Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
5th October
Saturday 5 October 1968
Civil Rights March in Derry
[Considered by many as the start date of ‘the Troubles’]
A civil rights march in Derry, that had been organised by members of the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) and supported by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), was stopped by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) before it had properly begun. The marchers had proposed to walk from Duke Street in the Waterside area of Derry to the Diamond in the centre of the City. Present at the march were three British Labour Party Members of Parliament (MP); Gerry Fitt, then Republican Labour MP; several Stormont MPs; and members of the media including a television crew from RTE. There were different estimates of the number of people taking part in the march. Eamonn McCann (one of the organisers of the march) estimated that about 400 people lined up on the street with a further 200 watching from the pavements.
The RUC broke-up the march by baton-charging the crowd and leaving many people injured including a number of MPs.
[The incidents were filmed and later there was worldwide television coverage. The incidents in Derry had a profound effect on many people around the world but particularly on the Catholic population of Northern Ireland. Immediately after the march there were two days of serious rioting in Derry between the Catholic residents of the city and the RUC.]
Tuesday 5 October 1971
A new sitting of the Northern Ireland parliament at Stormont began. However the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) was absent due to its continuing protest against Internment. The SDLP met in an alternative assembly at Strabane town hall.
Friday 5 October 1973
William Whitelaw, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, chaired a series of talks at Stormont Castle, Belfast, on the question of forming an Executive to govern Northern Ireland. The talks involved representatives of, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The parties disagreed on issues related to internment, policing, and a Council of Ireland, but did manage to make progress on other less controversial areas in the social and economic spheres. [See also: 9 October 1973; 16 October 1973] [ Political Developments. ]
Saturday 5 October 1974
Guildford Bombs The Irish Republican Army (IRA) planted bombs in two public houses in Guildford, Surrey, England, which killed five people and injured a further 54. The pubs, the Horse and Groom and the Seven Stars, were targeted because they were frequented by off-duty British soldiers.
[On 22 October 1975 Patrick Armstrong, Gerard Conlon, Paul Hill, and Carole Richardson (who became known as the ‘Guildford Four’) were found guilty at the Old Bailey of causing explosions in London in October 1974. The four were sentenced to life imprisonment. Following an appeal the four were released on 19 October 1989. The court of appeal decided that the ‘confessions’ had been fabricated by the police. In a linked case, members of the Maguire family, the ‘Maguire Seven’, were convicted on 3 March 1976 of possession of explosives (even though no explosives were found) and some served 10 years in prison before the convictions were overturned.]
Two people were killed in separate incidents in Derry and County Armagh.
Wednesday 5 October 1977
Seamus Costello, founder member and leader of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), was shot dead near North Strand, Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Both the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) and the Provisional IRA denied that they were responsible for the killing.
Thursday 5 October 1978
The three leaders of the Peace People, Betty Williams, Mairead Corrigan, and Ciaran McKeown, announced that they intended to step down from the organisation.
Friday 5 October 1979
The British and Irish governments agreed to strengthen the drive against paramilitary groups. The British Labour Party conference voted against a resolution calling for British withdrawal from Northern Ireland.
Friday 5 October 1984
At the Labour Party annual conference in Blackpool, England, a motion was passed that opposed the use of Diplock courts and supergrass evidence in Northern Ireland. The conference also called for a ban on the use of plastic bullets and an end to strip-searching of prisoners.
Saturday 5 October 1985
Charles Haughey, then leader of Fianna Fáil (FF), said that FF would not support any move away from the principle of a United Ireland.
Wednesday 5 October 1988
Integrated education in Northern Ireland was given a boost when Brian Mawhinney, then Minister for education, stated that the Department for Education of Northern Ireland (DENI) should promote integrated schools (?).
Friday 5 October 1990
The British Labour Party voted against organising or campaigning in Northern Ireland.
