. Thirdly, they say they are doing it for a united Ireland, which is something I don't follow anymore, I think that is rubbish. It is no longer the truth.

"Stopping people from supporting this is extremely difficult. Perhaps if people stopped bad mouthing each other religions, it may help, it just makes things worse. As for being one of the 'boys'-I note that some of those being caught for these attacks are not boys, there are middle aged. I could understand it more if they were 18 and being caught up in this. They only way it will stop is when everyone in Northern Ireland rejects violence without exception," said the MP.

Mr Stewart said that his ancestry was mainly English and Scots with a degree of Irish blood and that the religious make-up of his family consisted of Catholics and Protestants.

"My great granny was Irish and I have always loved Ireland, north and south. The first holidays I took when I left the Army were in Galway and Dublin, places I was never allowed to go to before that because I was in the military."

Bob Stewart, was on duty on the night of the Droppin' Well bombing in 1982. He spoke to the Sentinel about the experience that still stays with him to this day-See Page 10 to read his account of that night.