Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
22nd July
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Saturday 22 July 1972
Patrick O’Neill (26)
Two Catholics were abducted, beaten, and shot dead in a Loyalist area of Belfast.
In a separate incident a Catholic man was abducted, beaten, and shot dead in Belfast.
[Public Records 1972 – Released 1 January 2003: Document prepared for the British government which examined the possibility of redrawing the Northern Ireland border and carrying out a transfer of population.]
Tuesday 22 July 1986
A report on the Northern Ireland Civil Service showed that Catholics and women were under-represented in the top grades. The report did show however that there had been an improvement in the percentage of Catholics employed in the Civil Service compared to five years earlier.
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) ‘supergrass’ informer Joe Bennett was sentenced by a Nottingham Crown Court to 10 years imprisonment for an armed robbery.
[Bennett had carried out the crime having been relocated to England by the security services and given a new identity with the name John Graham.]
Wednesday 22 July 1987
An inquiry, by the Fair Employment Agency (FEA), into claims of discrimination by Derry City Council against Protestants, cleared the council of these allegations.
Friday 22 July 1994
Robert Monaghan (44), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).
He was killed while in a friend’s home in Rathcoole, Newtownabbey, County Antrim.
Monday 22 July 1996
Delegations from the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) and the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) met with John Major, then British Prime Minister, in Downing Street, London.
Tuesday 22 July 1997
The relatives of the 33 people killed by bombs in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland on 17 May 1974, said that they would take the case to Europe because of the failure of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) to establish a murder inquiry.
A Catholic boy aged 14 who had been critically injured when shot in the head by a plastic bullet on 7 July 1997 was released from hospital. He had spent three days in a coma.
Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, wrote an article in response to the renewal of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire on 20 July 1997.
Thursday 22 July 1999
Sinn Féin (SF) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) held separate talks with the Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, at Downing Street. Following the meeting Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of SF, said that Blair and David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), had “more influence with the IRA than Gerry Adams or I ever could”.
He also stated that if the UUP maintained its “rejectionist approach” there there was no chance of IRA decommissioning by May 2000.
The membership of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland was named with Joan Harbison as Chair, Broanagh Hinds as Deputy Chair, and 18 other commissioners. George Mitchell, former Chairman of the multi-party talks, announced that he would begin his review of the Good Friday Agreement on 6 September 1999.
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) withheld funding for a drama group called DubbelJoint. The group had intended to perform a play about the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) entitled ‘Forced Upon Us’.
The ACNI said that the script for the play “fell below the artistic standards the Council expected”. DoubleJoint claimed the decision was politically motivated.
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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.
7 People lost their lives on the 22nd July between 1972 – 1994
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22 July 1972
Rosemary McCartney (27)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Found shot in abandoned car, Forthriver Road, Glencairn, Belfast.
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22 July 1972
Patrick O’Neill (26)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Found shot in abandoned car, Forthriver Road, Glencairn, Belfast.
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22 July 1972
Francis Arthurs (34)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Found shot in abandoned car, Liffey Street, Lower Oldpark, Belfast.
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22 July 1973
Brian Criddle (34)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died four days after being injured in land mine attack on British Army (BA) foot patrol, near Clogher, County Tyrone.
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22 July 1973
Peter Linauer (24)
nfNI
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
German seaman. Found shot in entry off Klondyke Street, Shankill, Belfast.
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22 July 1977
Graham Fenton (20)
Protestant
Status: Prison Officer (PO),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while in Molloy’s Bar, Ballymoney, County Antrim.
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22 July 1994
Robert Monaghan (44)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Shot, while in friends home, Camross Park, Rathcoole, Newtownabbey, County Antrim
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Belfast Child 