Europe’s most bombed hotel: The Europa Hotel in Belfast | War Hotels
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- čas přidán 29. 05. 2021
- For three decades the Europa Hotel in Belfast hosted more journalists than tourists, survived 33 bombings by the Provisional Irish Republican Army and held the dubious honour of being Europe’s most bombed hotel.
It was both a target and a reporters' refuge during the bloody conflict in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. One of the reasons the hotel became a focus of attack was that it was a base for the world’s media and reporters covering the conflict. Some of these journalists - Martin Bell, Robin Walsh, Henry Kelly and Gerald Seymour - recall those grim times, while Professor Kenneth Morrison and Martin Mulholland, who worked at the hotel for 18 years, recount the remarkable story of this war hotel.
Built as a symbol of late 1960s optimism and modernity in the city centre, the Europa was a recurrent focus for the IRA’s attacks in the armed struggle between the Protestant Unionist majority, who wanted to remain within the United Kingdom, and the Catholic Republican minority. The hotel withstood these devastating bomb blasts and also saw successful evacuations and complex bomb disposal work. It was managed by the indomitable Harper Brown for much of this time, who oversaw the endless cycle of bombs, repairs, rebuilding and more bombs.
Amid the blasts, journalists thrived on the gossip and intrigue that fluttered around the hotel, from whispers in the dining room to the odd spy story and the comings and goings of various players in the conflict, all part of the cut and thrust of reporting the "Troubles". The hotel was a hub of communication and at times almost a newsroom for them. With few tourists in these troubled times, the Europa survived on these journalists too, and they all share a deep fondness for this extraordinary hotel, which played its own part in Northern Ireland’s complex history.
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The window contractor struck a gold mine.
We had are own contractors, because every day maybe two three windows would blow out 😍
Yup, he found out it paid better than tying a note to a brick, saying "Brick through the window? Call Murphy's Glazing!" and then chucking it through people's windows...
😂😂
“Stay at Europa! You’ll have a Blast!”
Yeah a bomb of a time 🤣🤣🤣
Says colonel Saunders
@@ivanbrown7650 you sound so ignorant. But with a name like Ivan you never were destined for much.
@@juliusnewman2094 really pal 😂
I’ve been inside once or twice, it’s actually pretty good
'Maybe we should wait a little bit down the road?' my friend said as we stood for a bus outside the most bombed hotel in Europe.
And to those of us who think nothing of walking in the streets around the Europa or have dinner there - we never give it a second thought 🙂.
The First Hotel in the World with Air Conditioning. It never had windows half the time.
I only had a cup of tea in the coffee shop of the Europa in 1996; I already knew it had been the most bombed hotel in Europe. Somehow, the atmosphere of the place invoked a kind of relaxed alertness in all who went there. In Northern Ireland, for the short time I was there, I received genuine kindness and interest from both major communities. Thank you, Hotel Europa. :)
Yeah me too. Always got a warm welcome when I went there on business in the early eighties. Just for showing up! I wrote loads of business as a result.
May we never go back to these times 🇮🇪🇬🇧
My father worked in it many years ago, after a while of bombing, the staff used to just get on with their work after the all clear and continue serving the people staying there.
You had too, for us it was normal when you live with it every day ! The doors would lock automatically and we were trapped inside ….. so u just got on with it and tried to keep everyone calm 👍
I knew a guy who worked there, and he told me about the boming and how the staff got on with things, as you said. lol
@@littlebrayutd I'm sorry to hear that. Sadly he put the lives of everyone inside it at risk, including the life of my father, (a nationalist from west Belfast) all the staff and indeed all the people staying there. When you think of where we are now as a people here, what did it achieve him in the end. Scriosamar muid féin mar gheall orainn féin.
@@MRMK24 noting brother,, just lot of angry young people, wound up and let go,,,,,,,,
@tomtom. My grandad owned the hotel. Harper brown and sally brown
My wife and I had our wedding ceremony and reception in the Europa in 1993.