Sunday 5 October 1997
Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of Sinn Féin (SF), addressed a SF rally in Coalisland, County Tyrone, and told those present that SF were involved in the multi-party talks in order to “smash the union
Tuesday 5 October 1999
The Irish Cabinet formally decided that Ireland would join the NATO led Partnership for Peace security programme. In spite of a promise in the Fianna Fáil (FF) general election manifesto in 1997, it was confirmed by the FF / Progressive Democrats (PD) Coalition that no referendum would be held on the matter.
Thursday 5 October 2000
Johnston Brown, then a Detective Sergeant in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), survived an attempt on his life when a pipe-bomb and petrol canister were thrown at his County Antrim home. Brown had played an important role in securing the imprisonment in 1995 of Johnny Adair, then a leader of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).
Peter Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, warned hardline Ulster Unionists that if devolution failed they could face joint rule by London and Dublin. The warning came as those Unionists opposed to the Good Friday Agreement mounted yet another attempt to persuade David Trimble to set a deadline for IRA disarmament.
Friday 5 October 2001
A number of shots were fired at a house belonging to a Catholic family in Coleraine, County Derry. The shooting happened shortly after midnight.
[Loyalist paramilitaries were thought to have been responsible for the shooting.]
Lord Chief Justice Carswell in the High Court in Belfast upheld an earlier judgement that David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), had acted unlawfully under section 52 of the Northern Ireland Act in preventing Sinn Féin (SF) ministers from attending meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council. Trimble, when First Minister, had decided not to nominate Martin McGuinness (SF), then Minister for Education, and Bairbre de Brún (SF), then Minister for Health, to attend the Council meetings.
[Trimble had first suggested the action on 28 October 2000 and introduced the ban in November 2000 and SF had contested the decision on 15 December 2000. SF won the first court case but Trimble had appealed the decision. Trimble announced that he would appeal the latest decision to the House of Lords.]
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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles
Today is the anniversary of the death of the following people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
― Thomas Campbell
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.
13 People lost their lives on the 5th October between 1972 – 1982
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05 October 1972
John Magee, (54)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Killed in bomb attack on Capitol Bar, Dublin Road, Belfast.
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05 October 1974
Eugene McQuaid (35)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed while in the vicinity of an IRA bomb which exploded prematurely, while travelling on his motorcycle, Killeen, County Armagh.
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05 October 1974
Asha Chopra, (25) nfNI
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while driving her car, during sniper attack on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) foot patrol diverting traffic, Greenhaw Road, Shantallow, Derry.
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05 October 1974
Ann Hamilton, (19) nfNIB
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Killed in bomb attack on Horse and Groom public house, Guildford, Surrey, England.
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05 October 1974
Caroline Slater, (18) nfNIB
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Killed in bomb attack on Horse and Groom public house, Guildford, Surrey, England.
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05 October 1974
William Forsyth, (18) nfNIB
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Killed in bomb attack on Horse and Groom public house, Guildford, Surrey, England.
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05 October 1974
John Hunter, (17) nfNIB
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Killed in bomb attack on Horse and Groom public house, Guildford, Surrey, England
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05 October 1974
Paul Craig, (22) nfNIB
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in bomb attack on Horse and Groom public house, Guildford, Surrey, England
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05 October 1977
Seamus Costello, (38) nfNIRI
Status: Civilian Political Activist (CivPA),
Killed by: Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA)
Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) member. Shot while sitting in stationary car, Northbrook Avenue, North Strand, Dublin. Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) / Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) feud.
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05 October 1979
George Hawthorne, (37)
Protestant
Status: ex-Ulster Defence Regiment (xUDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while driving his car into car park, Soho Place, Newry, County Down.
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05 October 1979
Martin Rowland, (26)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Found shot near to his home, Camlough, County Armagh.
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05 October 1981
Hector Hall (22)
Protestant
Status: ex-Ulster Defence Regiment (xUDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot outside Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry.
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05 October 1982
Charles Crothers (54)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty reservist. Shot at his workplace, Department of the Environment depot, Altnagelvin, Derry.
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Belfast Child 
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