Willie - The Legion Hall Bombing

The script of this courtroom drama was edited from actual transcripts from the trial of Willie Gallagher in a ‘Diplock’ court (i.e. without a jury to prevent paramilitary intimidation) in 1976. Gallagher had received a sentence of twelve years for the bombing of Strabane Legion Hall. The cast acted out the play using the transcript of the trial, adding their own interpretations and characterisations to the actual recording of events. The play was based on the original courtroom transcript from the trial of Willie Gallagher at the Belfast City Commission in 1976.

Original transmission: BBC1 22/08/1978 (90mins)

The writer (Caryl Churchill) and director (Roland Joff) had their names removed from the credits in protest at the BBC editing the prologue and entirely removing the epilogue. The original broadcast had already been delayed due to the bombing of a restaurant in Belfast earlier in February 1978.

Clip courtesy of BBC Motion Gallery