We had booked the Panoramic suite, which essentially was the top floor, primarily made of glass.
Unfortunately a number of weeks before our wedding, someone decided to put a bomb in a side street of the hotel, and devasted the place.
The Panoramic suite no longer existed!
The hotel sorted out a plan for another room, and we just rolled up our sleeves and had a great day.
We understand our church ceremony was the first such event in the Europa.
We're approaching our 28th anniversary.
A beautiful hotel, in lots and lots of ways.
I wish you both a happy marriage my friend.
may this dark chapter of history never repeat itself.
Well it still kinda does in Northern Ireland
@@reececridland8922 not like it was but so hopefully it stays like that
@@jakewallace1664 oh yeah, not like the 70's but I know certain areas of NI are still classed as red zones
@CRAM MARC now this is come from a friend that actually lives in the are but Ardglass is still classed as a red zone due to it being a completely Catholic town.
@@reececridland8922 wouldn’t the split towns be more dangerous?
I've seen bigger boxes
He hasn't seen many boxes in his time.
Fr wtf is that dude talkin about? it's at knee height
This man obviously doesn't have a chest freezer in his life....
Bigger boxes with bombs in them??
@@hannahgriffin5805 he never said that
I pased by it today . I new it was bombed a few times but didnt no how much. Structural engineer should be given an award
The exact count: Between 1970-1994, it was bombed a total of 33 times.
This is the strangest thing, I was talking to my parents earlier (they are considering a trip to Ireland) I mentioned all the great things there are to see and how warm and friendly the people are. I told a story of the time I visited Belfast and my pal who I was with (from Cork) saw a band in the pub round the corner from the Hotel and I told him it was the most bombed hotel in the world as we went past. This just popped up on my CZcams feed. 👀
Spent 9 years working here seen three bombs and the last one too just couldn’t take any more , but it set me up for my life in business , great place to work and if I can remember it had the best evacuation procedure for any modern hotel 👏
Don’t know when u where there but in 74 they used to lock us in and we had to get out through the cellar where the washing was I thought it was chaos 😱
@@hablin1 was Joe the cellar man back then ?
So what was that.. Run
I enjoyed all previous war hotels documentaries thanks for this one.
I came up from Dublin in the 60's to do s job in Belfast. We stayed in that hotel. Had a great time there. No problem.
The hotel made a huge fortune out of being bombed through compensation from the NI office.. so its constant destruction made it alot of money.
Like the people who used to tell voda their phone got stolen, and they get a new one. Sell the old one in Africa or Asia on your next holiday.
NOT TRUE. The NIO only paid out a percentage of what was lost. The formulae for different types of business were published, so no room for silly conspiracies.
@Mike please tell me your not that ignorant of the detailed facts as laid out from the publicly available documents my friend...
Or are you one of these people of society who fell that what ever they believe is a fact, is a fact because of your constructed beliefs..
There is tens of thousands of written documents detailing what was paid out by the Northern Ireland office. If you had requested any of them and read them you would not have made the dumb comment you did. A conspiracy has zero todo with the subject flip me. The fact you used that word shows the way you perceive things, as clearly your not aware of the meaning of the word conspiracy my friend.
It was also widely know that many many extremely successful construction businesses of Northern Ireland made all their money.
Contracts handed out from the destruction of property, Billy Hastings used to personally brag about what bought his lamborghini countach flip sake. The hotel was entitled to claim for everything from new knives and forks to lost money in bookings ...
I suggest you read more books my friend. And learn the place to use the word conspiracy .
That’s a bit stupid !!!! So how could they make money out of the bombs if they had to spend money to fix it ???
You we're lucky to had a job in "window replacements" back then. There was always enough bombs going off so you we're never short of work lol
Europa hotel is a harbinger of good days to come as NI will be integrated with the EU and reunited with Ireland.
what an ironically positive perspective lol
Google......IRELANDS FALSE ECONOMY
There wont be an EU in 5 to 10 years....Ireland will be seeking closer ties to its closest trading partner......the UK.
even that job was dangerous ..
