Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
6th November
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Saturday 6 November 1971
Kathleen Thompson (47) was shot dead by British soldiers as she stood in garden in the Creggan area of Derry.
Wednesday 6 November 1974
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IRA 1983 Break Out of the Maze Prison
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33 Republican Prisoners escaped from the Maze Prison through a tunnel. Hugh Coney (24) was shot dead by a sentry during the escape. 32 of the prisoners were captured by the end of the day.
Two British soldiers were shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
Thursday 6 November 1975
The siege at the house in Monasterevin, County Kildare, where Tiede Herrema, then a Dutch industrialist, was being held hostage, ended with his safe release.
Saturday 6 November 1976
Two Catholic civilians died as a result of separate shooting incidents carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries in New Lodge, Belfast and Whiteabbey, Belfast.
Friday 6 November 1981
Garret FitzGerald, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), held talks with Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister, in London. As a result of the meeting it was decided to establish the Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Council which would act as forum for meetings between the two governments.
Tuesday 6 November 1984
New measures were announced to try and combat the problem of impersonation during Northern Ireland elections.
[The local phrase of “vote early, vote often” was a reflection of the belief that there was a widespread problem even if it could not be quantified.]
Tuesday 6 November 1990
Cahal Daly was announced as the new Catholic Primate of All Ireland.
Wednesday 6 November 1991
Plans for public expenditure in Northern Ireland for the year 1992 to 1993 were published. Total expenditure was estimated at £7,030 million, which represented an increase of 8.4 per cent on the previous year.
Friday 6 November 1992
The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), announced that it was extending its campaign to include “the entire Republican community”.
The coalition government in the Republic of Ireland collapsed and a general election was called for 25 November 1992
Saturday 6 November 1993
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), rejected the six principles proposed by Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs), as “the basis for a peace process”.
[Spring had outlined the principles on 27 October 1993.] Albert Reynolds, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), told the Fianna Fáil (FF) Ard Fheis (annual conference) that peace could begin by the end of the year.
Wednesday 6 November
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), was involved in a car accident near Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland, and received hospital treatment for minor injuries.
Peter McMuller, a former member of the British Army’s Parachute Regiment, was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for his part in a bomb attack on British Army barracks in Yorkshire, England. He was released because of time already spent in jail.
Thursday 6 November 1997
Split in Sinn Féin In Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland around 12 members of Sinn Féin (SF) resigned from the party in protest at SF’s acceptance of the Mitchell Principles.
[There were also media reports that a number of members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) had left the paramilitary group. A number of commentators considered this to be the most significant split in Republican ranks since 2 November 1986.]
Saturday 6 November 1999
John Hume, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), delivered his 20th annual leader’s address to the party’s annual conference in Belfast. He said SDLP policies of negotiation, partnership and reconciliation had a major influence in bringing about the Good Friday agreement.
The deputy leader, Séamus Mallon, called on Sinn Féin (SF) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) to end their “miserable dispute” over decommissioning and devolution. Peter Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, also addressed the conference.
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) formally accepted the recommendations of the Patten report. A new pedestrian bridge was lifted into place across the Liffey, in Dublin, between Grattan Bridge and the Ha’penny Bridge. The Millennium Bridge was due to open in late December 1999.
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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.
10 People lost their lives on the 6th November between 1971 – 1989
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06 November 1971
Kathleen Thompson, (47)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot in the back garden of her home, Kildrum Gardens, Creggan, Derry.
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06 November 1973
John Aikman, (25)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.
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06 November 1974
Hugh Coney, (24)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot while attempting to escape from Long Kesh Prison, County Down.
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06 November 1974
Stephen Windsor, (26)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
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06 November 1974
Brian Allen, (20)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Crossmaglen, County Armagh
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06 November 1975
John Bell, (59)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while driving home from work, Ballymoyer, near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.
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06 November 1976
Carol McMenamy, (15)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Died one day after being shot while standing outside friend’s home, Newington Street, New Lodge, Belfast.
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06 November 1976
Eugene McDonagh, (23)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Barman. Shot outside his workplace, Jordanstown Inn, Whiteabbey, County Antrim.
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06 November 1989
Robert Burns, (49)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish People’s Liberation Organisation (IPLO)
Shot at his home, Milltown Avenue, Derriaghy, near Belfast, County Antrim.
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06 November 1991
Michael Boxall, (27)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in horizontal mortar attack on Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) mobile patrol, Bellaghy, County Derry.
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