27th May – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

27^th May

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Tuesday 27 August 1968

The Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) organised another protest in the Guildhall’s council chamber. Immediately after the protest Eamon Melaugh phoned the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) and invited them to organise a march in Derry.

Monday 27 May 1974

Day 13 of the UWC strike

Gas supplies to Belfast and other outlying districts were affected by a drop in pressure and a warning was issued that consumers should switch off their supply at the mains.

The British Army took charge of 21 petrol stations throughout Northern Ireland. These petrol stations were to supply petrol to essential users who could obtain a permit from the Ministry of Commerce.

The Ulster Workers’ Council (UWC) retaliated following the take over of the petrol stations. The UWC announced that the British Army would have to undertake the supply of all essential services including basics such as bread and milk. There was a call issued for workers to stop their assistance in the provision of essential services.

The UWC also stated that the Ballylumford power station, County Antrim, would close at midnight.

[Public Records 1974 – Released 1 January 2005: Memo from Merlyn Rees, then Secretary of Sate for Northern Ireland, to Harold Wilson, then British Prime Minister. In the memo Rees sets out ‘The Short-term Possibilities’ for Northern Ireland and the Executive.] [ Sunningdale; Ulster Workers’ Council Strike. ]

Sunday 27 May 1990

In a gun attack in Roermond, Netherlands, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) shot and killed two Australian lawyers on holiday.

It was claimed that the men were mistaken for off-duty British Army soldiers. [It was believed that the killings led to a drop in support for the IRA in Australia.]

Thursday 27 May 1993

Queen Meets President Mary Robinson, then President of the Republic of Ireland, travelled to London to attend a meeting with Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.

[The meeting was the first official contact between an Irish president and a British monarch.]

Michael Ancram replaced Jeremy Hanley at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) to become the Political Development Minister.

Wednesday 27 May 1998

In the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement the issue of the ‘decommissioning’ of paramilitary weapons began to dominate the political agenda.

[Decommissioning was to prove a stumbling block to the full implementation of the Agreement and the issue was still causing problems in May 2000.]

Thursday 27 May 1999

Leaders of the Presbyterian Church criticised the Orange Order in Portadown, County Armagh, for failing to commend the Christian faith during the Drumcree parade dispute.

Legislation was passed at Westminster and the Oireachtas which guaranteed immunity from prosecution for anyone providing information on the location of the bodies of the ‘disappeared’.

Saturday 27 May 2000

UUC Support Trimble

There was a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC), the policy-making body of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

David Trimble, then leader of the UUP, won a motion at the meeting which allowed him to re-enter the power-sharing Executive with Sinn Féin (SF).

The motion was on whether to accept the IRA offer on disarmament as a basis for the return to Stormont. Of the members present 459 voted in favour of a return to Stormont while 403 voted against.

[At a press conference following the UUC meeting it seemed that Trimble set out to offend Sinn Féin by remarking that the party had still to be politically “house-trained”.]

Sunday 27 May 2001

Stephen Manners (40), an ex-member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), was shot dead while in Jimmy Mac’s Bar, North Street, Newtownards, County Down.

[It was believed that Loyalist paramilitaries carried out the killing although no organisations claimed responsibility.]

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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 27th May between 1972 – 2001

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27 May 1972
Gerard Duddy (20)