@@justdogood7413 what a foolish statement...
I worked on reception for two years ….. my nerves where shattered!
So were the windows.
@@lemeos6551 every day they would be blown out we had a Workshop just for replacing the windows one day the one guy was putting new ones in and a bomb went off again he had the glass all sticking out of his back like a hedgehog 😱
@@hablin1 when was this?
@@jordanpilcher5528 1974 😍
This is a beautiful documentary ..I'll never be there my self but the video made it feel like it. Great watch ! Thank you
That’s the building of hopes! Thank you for this video🙏🏻
I would have said, "Thank you" also were it not for the fact that the video was put up by Al Jazeera. This news group is based in Qatar & they've been sanctioned by many countries for allegedly hiding terrorists & those that fund them. Rather ironic....?
I love where this series is heading.
Stayed theyre last night, unbelievable service, staff are really friendly, wouod highly recommend it to anyone,, had a great night 💯👌
I stood in awe looking at this hotel today. Wow. Just wow. Got a train to catch.
"Catholic Republican minority..." it appears the film-maker lacked appreciation of the subtle distinction of nationalists vs unionists and republicans vs loyalists on a couple of occasions. Not befit of an Aljazeera production.
Agree, 2 minutes in an the first majority/minority comment is incorrect. I didn’t have much faith in the rest of the credibility of the documentary after that.
@@FutureBoyWonder catholics were more LIKELY to be republicans/nationalists but this isn’t always true, most early republicans were Protestants and still to this day there are Protestant republicans and nationalists, the same with catholic unionists and loyalists. Some specific groups will have less tolerance of catholics/Protestants joining, but religion has nowhere near the hold on people that nationalist/unionist identity politics does
@@FutureBoyWonder Nah, a lot of very famous Irish republicans, such as Wolfe Tone, were protestants. Catholics are more likely to be nationalists, but not all Catholics are. Same with protestants. It's not about religion, but about people's national & political identities
Look up ronnie bunting, his father was high up in ruc,
He was prodstand republican socialist, he joined the inla, founded by a fella from my area,
Little bray co wicklow /Dublin border,,, they were as Ruthless than Catholic ira,,, inla was real mixed bag of killers
Went to see the most bombed hotel in world, the Europa on advice from a cheery policeman who thought us Aussies needed a history lesson ☺️
This aggravates me. I prefer it when locals show the things that we're proud of (not that we're not proud of the Europa). There are many, many things arounds this island that is not associated with our dark PAST (it was last bombed, don't forget, almost 30 years ago!!!). It would be akin to us going to Australia & asking the locals where their convict relatives were buried...........
@@CartePostale. I get you but it was 25 years ago that I went driving around the whole of Northern Ireland while I was living in the South and first visited Belfast. Don’t worry about offending Aussies about their convict roots most likely they’d be chuffed by their history! Looking forward to returning to Northern Ireland soon ☺️
Fine city Belfast , from a irishman , Could possibly be one of the best cities in the uk .
Derry is also a very nice city too.
Ireland not UK
@@johndoherty5194 it is in the UK though
@@tobyarmstrong474 Ireland is not in the UK you moron, I should know I live here....
@@memetopia5130 I was talking about Belfast lol, nice jumping to conclusions, idiot
Had a University formal there, was lovely, no bombs, all good.
Yea I had a NYE formal party there once.
Jaegerbombs maybe
@@brianmckee2267 😂
Was walking about fifty yards past it with Girlfriend when it was blown up, felt pressure on back of legs and glass from windows above fell around us but we did not get hurt.
I stayed there last year cause I got a room bought as a gift. The fire alarms went off shortly after dinner service. Phenomenal stuff.
That was fascinating.
The IRA didn’t target the hotel because “it was a symbol of progress in Belfast”🤦🏽♂️
I stayed there many years back and thought it was actually one of the best hotels I've been in. Very modern and sharp now.
