Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
6th October
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Sunday 6 October 1968
Rioting flared up again in the afternoon in Derry. [ Civil Rights Campaign; Derry March. ]
Friday 6 October 1972
Jack Lynch’s, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), government closed the Sinn Féin (SF) office in Dublin.
Wednesday 6 October 1976
Two Catholic civilians were shot dead at their home in Victoria Gardens, Cavehill Road, Belfast, by Loyalist paramilitaries.
Tuesday 6 October 1981
Announcement on Prison Policy James Prior, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced a number of changes in prison policy, one of which would allowed prisoners to wear their civilian clothes at all times. This was one of the five key demands that had been made at the start of the hunger strike. Prior also announced other changes: free association would be allowed in neighbouring wings of each H-Block, in the exercise areas and in recreation rooms; an increase in the number of visits each prisoner would be entitled to; and up to 50 per cent of lost remission would be restored. [The issue of prison work was not resolved at this stage but there were indications that this issue too would be addressed.] [ Political Developments.]
Wednesday 6 October 1982
Des O’Malley, the Irish Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism, resigned for the government in the Republic of Ireland. O’Malley resigned because of disagreements with Charles Haughey, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), on matters related to Northern Ireland and the Republic’s economy. [O’Malley later formed a new political party in the Republic called the Progressive Democrats.]
Thursday 7 October 1982
A member of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) and a Prison Officer were killed in a connected incident in Kilmore, County Armagh.
Monday 6 October 1986
There was a meeting of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in Dublin. The group discussed border security and agreed to implement a proposal that citizens from the Republic of Ireland who were living in Northern Ireland would be given the right to vote in local government elections in the region.
Saturday 6 October 1990
A Catholic man was shot dead by the Protestant Action Force (PAF) at Oxford Island, Lough Neagh, County Armagh. This shooting was viewed by many as retaliation for the shooting of a Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldier at the same location on 23 September 1990. [There was a further attack in the area on 10 November 1990.]
Wednesday 6 October 1993
The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), carried out a gun attack on a pub in Twinbrook, Belfast, and killed one Catholic civilian and injured two others. The UFF later claimed that the attack was carried out because of the Hume-Adams Initiative and the pan-Nationalist front.
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) exploded a bomb outside a Sinn Féin (SF) office on the Falls Road, Belfast. James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), made a speech at a fringe meeting of the Conservative Party conference in Blackpool, England. Molyneaux stated that the Hume-Adams Initiative had wrecked any prospect of future inter-party talks.
Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), wrote a letter to John Major, then British Prime Minister, in which he stated that the Hume-Adams Initiative was “aimed at Ulster’s destruction”. Albert Reynolds, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), stated that if there was an overall political settlement then Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution could be changed by a referendum.
Tuesday 6 October 1998
Frankie O’Reilly (30), a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer, died as a result of injuries he received on 7 September 1998. O’Reilly was critically injured by a blast bomb thrown by Loyalists taking part in a Drumcree protest at Portadown, County Armagh. The attack was claimed by the Red Hand Defenders (RHD) a Loyalist paramilitary grouping that was believed to have been formed a short time before the incident.
Davy Jones, then a Orange Order spokesperson, said that the cost of upholding civil liberties [on behalf of the Orange Order] “can be very high”.
Wednesday 6 October 1999
Garda Síochána (the Irish police) officers arrested four men in County Donegal in connection with an arms find in County Wexford. Patrick Campbell (22), an Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) member who was originally from west Belfast, was badly beaten and stabbed during clash between INLA members and a group of men (described in the media as a criminal gang) in the Ballymount industrial estate, Walkinstown, Dublin. [Campbell died on 10 October 1999 from his injuries.]
Saturday 6 October 2001
The 150 member council of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) met to elect a new leader. The two people who stood in the election were David Ford and Eileen Bell. Ford won the leadership contest. Republicans held a rally in the centre of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strikes.
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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 6th October between 1972 – 1998
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06 October 1972
Daniel McAreavey, (21)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot during bomb attack on British Army (BA) observation post, Osman Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.
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06 October 1975
Alice McGuinness, (57)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died three days after being injured during bomb attack on John McKeague’s shop, Albertbridge Road, Belfast.
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06 October 1975
David Love, (45)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in bomb explosion shortly after armed robbery, at Roeview Inn, near Limavady, County Derry
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06 October 1976
Francis Nolan, (34)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot at his home, Victoria Gardens, off Cavehill Road, Belfast.
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06 October 1976
Catherine O’Connor, (68)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot at her home, Victoria Gardens, off Cavehill Road, Belfast.
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06 October 1978
Charles Henning, (50)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Died four days after being shot at cattle mart, Patrick Street, Newry, County Down.
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06 October 1983
William Finlay, (55)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) foot patrol, Meadowlands, Downpatrick, County Down.
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06 October 1983
James Ferguson, (53)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) foot patrol, Meadowlands, Downpatrick, County Down.
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06 October 1986
Martin Blaney, (23)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot outside his home, Eglish, near Dungannon, County Tyrone.
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06 October 1987
Thomas Dickson,
(35) Protestant
Status: ex-Ulster Defence Association (xUDA),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Shot at his home, Alliance Parade, Belfast. Internal Ulster Defence Association (UDA) dispute.
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06 October 1990
Denis Carville, (19)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Shot while sitting in stationary car with his girlfriend, Oxford Island, Lough Neagh, County Armagh.
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06 October 1993
Jason McFarlane, (20)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Shot during gun attack on Derby House Bar, Stewartstown Road, Twinbrook, Belfast
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06 October 1998
Francis O’Reilly, (30)
Catholic
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Red Hand Defenders (RHD)
Died one month after being injured by blast bomb, thrown during street disturbances, Charles Street, Portadown, County Armagh. Injured on 5 September 1998.
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Belfast Child 