Martin Lynch play about McGurk's bar bombing to go ahead despite Arts Council of Northern Ireland denial of funding

Belfast playwright Martin Lynch says his community play, McGurk's Bar Tragedy, will go ahead despite being denied funding by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

McGurk's Bar Tragedy is set to feature at Waterfront Hall in Belfast on November 14-16. It is being put on by Green Shoot Productions, a not-for-profit charity group for which Lynch serves as the artistic director.

The play tells the story of the 15 innocent lives lost during the 1971 McGurk's bar bombing, which marked the biggest loss of life in Belfast throughout the Troubles.

"I was born about two streets away, so when it happened it left an emotional sliver, an eyelet right through all these years," he told Hot Press.

Lynch met the families of all 15 of the victims and has included their stories in the play.

According to the playwright, the Arts Council denied him funding partially on the basis that the project's marketing plan was not strong enough.

"Disappointed is not the word," he said. "Honest to god, it shattered and devastated me. I'm one of the most experienced producers in Northern Ireland. I don't say that conceitedly, it's just a fact. I'm a certain age nowadays and I've done a lot. The Irish council partly turned down our project because they weren't sure if the project was well-planned and would happen.

"It was a spurious set of allegations or reasons for turning us down. And I can't get to the bottom of why they really turned this down. They may be afraid of the subject matter."

Lynch has since launched a GoFundMe page to fill the gap left by the lack of funding.

"Extraordinarily, it has unleashed a great power from the community, who want to see this play getting to the stage, because of the circumstances of the bomb and all that," Lynch noted. "It says a lot about the injustice of the victims ... there's a kind of parallel, I suppose."

Act one of the show is set in the early part of the evening, where customers are sat enjoying a Saturday night drink. Concurrently, the play follows the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) as they meet up and plan the bomb.

It features actors Paddy Jenkins, Conor Grimes, Richard Clemence, James Doran and Thomas Galashan as part of the professional cast.

The loyalist no-warning attack originally occurred when the UVF placed a bomb at the doorway of McGurk's, a crowded, family-owned pub. The blast caused the two-storey building to collapse immediately.

Thirty-two casualties were recorded. Among the deaths were two children, a boy named James Cromie and the pub owner's daughter, Maria McGurk.

After, authorities issued a statement saying the bomb was an 'own-goal', meaning the bomb was brought into the bar by the IRA and blew up prematurely.

"So as well as being victimised by being killed, the people who were in the bar were then being blamed for the bombing themselves," Lynch described. "That struck me and that struck everybody as a complete and utter injustice."

Lynch affirms that he has no doubts that the show will go on.

"The play will happen. I won't be defeated."

The GoFundMe page is available here.

Tickets are on sale now here.