BBC’s documentary on The Troubles will show rare footage of the IRA carrying out an attack

Not to be missed.

Rare footage of IRA members planning and carrying out a bomb attack at Queen's University Belfast will be broadcast as part of a seven-part BBC documentary series on The Troubles. The footage was recovered from a lost American documentary and will be broadcast on Tuesday night in episode two of Spotlight on the Troubles: A Secret History. The rarely-seen footage was filmed for an American documentary called The Secret Army which was based on a book by the same name written by New York academic J. Bowyer Bell. It was tracked down by the BBC Spotlight team for use in the series. Troubles: A Secret History will also show footage of IRA recruits during weapons training. The official synopsis states: "Reporter Darragh MacIntyre finds the IRA anticipating that 1972 would be their 'year of victory’, only to be countered by a massive British military response in the midst of what became the bloodiest period of the conflict. "The programme features previously unseen footage and new discoveries around the secret talks between the government and the IRA about British withdrawal, including interviews with the people who were there. Were the talks a serious offer or an attempt to weaken the IRA by dragging them into protracted negotiations? "One insider’s secret diary provides a fresh insight into a missed opportunity for peace. Then, as sectarian fighting with Protestant loyalists began to increase, a coup inside the IRA sets the stage for what they called ‘the Long War’." Episode Two of Spotlight on the Troubles: A Secret History will be shown Tuesday, 17 September at 9pm on BBC One Northern Ireland. Main image via BBC