Aren't we blessed, we didn't lose any of these wonderful journalist's
Just a wee bit of northern Irish humor here, a week after the Europa hotel was open to the public my wife and I went to see this splendid building, we were seated by a member of the staff and ordered drinks and once I seen the bill I almost had a heart attack, it's the one and only time we drank there.😂✌
With price like that can you blame them for blowing it up.🤣
Steven Mckeown had it coming
Where is the humour in that? It seems just a matter of fact statement to be honest
@@paulflah4562 Exactly, it doesn't say much for Northern Irish humour. Still, it explains some of the bombings.
Had a pint in it recently, £4.80... outrageous
What do you expect from a hotel?
How recently the sister hotel is 8 quid for a Guinness
I remember hearing Billy connolly talking about this hotel in 1 off his stand up shows years ago
A real symbol of triumph over adversity. I stayed in the Europa a few years ago and feel proud that it still stands despite all the attempts to destroy it.
@Pat M It was a dirty war for sure, but at last we can stay at the Europa without fear of murdering psychos bombing it. The good guys won.
@@stukafaust Who is the good guys?
@@BadDubII Those who stand up to such barbarism as bombing a civilian hotel are the good guys.
@@stukafaust Yeah bombings are bad obviously but who exactly are you referring too? the British?
11:15 "massive damage to the nearby grand victoria railway station." That should be Great Victoria Station.
I have fond memories of when I worked there, oh the stories one could tell🤩
Well, then share some 😁
Would your surname begin with the letter H?
My mother worked here during the Troubles
Nice documentary
How many windows did they have to replace?
All windows where replaced and the apprentices spent their entire working apprenticeship in this hotel
In the mid 90's the owners spent £8m on renovations that made it bomb proof. Shortly after there was a ceasefire and then the peace process. 🤷
Great place to have jetlag and briefly forget a bag somewhere in the lobby or restaurant.
That's nice and all but do they rent out the floors on the bottom floor?
Stayed there once. I had a blast.
The funny thing about is there was a clothes shop across the road from it that sold bomber jackets 😂😂😂
I clicked on this video thinking "bombed" was a metaphor
Insurance companies: "Aw not this f*cker again charge premium."
After staying you can nip over to the Crown Bar which must be "the most shrapnel hit bar in Europe"
Very pretty bar
I love the Europa Hotel lots off fond memories x
I hope this video blows up
I'm surprised it was never called civil war; it may not have killed as many as modern wars ( Iraq, the current situation in Israel, etc.).
For the intensive purpose it was one some it spilt into the republic and mainland Britain
One side seen it as a Civil War, the other side seen it as a war against a foreign enemy. Hard to classify a name for that, so they settled with "The Troubles".
Mainland Britain? What are you taking about. Majority of people in the north's mainland is the e.u. typical uneducated comment. Its the 21st century not the 18th century
It was a phycological terrorist war.... We kids of that time had no compassion of rest of UK or world but now a terrorists or promoter of such cry and get world sympathy..
The civil war was in the 1920s. The 'Troubles' seen here were not a civil war as the British army were a foreign occupying army.
@@musashidanmcgrath They wouldn't have been here had they not been invited by nationalists......... Welcomed as freedom fighters, "Operation Motorman" ended that notion when the British army refused to accept that certain nationalist areas were "no-go". The barricades were demolished &, suddenly, Brits became the enemy.
Amazing documentary. Am glad they found Peace in the end.
England should leave Northern Ireland
@@danoneall4013
🤘🤓🥃
Sla'inte!
@@danoneall4013
WTF ?
England ?
Its British/Northern Irish people in N Ireland.
You must be an American, you're usually the ones with stupid comments.
@@Drifty40 - British
English.
England.
Brits should leave Northern Ireland.
Stop occupation of Northern Ireland
@@danoneall4013
You're an idiot. lol
Stick to American politics, you might know more about them.
