The Day Mountbatten Died
BBC TWO/BBC ONE NORTHERN IRELAND, 9.00PM
On August 27, 1979, the IRA claimed its highest-profile scalp: Louis Mountbatten, cornerstone of the establishment, mentor to Prince Charles and formerly both First Sea Lord and the last Viceroy of India. While lobster-potting off the coast of County Sligo, Mountbatten and three others were killed by a bomb – an act that caused widespread outrage while achieving the IRA’S goal of drawing attention back to the Troubles.
This excellent, fairminded film examines the build-up and aftermath, and features measured contributions from all sides. But the Mountbatten bomb is only half the story; on the same day, 18 soldiers and one civilian were killed in IRA ambushes in County Down. Alongside Bloody Sunday almost a decade earlier, these were truly the darkest of days in the Troubles. Mountbatten’s granddaughter India Hicks, voice quivering with emotion, concludes with a powerful thought that was embodied by the Queen’s encounter with Martin Mcguinness years later: “Forgiveness is important, one has to move on.” Today, as Brexit approaches, the risks if the peace process were disrupted could not be higher.