28th of August
Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
Thursday 28 August 1975
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) planted a time bomb in Oxford Street, London. The bomb had been booby-trapped and was designed to kill anyone trying to defuse it. The bomb was not discovered and exploded without causing any injuries.
Saturday 28 August 1976
The Peace People organised a rally which was attended by approximately 25,000 people. Those taking part in the rally walked from the Shankill Road to Woodvale Park.
Tuesday 28 August 1979
John Hardy (43), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) at his home in Ashton Street, New Lodge, Belfast.
Saturday 28 August 1982
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) found one and a half tons of commercial explosive hidden in a lorry near Banbridge, County Down. The Garda Síochána (the Irish police) found 10,000 rounds of ammunition and commercial explosives at Glencree, County Wicklow.
Sunday 28 August 1983
Ken Livingstone, then leader of the Greater London Council (GLC), said that Britain’s treatment of the Irish over the past 800 years had been worse than Hitler’s treatment of the Jews.
Thursday 28 August 1986
Mervyn Bell (22), a Protestant civilian, was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on the Strand Road in Derry. Bell had been working as a contractor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). [This killing followed threats made by the IRA on 28 July 1986 and on 27 August 1986.] A Protestant civilian was killed by Loyalists in Belfast.
Wednesday 28 August 1991
Liam Kearns and David Madigan left Newry Cathedral ten days after seeking sanctuary in the building. They had entered the Cathedral following an order by the Irish Republican
Monday 28 August 1995
James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), announced that he would resign from the leadership of the party.
[On 18 March 1995 Molyneaux had been challenged for his position as leader by 21 year old student who received 88 votes. David Trimble, then UUP MP, was elected leader on 8 September 1995.]
Sunday 28 August 1994 Fourth Hume / Adams Statement
John Hume, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), issued a (fourth) joint statement. The statement read:
” A just and lasting peace in Ireland will only be achieved if it is based on democratic principles. … If a lasting settlement is to be found there must be a fundamental and thorough-going change, based on the right of the Irish people as a whole to national self-determination.”
Monday 28 August 1995
James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), announced that he would resign from the leadership of the party. [On 18 March 1995 Molyneaux had been challenged for his position as leader by 21 year old student who received 88 votes. David Trimble, then UUP MP, was elected leader on 8 September 1995.]
Wednesday 28 August 1996
The Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC), an umbrella group for loyalist paramilitaries, issued a statement ordering Billy Wright and Alex Kerr (both leading Loyalists figures from Portadown, County Armagh) to leave Northern Ireland or face “summary justice”. Mr Kerr was in custody when the threat was issued but Mr Wright said he would defy the order.
Thursday 28 August 1997
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and Jeffrey Donaldson, then a UUP Member of Parliament (MP), held a “hostile meeting” with Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The Unionist MPs were angry at comments made by Mowlam that the issue of ‘consent’ should not be “narrowly defined” in numerical terms. [She later stated that the status of Northern Ireland could only be changed by a majority of the population.]
Friday 28 August 1998
The minutes of a meeting on 6 August between Adam Ingram, then Security Minister at the NIO, and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Assembly Group, were leaked. At the meeting the UUP were reported as saying there would be “no chance” of an Executive being formed without decommissioning of Irish Republican Army (IRA) weapons. The “real” Irish Republican Army (rIRA) stated that it believed that a continuation of its campaign was futile “in the circumstances of Omagh and the Mitchell agreement”. The rIRA indicated that a ceasefire would be called.
[The rIRA announced a ceasefire on 7 September 1998.] Elaine Moore from Dublin, who had been arrested on conspiracy charges in London, was freed on bail from
Saturday 28 August 1999
The home of a Catholic man was attacked on Churchill Road, Larne, when a pipe-bomb was left in his driveway. The man is the brother of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) councillor in Larne, Danny O’Connor. Considerable damage was done to the house and the owner was treated for severe shock.
Also in Larne, a pipe-bomb was thrown at the home of a Catholic family in Sallagh Park South. A couple and their four children were in the home at the time of the attack but were uninjured. The attacks were carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) ordered four young men from Dungannon to leave Northern Ireland or be shot.
