Telephoned warnings were sent about an hour beforehand, but a news photographer was killed in the blast and 44 people were injured, with fatalities minimised due to its occurring on a Saturday.

[4] Since the beginning of its campaign in the early 1970s, the IRA carried out many bomb attacks on military, political, and commercial targets in England.

[6] Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin and John Hume of the Social Democratic and Labour Party had been engaged in private dialogue since 1988, with a view to establishing a broad Irish nationalist coalition.

[7] British Prime Minister John Major had refused to openly enter into talks with Sinn Féin until the IRA declared a ceasefire.

[8] The risk of an IRA attack on the City of London had increased due to the lack of progress with political talks, resulting in a warning being circulated to all police forces in Britain highlighting intelligence reports of a possible attack, as it was felt the IRA had enough personnel, equipment and funds to launch a sustained campaign in England.

[12] A 1 tonne ANFO bomb made by the IRA's South Armagh Brigade had been smuggled into England and was placed in the truck, hidden underneath a layer of tarmac.

[14] A series of telephone warnings were then sent from a phonebox in Forkhill, County Armagh, Northern Ireland with the caller using a recognised IRA codeword and stating "[there's] a massive bomb… clear a wide area".

[16][8] Civilian casualties were low as it was a Saturday morning and the City was typically occupied by only a small number of residents, office workers, security guards, builders, and maintenance staff.

[16][19] Forty-four people were injured by the bomb and News of the World photographer Edward Henty was killed after ignoring police warnings and rushing to the scene.

[13][15] Major, McWilliams, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont made public statements that business would continue as normal in the City and that the Bishopsgate bombing would not achieve a lasting effect.

[6] There was also a message from the IRA leadership, calling for "the British establishment to seize the opportunity and to take the steps needed for ending its futile and costly war in Ireland.

This resulted in risk managers subsequently demanding a "clear desk" policy at the end of each working day to improve information security.

[32][33] The first World Trade Center bombing in New York City in February 1993 had caused bankruptcy in 40% of the affected companies within two years of the attack, according to a report from analysts IDC.

[14][19] The subsequent payouts by insurance companies resulted in them suffering heavy losses causing a crisis in the industry, including the near-collapse of the Lloyd's of London market.

[36] The IRA carried out a number of smaller bomb and mortar attacks in England during the remainder of 1993 and in early 1994, before declaring a "complete cessation of military operations" on 31 August 1994.