Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
24th September
Tuesday 24 September 1968
Civil Rights Campaign; Derry March
Monday 24 September 1973
Garret FitzGerald, then Irish Foreign Minister, said that the British and Irish governments had agreed on the formation of an Executive for Northern Ireland, and on the reform of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the reform of the civil service, and on the creation of a Council of Ireland.
Friday 24 September 1976
Two Protestant civilians were shot dead by Republican paramilitaries during an attack on Crangle’s Bar, Cavehill Road, Belfast. A Catholic civilian was shot dead by Loyalists in Belfast.
Sunday 24 September 1978
Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), held a religious service in Dublin, at the Mansion House, for the first time.
Wednesday 24 September 1980
Tomás Ó Fiaich, then Catholic Primate of Ireland, said that he was hopeful of progress on the issue of the blanket protest at the Maze Prison.
Thursday 24 September 1981
Bernard Fox, then on day 32 of his hunger strike, ended his fast. Fox’s condition had deteriorated quickly and Sinn Féin (SF) was reported as having said that he was ‘dying too quickly’.
Monday 24 September 1984
Oliver Napier resigned as leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI). His successor was John Cushnahan.
Wednesday 24 September 1986
James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), called off the ‘rates’ strike that had been announced on 23 April 1986. The two leaders advised people on strike to now pay the amounts owed in full.
Saturday 24 September 1994
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), flew to the United States of America (USA) for a second visit. [Adams received an enthusiastic reception in America.] Michael Mates, a former Northern Ireland Office (NIO) Minister, also flew to the USA in an attempt to counter some of the publicity surrounding Adam’s visit.
Wednesday 24 September 1997
Procedures Agreed at Multi-party Talks A bomb was sent by post to the constituency office of Robert McCartney, then leader of the United Kingdom Unionist Party (UKUP). The bomb was defused by the British Army.
[This was the second bomb that had been sent to McCartney in two months.]
At the multi-party talks there was agreement over the procedures that would govern the conduct of the negotiations. This agreement on procedures took 16 months to achieve.
[In effect the issue of the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons was side-stepped with the parties agreeing to move to “substantive issues” on 29 September 1997. This was the first time in 70 years that Unionist parties had sat at the same talks table as Republicans.]
The Independent Commission on Decommissioning was formally launched. The Commission members were: John de Chastelain, who was a co-chair of the multi-party talks and a General in the Canadian Army, Tauno Nieminen, then a Brigadier in the Finnish Army, and Donal Johnson, then a United States of America (USA) diplomat.
Thursday 24 September 1998
There was disagreement between David Trimble, then First Minister designate, and Seamus Mallon, Deputy First Minister designate, over the establishment of the North-South Ministerial Council. Trimble said that the inaugural meeting of the new body should take place within weeks. However, Mallon said that he would not agree to such a move until the “shadow” Executive was set up first.
Friday 24 September 1999
The 29 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) belonging to the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) travelled to Glasgow, Scotland, to discuss the Mitchell Review of the Good Friday Agreement and political strategy. The exact location of the meeting was not revealed to the media. The arrangements for the meeting were criticised by anti-Agreement unionists. There were claims in the Irish News (a Belfast based newspaper) that Direct Action Against Drugs (DAAD), believed to be a cover name used by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), had ordered nine people to leave Bessbrook in south Armagh.
Monday 24 September 2001
Loyalists held a protest on the Crumlin Road, north Belfast. More than 100 protesters blocked the main road in what they said was a protest against attacks by Republicans. There was further serious rioting in north Belfast during Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday. The British Army was called to make safe an explosive device found in Newington Avenue, north Belfast, just before 11.00pm (23.00BST).
There were three incidents when shots were fired [from an automatic weapon (?)] and a number of pipe-bombs and blast bombs were also thrown. Eight shots were fired from the Nationalist end of Hallidays Road, north Belfast, at a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) patrol. Later in the evening approximately 15 shots were fired at a Protestant house at the end of the same street. No one was injured in during these attacks.
[Unionist politicians called on the British government to review the status of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire. Sinn Féin (SF) accused Loyalist paramilitaries of stoking up the recent violence.]
RUC officers also investigated two loud explosions at Clanchattan Street. Sinn Féin claimed that blast bombs had been thrown across the interface at Catholic owned homes. A pipe-bomb also exploded near a house at Hallidays Road.
There were no reported injuries. Alan McQuillan, then Assistant Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), said the rioting was the worst that Belfast had experienced for 20 years. A man (19) was shot in a paramilitary ‘punishment’ attack in Newtownabbey, County Antrim. The man was forced into a van at about 8.00pm (2000BST) and was taken to the Fairview area where he was shot. A man (27) was shot in a paramilitary ‘punishment’ attack in Bangor, County Down. The man was taken from the Kilcooley estate at about 9.30pm (21.30BST) and driven to the Old Bangor Road where he was shot.
Mark Durkan (Social Democratic and Labour Party; SDLP), then Minister of Finance and Personnel, announced a period of consultation on the draft Programme for Government (2002-2003) {external_link} [draft document – PDF file; 395KB]. David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), held a meeting in Stormont to discuss their separate attempts to obtain enough votes bring froward a motion to exclude Sinn Féin (SF) from the Northern Ireland Assembly. The UUP and the DUP had been unable to agree who should introduce the motion to the Assembly. The UUP motion is short of three signatures while the DUP is short by one.
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.
5 People lost their lives on the 24th September between 1976 – 1992
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24 September 1976
Pauline Doherty, (17)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot while in her home, Oldpark Avenue, Belfast
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24 September 1976
Frederick McLaughlin, (27)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Shot during gun attack on the Cavehill Inn, Cavehill Road, Belfast.
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24 September 1976
George Rankin, (50)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),
Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Shot during gun attack on the Cavehill Inn, Cavehill Road, Belfast.
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24 September 1987
Ian McKeown, (37)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while driving his car along Kilmorey Street, Newry, County Down.
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24 September 1992
Leonard Fox, (40)
Catholic
Status: ex-Irish Republican Army (xIRA),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Former republican prisoner. Shot while renovating house, Kilmuir Avenue, Dundonald, Belfast.
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Belfast Child 
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