The young men had been accused of “anti-social activities”. Unionist and Conservative politicians described the “expulsion orders” as a direct snub to Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), said he was in no doubt that the expulsion orders were linked to Mowlam’s assertion that the IRA ceasefire was intact, despite recent violence.
Tuesday 28 August 2001
Loyalist paramilitaries planted a car bomb in Castle Street in the centre of Ballycastle, County Antrim, while thousands of people were in the town to celebrate the annual Auld Lammas Fair. The bomb was discovered by a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer and the area was cleared. British Army bomb disposal officers defused the bomb which turned out to be a large blast incendiary device. The Red Hand Defenders (RHD), a cover name that has been used by members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), claimed responsibility for the bomb. [Security forces later suggested the possibility that the bomb was actually the work of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).
The Lammas Fair attracts thousands of visitors each year. The attack was widely condemned.] Police searched two houses in the Tiger’s Bay area of north Belfast and uncovered 14 suspected ‘acid bombs’ and materials for making other devices. [It was later reported that a woman would appear at Belfast Magistrate’s Court on 29 August 2001 charged with having offensive weapons.]
Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles
Today is the anniversary of the follow people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland
To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live forever
– To the Paramilitaries –
“There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.
9 People lost their lives on the 28th of August between 1972 – 1992
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28 August 1972
Ian Morrell, (29) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Beechmount Avenue, Belfast
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28 August 1972
Ronald Rowe, (21) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot in error, from British Army (BA) observation post, while on British Army (BA) foot patrol. Ardoyne Avenue, Ardoyne, Belfast.
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28 August 1972
William Trotter, (57)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb while walking across field on his farm, Drumralla, near Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh.
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28 August 1973
Kenneth Hill, (25)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while evacuating area during bomb alert, Culdee, Armagh.
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28 August 1977
Jack Marshall, (25) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Brompton Park, Ardoyne, Belfast.
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28 August 1979
John Hardy, (43)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his home, Ashton Street, New Lodge, Belfast.
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28 August 1986
Robert Coggles, (26)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Found shot on waste ground at the rear of Boys’ Model School, off Ballysillan Road, Ballysillan, Belfast.
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28 August 1986
Mervyn Bell, (22)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while sitting in stationary car outside his father’s workplace, council depot, Strand Road, Derry. Contractor to British Army (BA).
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28 August 1992
Paul Turner, (18) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper, while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, The Square, Crossmaglen, County Armagh
Main source CAIN Web Service
Major Events in the Troubles
- The Shankill Butchers – Documentary & BackgroundDuring the 1970s a group of Protestant paramilitaries embarked on a spree of indiscriminate murder which left thirty Northern Irish Catholics dead. Their leader was Lenny Murphy, a fanatical … Continue reading The Shankill Butchers – Documentary & Background
- Sergeant Michael Willetts 13th Aug 1943 – 25th May 1971In memory of Sergeant Michael Willetts , GC & all other members of HM Armed Forces murdered by Irish Terrorists. See below for the full story of this brave … Continue reading Sergeant Michael Willetts 13th Aug 1943 – 25th May 1971
- Bloody Friday Background & Documentary – 21st July 1972.Bloody Friday is the name given to the bombings by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Belfast on 21 July 1972. Twenty-six bombs exploded in the space of … Continue reading Bloody Friday Background & Documentary – 21st July 1972
- Omagh Bombing – The IRA’s Deadliest Massacre of CiviliansOmagh Bombing – The IRA’s Deadliest Massacre of Civilians See real IRA page See 29 people Slaughtered by the Real IRA The Omagh bombing was a deliberate massacre of … Continue reading Omagh Bombing – The IRA’s Deadliest Massacre of Civilians
- The Shankill BombDisclaimer – The views and opinions expressed in these documentary are soley intended to educate and provide background information to those interested in the Troubles of Northern Ireland. They … Continue reading The Shankill Bomb
See : 29th August
Belfast Child 