The blast killed two people and devastated a wide area, causing an estimated £150 million worth of damage.

The attack marked an end to the IRA's seventeen-month ceasefire, and came just over an hour after its declaration to Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

The goal was to damage the economy and cause severe disruption, which would put pressure on the British government to negotiate a withdrawal from Northern Ireland.

[4] In November 1992, the IRA planted a large van bomb at Canary Wharf, London's second financial district.

The British government began insisting that the IRA must fully disarm before Sinn Féin would be allowed to take part in full-fledged peace talks.

Irish republicans and nationalists wanted talks to begin swiftly, but noted that it would take months to organize and hold an election.

[10] Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams argued that the British government and unionists were erecting "one obstacle after another to frustrate every attempt to sit down around the negotiating table".

[13] The 3,000-pound (1,400 kg) bomb consisted of plastic sacks filled with a mix of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and sugar.

[13] Attached to the booster tubes were lengths of makeshift detonating cord filled with PETN and RDX, the constituent elements of Semtex.

[13] On 7 February, two days before the attack, the truck bomb was transported from Northern Ireland to Scotland on a Stena Line Larne–Stranraer ferry.

It was made up of many high-rise buildings housing the offices of major banks, corporations, newspapers and television stations.

[8] The truck was parked about 80 yards (70 m) from South Quay station on the Docklands Light Railway, near the point where the tracks cross Marsh Wall.

In one of the calls, to the offices of the Irish News, the caller said "there's a massive bomb beside South Quay station, Marsh Wall, Isle of Dogs, London.

[23] The IRA described the deaths and injuries as "regrettable", but said that they could have been avoided if police had responded promptly to "clear and specific warnings".

The announcement continued:As we stated on August 31, 1994, the basis for the cessation was to enhance the democratic peace process and to underline our definitive commitment to its success.

[…] Instead of embracing the peace process, the British government acted in bad faith, with Mr Major and the Unionist leaders squandering this unprecedented opportunity to resolve the conflict.

Time and again, over the last 18 months, selfish party political and sectional interests in the London parliament have been placed before the rights of the people of Ireland.

[25] United States congressman Bruce Morrison, who was involved in the peace process, recalled: "The great irony for me is that Canary Wharf got the Republicans to the table.

[26] In his book on the IRA, Andy Oppenheimer wrote that "The Docklands bomb—although the British government denied it—did contribute towards bringing the parties back to the negotiating table".

They obtained three thumb prints; from a site in east London where the bomb was primed, from a truck stop in Carlisle, and from the Stranraer ferry port.

[26] In April 1997, the Special Air Service (SAS) captured an IRA sniper team in South Armagh.

[28] At Woolwich Crown Court in June 1998 he was convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions, and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

McArdle was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement in June 2000 with a royal prerogative of mercy from Queen Elizabeth II.