"I wonder if the media toned things down on your side of the pond"
That could very well be true. IIRC, in news media on your side of the pond actually showed people jumping out of the twin towers on 9/11 and bodies, whereas over here we simply were shown the debris and the towers burning.
I'll look up the Blackpool bombing. My knowledge of the IRA and it's terrorist attacks is extremely limited to say the very least.
The Brighton bombing would meet with more sucess! :-)