The attack happened just a few weeks after two people were killed and 127 injured when two car bombs exploded in the centre of Dublin, Ireland on 1 December 1972.

The first bomb attack by the UVF in the Republic of Ireland happened at Radio Telefis Éireann (RTÉ) headquarters in Donnybrook on 5 August 1969.

[5] On 19 October 1969, a loyalist bomb intended for the hydroelectric power station near Ballyshannon, County Donegal, exploded prematurely, injuring 45-year old UVF member Thomas McDowell, who died two days later.

Geraldine O'Reilly, who was on her Christmas holidays from school, was across the road in Slowey's chip shop waiting to be served when the bomb exploded, where she suffered massive head injuries from flying shrapnel and died instantly.

[8] Earlier that night a bomb exploded in a blue Morris 1100 car on Fermanagh Street, Clones, County Monaghan at 10.01 pm seriously injuring two men.

The car used in the Belturbet bombing had been driven across the border through the unapproved Aghalane crossing at around 9.00 pm to avoid possibly being confronted by Irish security services.

Just three weeks later on 20 January 1973 a UVF car bomb exploded in Dublin city, killing one man and injuring fifteen other people.

[11] On 19 December 1975 a Loyalist car bomb exploded in the border town of Dundalk in County Louth killing two people and injuring 20.

The basis for this view is the absence of any intelligence pointing to other groups or individuals and the effective cessation of cross-Border attacks in the area following Bridges' imprisonment.

In a statement on 14 November 1972, a spokesman at UDA Headquarters claimed responsibility for a number of explosions on the southern side of the border, before continuing: While on this subject we would like to reiterate our firm intention to strike again across the border not only as reprisals for the IRA campaign here, but also because Jack Lynch is not doing his stuff in dealing with the IRA and is persisting in his claim of sovereignty over all Ireland… We are prepared to hit Dublin and other cities.

So don’t be misled by our activities which so far have been confined to border fringe areas.At 10.01 p.m. on 28 December 1972 a car bomb exploded in Fermanagh Street, Clones, County Monaghan.

Finally, at 10.50 p.m. a bomb exploded outside the licensed premises of Hugh Britton at Mullnagoad, a village near Pettigo, County Donegal.

When the bomb exploded, Patrick Stanley was in the public phone kiosk on Main Street, trying to telephone his parents to tell them he would not be home.