IRA killer ‘mad Mick’ admits planting bomb at 1984 Tory Conference in Brighton aimed at killing Margaret Thatcher
Michael Hayes makes shocking confession but denies being behind the Birmingham pub bombings he has previously been blamed for
A FORMER IRA monster has confessed to helping set the bomb at Brighton’s Grand Hotel in 1984 in an attempt to kill Margaret Thatcher.
Five people died when it detonated ahead of the Tory Party Conference.
Michael Christopher Hayes, 69, toasted the then-Prime Minister’s “death” with a glass of whiskey before realising she was alive.
But he denies being behind the Birmingham pub bombings he has previously been blamed for.
Last night Lord Tebbit, whose wife Margaret was paralysed in the blast, called for Hayes to be extradited to face justice.
He said: “One hopes that justice will be done but it will depend on whether the British authorities seek to extradite him and whether the Irish authorities comply with their obligation.”
Patrick Magee was given life for the Brighton atrocity, but was released under the Good Friday Agreement in 1999 after 14 years.
Hayes said: “I planted the bomb with Magee. We put it in. We were in the hotel four days. We were home three weeks before it went off. We missed her by ten seconds.”
The IRA terrorists had hidden a 30lb time bomb behind a bath panel in room 629, setting it to detonate 24 days later.
Hayes added: “We had one primary target. One only: Margaret Thatcher. We wanted to kill her.
“On that night I saved a bottle of Jameson. I was sitting on a farm with two members of the Army Council.
“At first [the news] said that we killed her. For the first time ever, I had a glass of whiskey.
"I stayed awake all night. I was delighted. Next morning it came out, we missed it. The pig.”
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A Granada TV documentary in 1990 accused Hayes of planting the Birmingham bombs in 1974 that killed 21.
It also alleged that he was behind the Hyde Park, Regent’s Park and at Harrods attacks in the early 1980s.
And a fresh inquest into the Birmingham bombings starting tomorrow could put his past under further scrutiny.
But Hayes, who lives in a south Dublin home that is a shrine to his dead terror pals, denied planting those bombs.
In fact, he claims he defused a third bomb as the death toll became clear.
He added: “I said, ‘Where were the warnings?’.”
He is refusing to give evidence at the inquest, but added: “I have nothing but sympathy and apologies for the families.”