Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
4th April
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Friday 4 April 1969 Loyalist Bomb
There was an explosion at a water installation at Dunadry, County Antrim. This was one of the main water supply pipes to Belfast. [It was later established that the bomb was planted by Loyalists who were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV)
Wednesday 4 April 1973
[Public Records 1972 Released 1 January 2003: Letter from A.W.Stephens, then Head of Defence Secretariat 10 at the Ministry of Defence, to W.K.K.White, then an official at the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, about border security in Belleek, County Fermanagh.]
Thursday 4 April 1974
Merlyn Rees, then Secretary of Sate for Northern Ireland, announces that he will de-proscribe (remove the illegal status from) the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Sinn Féin (SF), and also phase out Internment.
Monday 4 April 1977
See Hunger Strike.
Wednesday 4 April 1984
The British government issued an apology to the Irish government about undercover operations by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in the territory of the Republic of Ireland in December 1982.
Friday 4 April 1986
The leaders of the main Protestant churches condemned Loyalist attacks on the homes of Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers and Catholic-owned property.
Thursday 4 April 1991
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded a bomb, estimated at 1,000 pounds, in the centre of Banbridge, County Down. The bomb caused widespread damage
Tuesday 4 April 1995
Garda Síochána (the Irish police) arrested four men from Northern Ireland near Balbriggan, County Dublin. The Garda recovered 20 handguns, 6 rifles, and 2,500 rounds of ammunition at the scene.
Bill Clinton, then President of the United States of America (USA), held a meeting in Washington with John Major, then British Prime Minister.
[The meeting helped to repair the damage to relations between the two administrations following the decision on 9 March 1995 to allow Sinn Féin (SF) to raise funds in the USA.]
Friday 4 April 1997
Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), addressed a rally of the Protestant group ‘Right to March’ in Portadown.
Saturday 4 April 1998
George Mitchell, then Chairman of the multi-party talks at Stormont, delayed the delivery of his ‘blueprint’ document to those taking part in the talks.
[The document was delivered on 6 April 1998.]
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) held its annual conference in Belfast. John Alderdice, then leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), called on the British and Irish Prime Ministers to take personal control of the final stage of the multi-party talks at Stormont.
Sunday 4 April 1999
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In his Easter Sunday address Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), praised the IRA’s “commitment” to searching for a peaceful settlement. He said the Hillsborough Declaration of the previous week “may have merit, but it may also be counterproductive if it amounts to an ultimatum to armed groups.”
Thursday 4th May 2000
Further Political Talks
Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, and Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), arrived in Northern Ireland for a further round of political talks as part of a review of the Good Friday Agreement.
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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.
4 People lost their lives on the 4th April between 1976– 1990
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04 April 1976
Margaret Gamble, (38)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: not known (nk)
Found stabbed to death at junction of Antrim Road and Glandore Gardens, Belfast
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04 April 1980
Bernard Montgomery, (33)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty reservist. Shot at his workplace, Glenbank Industrial Estate, Ligoniel, Belfast
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04 April 1989
Gerard Casey, (29)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his home, Shamrock Park, Rosnashane, near Rasharkin, County Antrim
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04 April 1990
Roger Bradley, (38)
Catholic
Status: ex-Irish Republican Army (xIRA),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Former Republican prisoner. Shot while renovating houses, Armoy Gardens, Rathcoole, Newtownabbey, County Antrim.
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Belfast Child 