A move by a senior member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) to set up an active unit in Co Fermanagh in the aftermath of the Enniskillen bomb was turned down by unionists in the area.
The offer was revealed as part of a new investigative podcast by The Times, The Poppy Day Bomb.
Eleven people lost their lives when the 40lb bomb planted by the IRA exploded close to a cenotaph in the town on Remembrance Day in November 1987.
Among the dead were three married couples, while one man, Ronnie Hill, remained in a coma for 13 years before his death in 2000.
The podcast, released on Monday and presented by a native of Enniskillen who was born on the same weekend as the IRA atrocity in 1987, attempts to answer questions around what happened on the day and why no one has been brought to justice.
Mario Ledwith says the senior UVF figure travelled to Co Fermanagh in the days following the bomb.
“In the aftermath of Enniskillen, a high-ranking member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (went) to meet senior figures of the unionist community,” he tells the podcast.
“He offered to set up a local unit to strike back against the IRA.
“The proposal was turned down, thankfully Enniskillen didn’t descend into sectarian violence.”
The podcast also names the only individual who has been publicly linked to the atrocity.
Charlie Caulfield was alleged to be the mastermind of the operation after being named under parliamentary privilege by Ulster Unionist MP Roy Beggs as part of calls for him to be extradited from the Republic of Ireland.
The farmer was 31 at the time of the bomb and had previous firearms convictions connected to the IRA.
The British government has never confirmed whether they made a request to extradite Caulfield, and declined to do so when asked by the producers of the podcast.
In a statement, Caulfield said he “totally repudiated the allegations that he was involved in the bomb or a member of the paramilitary group” and criticised the press for “attempting to use the cloak of parliamentary privilege to report libellous remarks.”
The Poppy Day Bomb, a six-part investigative podcast from The Times is available to listen to on all major podcast platforms from Monday 20 October. Listen here.