Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
7th May
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Sunday 7 May 1972
At approximately 11.50 pm a 15-year-old boy was shot and injured outside a disco at Oliver Plunkett School, Glen Road, Belfast.
[On 1 December 2015 the PSNI listed this shooting as one of nine incidents it was investigating in relation to the activities of the British Army’s Military Reaction Force (MRF).]
Tuesday 7 May 1974
Two Catholic civilians, James Devlin and his wife Gertrude, were shot dead by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) as they drove into the driveway of their home, Congo, near Donaghmore, County Tyrone.
A Catholic civilian and a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were killed at their place of work, a building site, Carnmoney, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, when Loyalist paramilitaries carried out a gun attack on the workers’ hut.
Saturday 7 May 1977 Day 5 of the UUAC Strike
The Peace People held a rally, its first public rally for some time, outside Belfast City Hall to protest at the levels of intimidation in the wake of the United Unionist Action Council (UUAC) strike.
Attention once again turned to the workers at Ballylumford power station, near Larne, which was increasingly being seen as crucial to the outcome of the UUAC strike.
A delegation of four Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MPs, Robert Bradford, William Craig, James Molyneaux, and Harold McCusker, who were opposed to the UUAC strike, visited the Ballylumford power station and urged workers to remain at their posts.
Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), together with a delegation from the UUAC also held a meeting with workers at Ballylumford. Paisley claimed that he could close the plant at any point but instead had urged staff there to keep working in order to maintain ‘essential supplies’. In the Lisburn-Hillsborough-Moira area, south of Belfast, some 600 farm vehicles took part in a cavalcade to call for an improvement in the security situation. Those behind the protest however made clear that their actions did not represent any support for the UUAC strike
Sunday 7 May 1978
John Collins (18), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by the British Army while he was travelling in a stolen car outside Andersonstown Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, Belfast.
[Over the years a number of, mainly Catholic, teenagers were shot dead while ‘joy-riding’ in stolen cars in West Belfast.]
Thursday 7 May 1981
Funeral of Bobby Sands
An estimated 100,000 people attended the funeral of Bobby Sands in Belfast.
[The size of the crowd reflected the impact the hunger strike was having on the Nationalist community in Northern Ireland.]
See Bobby Sands
Saturday 7 May 1983
An alleged INLA informer was shot dead in County Armagh.
Wednesday 7 May 1986
Two people died as the result of separate incidents in Belfast.
Tuesday 7 May 1991
A series of bilateral political talks (later known as the Brooke / Mayhew talks) were held at Stormont but there was no agreement among the parties about the venue of the main talks.
Sunday 7 May 1995
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) rerouted a Republican parade away from the Protestant Suffolk area of west Belfast. Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), began a three week tour of the United States of America (USA).
Before leaving he said that there was no split in the Republican movement and that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire was secure.
Wednesday 7 May 1997
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), paid a visit to Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, in Downing Street, London. Trimble had asked to see Blair before the Prime Minister held a meeting with John Bruton, the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), on 8 May 1997.
Bruton was invited to speak at the Oxford Union where he said that a new Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire was inevitable.
Thursday 7 May 1998
“real” IRA
It was confirmed that a new Republican paramilitary group had emerged. The group was mainly formed from dissident members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
[The media reported the name of the group as the “real” IRA (rIRA); the group was believed to refer to itself as Óglaigh na hÉireann. It was thought that the group had formed in November 1997.]
The Northern Ireland (Elections) Act became law. The Act provided for the establishment of an Assembly at Stormont if the Agreement was approved in the forthcoming referendums.
The British government announced that funding (estimated at £5 million) was to be made available for support schemes for victims of the conflict.
Friday 7 May 1999
A 19 year old man was shot in both ankles in a paramilitary ‘punishment’ attack in Andersonstown, west Belfast.
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry ruled that British Army soldier who had fired their weapons on 30 January 1972 would not be allowed to remain anonymous.
See Bloody Sunday
[The soldiers later managed to have the decision reversed in the Court of Appeal.]
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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 7th May between 1974 – 1987
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07 May 1974
James Devlin (45)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot together with his wife as they drove into the laneway of their home, Congo, near Donaghmore, County Tyrone.
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07 May 1974
Gertrude Devlin (44)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot together with her husband as they drove into the laneway of their home, Congo, near Donaghmore, County Tyrone.
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07 May 1974
Patrick Jago (55)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot during gun attack on workers’ hut, at building site, Ballyduff Road, Carnmoney, Newtownabbey, County Antrim.
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07 May 1974
Frederick Leonard (19)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot during gun attack on workers’ hut, at building site, Ballyduff Road, Carnmoney, Newtownabbey, County Antrim.
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07 May 1978
John Collins (18)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot while travelling in stolen car at British Army (BA) vehicle check point, outside Andersonstown Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, Belfast
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07 May 1981
James Power (21)
Catholic
Status: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Killed in premature bomb explosion at the rear of house, Friendly Street, Markets, Belfast.
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07 May 1983
Eric Dale (43)
Catholic
Status: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Found shot, Clontygora, near Killeen, County Armagh. Alleged informer.
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07 May 1986
Mark Frizzell (17)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Died 4 days after being found badly beaten, Lowry Street, Short Strand, Belfast
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07 May 1986
Margaret Caulfield (29)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot at her home, Kilcoole Gardens, Ballysillan, Belfast. Her Catholic husband the intended target.
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07 May 1987
Gary McCartan (17)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his home, Ormeau Road, Belfast.
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Belfast Child 