Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
25th January
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Monday 25 January 1971
The 170 delegates of the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) called for the resignation of James Chichester-Clark, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister.
Tuesday 25 January 1972
General Ford, then Commander of Land Forces in Northern Ireland, put Andrew MacLellan, Commander 8 Infantry Brigade, in overall command of the operation to contain the civil rights march planned for 30 January 1972.
Sunday 25 January 1976
Two Catholic civilians were killed by Loyalist paramilitaries who had left a bomb at the Hibernian Social Club, Conway Street, Lisburn, County Antrim. A Protestant civilian was shot dead by Loyalists in Portadown.
Monday 25 January 1988
A member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was killed in Belfast.
A Catholic civilian was shot dead in County Down.
Sir Patrick Mayhew, then Attorney-General of the United Kingdom, announced that there were to be no prosecutions of security force members arising from the Stalker and Sampson inquiry into an alleged ‘shoot to kill’ policy by the security forces in Northern Ireland. The reason given was one of ‘national security’.
Tuesday 25 January 1994
The Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) announced that it would adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude towards the Downing Street Declaration (DSD).
Saturday 25 January 1997
A bomb exploded under a car at Ballynahinch, County Down. The car belonged to three off-duty British soldiers who were visiting a disco in the town. None of the soldiers were seriously injured in the incident.
Sinn Féin (SF) announced its list of candidates for the general election, with Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of SF, to stand in Mid-Ulster and Gerry Adams, then President of SF, to stand in West Belfast.
Sunday 25 January 1998
A Catholic man, was shot and injured by the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) in the Taghnevan Estate in Lurgan. The man was sitting in the cab of a lorry when a lone gunman shot at him several times.
A man in his 20s was the victim of a paramilitary ‘punishment’ attack. The man was beaten by five masked men who broke into a house in Drummard Park, Derry.
Relatives of those killed on ‘Bloody Sunday’ called on the British government to establish a full, independent inquiry into the killings on 30 January 1972.
Around 1,000 people attended a peace vigil in Belfast to protest against the recent spate of killings of Catholics by Loyalist paramilitary groups.
Monday 25 January 1999
Loyalist paramilitaries carried out a bomb attack on the home of a Catholic man and his elderly mother in Greenisland, County Antrim.
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), and Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of SF, did not attend a meeting with Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, about the upsurge in paramilitary ‘punishment’ attacks.
Bairbre de Brún and Alex Maskey attended on behalf of SF. Adam Ingram, then Security Minister at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), held a meeting with relatives of Irish Republican Army (IRA) members killed at Loughgall, County Antrim, in 1987. The meeting was criticised by relatives of those killed by the IRA in the same area.
Proinsias De Rossa, formerly leader of Democratic Left (DL), replaced Dick Spring, formerly leader of the Irish Labour Party, as foreign affairs spokesman in the Irish government. Three party colleagues of De Rossa were also given high-profile positions in government.
Thursday 25 January 2001
Six ‘improvised bombs’ were found on the roof of a school in a Loyalist area of east Belfast. More than 160 pupils and staff had to be evacuated while British Army (BA) bomb disposal officers dealt with the devices. There was speculation that the devices were being stored prior to use on Catholics homes in the nearby Nationalist Short Strand area.
Friday 25 January 2002
The security forces made an arms find in west Belfast. A man (54) was arrested and charged with having firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life. There were three sectarian attacks on houses in Larne, County Antrim. The living room window of a house in Cairngorm Walk was broken.
Two windows of a house at Ballycraigy Ring were broken and a car parked outside also had its windscreen smashed in the attack. In the third attack, the door window of a property in Torr Gardens was also broken.
Lembit Opik, then Liberal Democrats’ Northern Ireland spokesperson, travelled to the region to meet community groups in north and east Belfast.
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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.
9 People lost their lives on the 25th January between 1973– 1989
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25 January 1973
William Staunton, (46)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Resident magistrate. Died three months after being shot outside St Dominic’s School, Falls Road, Belfast. He was injured on 11 October 1972
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25 January 1974
Howard Fawley, (19)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on British Army (BA) foot patrol searching field, Ballymaguigan, near Ballyronan, County Derry.
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25 January 1976
Samuel Neill, (29)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot while walking along Union Street, Edgarstown, Portadown, County Armagh
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25 January 1976
Raymond Mayes, (33)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Killed in bomb attack on Hibernian Social Club, Conway Street, Lisburn, County Antrim.
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25 January 1976
John Tennyson, (27)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Killed in bomb attack on Hibernian Social Club, Conway Street, Lisburn, County Antrim.
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25 January 1981
Philip Barker, (25)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while at British Army (BA) pedestrian check point, junction of Berry Street and Church Lane, Belfast.
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25 January 1988
John Kielty, (45)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Businessman. Shot at his workplace, Dundrum, near Newcastle, County Down
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25 January 1988
Colin Gilmore, (27)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in grenade attack on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol, outside Royal Victoria Hospital, Falls Road, Belfast.
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25 January 1989
David Dornan, (26)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Shot at his workplace, building site, Kingsmore Link Road, Lisburn, County Antrim. Assumed to be a Catholic.
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Belfast Child 