History of Sorts

Last year I wrote a piece for ‘Sidelines’ in History Ireland magazine covering a temporary exhibition in Belfast’s City Hall to mark the 70th anniversary of Dublin firefighters coming to the assistance of Belfast during the bombing of that city in World War II. Much of that report is below, along with new images and information.

The decision of Éamon de Valera’s government to send emergency assistance to Belfast following the bombing of that city in April and early May of 1941 is a landmark moment in cross-border diplomatic relations. The response of the Dublin government to the urgent message from the War Room at Stormont was a remarkable moment owing to the historically tense relations between the two states. While hundreds of firemen from both Glasgow and Liverpool were dispatched, they could not reach Belfast until much later in the day on April 16th following the bombings of April…