Another Cruel Yule

SINCE THE ERUPTION OF SECTARIAN VIOLENCE IN Northern Ireland 23 years ago, Christmas in Britain has frequently brought the distinctly unjoyous prospect of Irish Republican Army terrorism. 1992 is already part of that deadly tradition. At the height of Thursday's morning rush hour, two bombs exploded in central Manchester, injuring 64 people. Most of the victims were hit by flying glass in the second blast after they had sought refuge from the first near the city's Anglican cathedral. Police, citing phoned messages, blamed the I.R.A.

The double hit in Manchester came one day after a foiled bombing attempt in London. Police discovered and disarmed a load of explosives hidden in a van parked in central London's West End. It was the third I.R.A. attack that authorities have managed to disrupt in the past two weeks, although last April three people were killed in a spectacular bombing that caused $1 billion in damage to the financial district. In the Northern Ireland capital of Belfast, meanwhile, 27 bystanders were injured last week when panic broke out upon discovery of a bomb hidden in a travel agency. Said Michael Mates, British security minister for Northern Ireland: "It is a sad fact of life that it is virtually impossible to deliver total protection."