I stayed there. Nice hotel!
Stayed in it many years ago.
finally a documentary on this
A completely bias documentary made by Brits
I worked on the electrical installation way back then
i literally live less than 500 meters away from the Europa
I'm sorry
That’s fine, they don’t have a bomb big enough.
I worked there in the 80s the second floor I worked has a ghost in room 212 apparently a teacher took her life by jumping out the window
I hope you pray for God's mercy upon her soul. She sounds sad and lost. She needs your prayers.
Nowadays the room pillows have mints on them rather than bombs under them.
That box wasn't THAT big...
Why is there still a lack of security in one of the most "bombed" hotels in Europe?
When was the new stone facade built then?
Again this is another narrative based on a British version of Irish events. The conflict in the north of Ireland was between the sectarian, colonial state and the British military, alongside unionist paramilitary mobs, against the nationalist people. To speak of events in the context of an existing six-county sectarian entity is utterly wrong. The conflict in the north was a continuation of Ireland's struggle against British colonialism and its colonial structure.
Ireland got independence, it's own currency and economy in 1921.
Then proceeded to hand it all over to Brussels rule instead.
North of Ireland (facepalm).
The fact you keep calling it the North of Ireland shows how ignorant you are.
@@michaeljohnson7929 It's not ignorance at all. The fact is, the six-counties are in the north of Ireland, our country. Britain imposed a border in our country, illegitimately, in 1921 calling the north-eastern part Northern Ireland, but it remains the north of Ireland, and it is still our country. Most people in Ireland do not use the British title when referring to the north, as we do not share the false British narrative regarding Britain's colonial role in Ireland. Colonial settler entities are not legitimate and never were. The six-counties will be returned to the Irish people and it will end the poisonous, British empire sectarianism upon which the six-county state was founded.
@@mikki3562 have you studied anything relating to partition in ireland? If you did, you'd know that partition was legal and was accepted by the irish government (after a civil war) and that they gave up their last claims to northern ireland under the terms of the good Friday agreement. I wouldn't mention "colonial settlers" because that's a rabbit hole you don't want to jump down. The fact is, Northern ireland is a core part of the UK and has never been part of the Repiblic of ireland. Saying it isn't doesn't make it true.
4:17 Martin bell said Derry. It always was Derry!
London
is it 2 for 1 discount
Allied carpets feeling jealous.
“Saw themselves as oppressed”.... so the NI civil rights movement was for nothing? Spoken like a true imperialist.
My sentiments exactly.
No looney tunes.....its how an objective reporter operates.
Still standing.
Make one documentary on Al-Rashid hotel,Iraq.
King David Hotel in Palestine too.
Lol I played a gig in here. lovely Hotel !
I dare to arguem, how about Sarajevo's Holiday Inn hotel...
All this "documentary" did was highlight just how little British people know about the history of there own country. They love to teach there children about the atrocities committed by america or the ones committed by the ira but never about the ones committed by themselves in a vain attempt to sweep the empire under the rug.
“The Irish Minority who saw themselves as oppressed”
Saw themselves? By every definition of the word - they were.
Thankfully, no longer a minority either.
The Troubles in Belfast were a result of British occupation in Ireland - no two ways about it.
The Irish were oppressing Protestants, killing mothers, fathers and children though Sinn Fein say there was no alternative
Yes, including by their armed criminal masters, the PIRA.
@@In-Christ-Alone that was after it started go Learn some history little orange man ye should have stayed home
more fluffy coverage of the troubles from journalist who are too scared or too thick to talk to the actually people involved in them
Me at Belfast airport calling a taxi:
Take me to my hotel.... The most bombed hotel in Europe. I have my bomb proof vest on.... 😃😃
Stayed there in 1998.
It must be a real blast working at that hotel.
