A new memorial plaque will be unveiled in Dungannon on Sunday to mark the victims of the Hillcrest Bar bombing. The explosion occurred on St Patrick's Day 1976 when a no-warning bomb planted by the UVF detonated at the bar. Four Catholics died in the attack: 13-year-old James McCaughey, 13-year-old Patrick Barnard, 62-year-old Andrew Small and 57-year-old Joseph Kelly.

James McCaughey and Patrick Barnard were playing outside the bar when the bomb went off. About 40 people suffered injuries. The blast caused extensive damage in the area.

James Kane owned the Hillcrest Bar and an adjacent auto-supplies shop. He arrived at the scene after hearing the explosion and found emergency services attending serious casualties amid rubble and darkness inside the pub due to a power cut.

Jackie Fee managed the bar. He was upstairs in the lounge at the time of the blast. Fee assisted in evacuating people and saw bodies including children outside.

Pat McElhetton worked as a porter at South Tyrone Hospital, half a mile from the bar. Staff rushed to casualty to treat the dead and injured arriving with glass and shrapnel wounds.

In 1981, Dungannon UVF member Garnet James Busby received a life sentence after admitting involvement in the bombing and other offences. Busby was released on life licence in February 1997.

Independent Mid Ulster Councillor Barry Monteith organised the plaque with relatives of victims. The plaque states it remembers those killed and injured in the 17 March 1976 explosion.