Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
11th February
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Monday 11 February 1974
Thomas Donaghy
Margaret McErlean
Two Catholic civilians were shot (one died immediately, one died on 18 February 1974) as they arrived for work in Glenville Road, Newtownabbey, County Antrim. They were killed by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a covername used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).
Monday 11 February 1980
Joseph Rose
Winston Howe
Two Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers were killed in a land mine attack at Rosslea, County Fermanagh.
Sunday 11 February 1986
An off-duty RUC officer and a Catholic civilian were killed in an Irish Republican Army (IRA) gun attack on the Talk of the Town bar in Maguiresbridge, County Fermanagh.
Tuesday 11 February 1992
John Major, then British Prime Minister, and Peter Brooke, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, held meetings with the leaders of the main political parties in Northern Ireland to discuss the security situation.
Friday 11 February 1994
The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), carried out gun attacks on the homes of two Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) members.
In one attack the son of one SDLP member was shot and wounded. James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), said that the Downing Street Declaration (DSD) had failed and that an internal settlement for Northern Ireland should now be sought by the British government.
Tuesday 11 February 1997
Kevin McNamara, a former Labour Party Northern Ireland spokesperson, and Seamus Mallon, then deputy leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), called for a new appeal for Danny McNamee who received a 25 year sentence in 1987 for Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb making offences.
An International Urgent Alert was issued by Amnesty International on the case of Roisín McAliskey who was six months pregnant and was imprisoned pending a decision about extradition to Germany.
Thursday 11 February 1999
A new report on the death of Patrick Finucane, a Belfast solicitor who had represented a number of Republicans, claimed that there was collusion between Loyalist paramilitaries and British security forces in his death on 12 February 1989. More than 1,100 lawyers signed a petition calling for a independent judicial inquiry into the killing. The appeal for the inquiry was also supported by Amnesty International.
See: Pat Finucane – 12th February 1989 Executed by the UFF
Friday 11 February 2000
Assembly and Executive Suspended
Peter Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, suspended the 72 day-old power-sharing Executive and restored Direct Rule of Northern Ireland from Westminster as of midnight. The move followed reports from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) that it had “received no information from the IRA as to when decommissioning will start.”
Sunday 11 February 2001
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) uncovered a ‘bomb factory’ in a block of flats in a Loyalist area of north Belfast. A significant amount of explosives and component parts for making pipe-bombs were seized during raids of three flats in Ross House in the Mount Vernon area. Police later linked the find to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).
The home of a Catholic family was damaged in a pipe-bomb attack in north Belfast. The device was thrown at the back of the house shortly before 1.30am. A number of windows were smashed and a door was damaged. The people inside the house, two men and a woman, escaped injury. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries
Monday 11 February 2002
There were disturbances in the Arthur Bridge area of the Whitewell Road, north Belfast, at approximately 7.00am (0700GMT).
The trouble began following reports of fireworks being thrown from the Loyalist White City area towards the Nationalist Longlands estate. Police arrested a man and a boy from the Longlands estate.
[There had been rioting in the same area on Saturday evening (9 February 2002) and Sunday evening (10 February 2002).]
A man (26) was shot in both ankles in a paramilitary ‘punishment’ attack in Kilrea, County Derry. A gang of four men broke into the victim’s house and beat him with iron bars before shooting him. The attack took place in front of the man’s wife and two young daughters.
Solicitors representing most of the families of those killed on Bloody Sunday (30 January 1972) lodged an application in the High Court in Belfast to challenge the decision of the Inquiry to allow police witnesses to be screened when giving evidence.
See Bloody Sunday
Geraldine Finucane the widow of Pat Finucane, a Belfast solicitor killed on 12 February 1989, criticised the British government for a delay in considering her appeal for an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of her husband. In November 2001 John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced that an international judge would be appointed to decide if an independent public inquiry into her husband’s death was necessary.
[However this decision was criticised as a delaying tactic by the government.]
John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, travelled to Washington, United States of America (USA), for meetings with members of the Bush administration. During a media briefing he called on Sinn Féin (SF) to take up its seats in the Northern Ireland Policing Board (NIPB):
“The whole community has to take its part and its responsibilities in supporting that police service – and that includes Republicans.”
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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.
11 People lost their lives on the 11th February between 1974 – 1993
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11 February 1974
Thomas Donaghy, (16)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Shot as he arrived at his workplace, Abbey Meat Packers, Glenville Road, Newtownabbey, County Antrim.
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11 February 1974
Margaret McErlean, (18)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Shot as she arrived at her workplace, Abbey Meat Packers, Glenville Road, Newtownabbey, County Antrim. She died 18 February 1974.
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11 February 1975
Christopher Mein, (25)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Relief milkman. Shot on his milk round, Galbally, Cappagh, County Tyrone. Regular milkman intended target.
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11 February 1978
Mary Smyth, (71)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Killed in bomb attack on her home, Oldpark Avenue, Belfast.
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11 February 1978
Michael Scott, (10)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Killed in bomb attack, while in relative’s home, Oldpark Avenue, Belfast
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11 February 1980
Joseph Rose, (21)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol, Lisnaskea Road, near Rosslea, County Fermanagh.
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11 February 1980
Winston Howe, (35)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol, Lisnaskea Road, near Rosslea, County Fermanagh.
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11 February 1986
Derek Breen, (29)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot together with barman while in Talk of the Town Bar, Maguiresbridge, County Fermanagh.
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11 February 1986
John McCabe, (25)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Barman. Shot together with off duty Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) member while at his workplace, Talk of the Town Bar, Maguiresbridge, County Fermanagh.
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11 February 1987
Nigel Watton, (18)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot near his home, Ballybogey, near Ballymoney, County Antrim.
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11 February 1993
Thomas Molloy, (32)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his home, Derrymagown Road, near Loughgall, County Armagh.
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Belfast Child 