Grand hotel in Brighton was more of a blast of a work environment
My grandfather was one of the first to blow it up,,,, He was driving the delivery lorry that was hijacked and told to drive the bomb in. 🤭😂😂😂
Absolutely great piece, but if I ever have to listen to that Scottish historian calling it the 'Hotel Europa' again, I swear by all that's holy, I'm going to hunt him down and re-arrange his....... words lol
0:32 did he say ira instead of I R A lmao
You mostly walk/drive past it in Belfast if you know where it is
Wish we had a toll road on the motorway keep yas from stinking up our motorways having us in traffic jams
@@jackiemainz2759 I don't drive but let me apologize for though that do that has to drive to and from work especially those that work as care workers 😒 you might aswell but one in every town and city then better get you're tools out then them tolls isn't gonna build them
BELOW Zakaria Ali well thats a good Irish name me thinks .. of course you know much about the conflict? I had friends from both sides of the conflict ... really nasty period I am curious if NI is a better place to live now -
Absolutely, tensions are still simmering but its NOTHING like what it was
For such a small province it was mayhem people getting abducted off the streets and slaughtered
When you hear this kind of stories, it makes you appreciate a city, where you grew up, being safe. In my case, it was a very big, but completely safe and not poor city. P.S. The attackers were insane.
Believe it or not it was safer back in the day. Now Belfast is full of people taking drugs in the city centre. You wouldn't have got that years ago. But I wouldn't live anywhere else. Grew up in the troubles and it was normal for us.
You should know that a great number of the people of the 6 counties never saw any trouble at all. Just like in America (where we also have a home) one can live peacefully, as long as one stays out of gang-controlled areas, etc, it was the same in Ireland. As my mother used to say if there was a news report of rioters getting injured, "If they'd been at home, under their own roof or doing good somewhere, instead of throwing petrol bombs or bombing businesses belonging to BOTH catholics & protestants, they wouldn't have been there to get into the crossfire in the first place".
@Carte Postale yes I imagine that's true, but a lot of people were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. If you lived in certain areas, it wasn't really avoidable. I grew up down the falls, seen a lot, was caught up in a few hairy situations through no fault my own, some of them were at my place of work. Still, it was the norm for us, and we survived and knew no different. I still love Belfast. Catholics and Protestants have more in common than they think, and my best friends are Protestant and I love them dearly. We all eventually move on.
Oh to be a glazer back then , imagine the kick backs 😂
My office is alongside The Europa, I can see it as I type. Billy Hastings really was amazing for just keeping on despite what happened.
I have to say though, I would have thought there would be a hotel in Beirut during the 1982 Lebanon War that got it worse in a shorter period! But that's not Europe of course.
A bomb is some kind of joke
Just checking in after seeing they had a "small fire" in the building, add that one to the list of accidents
UP the RA 🇮🇪
You mean up the Terrorists you mean
“The Irish minority who saw themselves as oppressed” ? They were oppressed.
We know it well
I'll give that to the fenians, they made fcking great bombs.
Londonderry is the only word in the English language with six silent letters🇮🇪🇮🇪
Super Belfast hotel luxus house yes yeah
Lay off the drink
This is an oddly inaccurate way to frame the Troubles... Progress and its symbols were never the issue - it was, and is, colonialism, and its impact
Speaking as someone who lived there, and was evacuated from the Europa twice, i can tell you: there was no sectarian war in Northern Ireland. This was what the British government in collusion with the media called the conflict. The war in Northern Ireland was between the IRA and Crown Forces.
Speaking as someone who knows more than you do. What occurred was a sectarian terrorist campaign by criminal gangs who got rich on drugs, prostitution etc etc with one knee on their own people, that is still on their people's necks.
@@Mike7O7O dirty brit spreading your dirty lies. Up the ra
Belfast isn't Northern Ireland's largest city. Belfast is just Ireland's 2nd largest city
And you just need to up your meds.
Arguably better than Dublin
Ironic. Europe was the goal. Brexit is the reality. Ireland unite soon.
@Jeremy Kaleb ireland is united in all but colonial domination refusal to admit.