3oth July
Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
Thursday 30 July 1970
There were further riots in Belfast.
Monday 30 July 1990 Ian Gow Killed
Ian Gow, then the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Eastbourne, was killed outside his home by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb that had been planted on his car. Gow had been a vocal critic of the IRA and a close friend of Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister.
Friday 30 July 1976
Four Protestant civilians were shot dead at a pub off Milltown Road, Belfast. The attack was claimed by the Republican Action Force.[59]
Wednesday 30 July 1986
John Kyle (40), a Protestant civilian, was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) as he sat in McCullagh’s Bar, Greencastle, County Tyrone. Kyle had been working as a contractor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). [This killing followed threats made by the IRA on 28 July 1986.]
Sunday 30 July 1978
Tomás Ó Fiaich, Catholic Primate of Ireland, paid a visit to Republican prisoners in the Maze Prison. The prisoners were taking part in the ‘blanket protest’. [Over 300 Republican prisoners were refusing to wear prison clothes or follow normal prison regulations in an attempt to secure a return of special category status.]
Friday 31 July 1981
Peter Doherty (36), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by a plastic bullet fired by the British Army while at his home in Divis Flats, Belfast. A former member of the RUC was shot dead by the INLA in Strabane, County Tyrone.
The family of Paddy Quinn, then on day 47 of his hunger strike, intervened and asked for medical treatment to save his life. [This series of events was to be repeated a number of times towards the end of the hunger strike as more and more familles intervened to save the hunger strikers.]
Sunday 30 July 1995
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) prevented a Sinn Féin (SF) march from entering the centre of Lurgan, County Armagh. The reason given was the presence of a counter-demonstration of 1,500 Loyalists. The Loyalists were addressed by Peter Robinson, then deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and David Trimble, then Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP.
Three RUC officers and one civilian were injured when Loyalists rioted. Trimble called the violence “insignificant”. [Later Ken Maginnis, then UUP MP, disagreed and criticised the violence as “deliberate thuggery”. The Portadown Branch of the UUP criticised the RUC and in particular “a well known Roman Catholic” Bill McCreesh, then a Chief Superintendent.]
The Irish government ordered the early release of 12 Republican prisoners. [This brought the total number of early releases in the Republic of Ireland to 33.]
Thursday 30 July 1998
There was a series of fire-bomb attacks on shops in Portadown, County Armagh. Republican dissidents were believed to be responsible. The government released the names of the ten members of the Commission dealing with releases of paramilitary prisoners. The joint chairpersons were John Blelloch, formerly a Northern Ireland Office (NIO) permanent secretary, and Brian Currin, then a South African lawyer.
Friday 30 July 1999
Charles Bennett Killed
Charles Bennett (22), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead in Belfast. It was believed that he had been abducted and held for four days before being bound and then shot twice in the head. Bennett was a taxi-driver from New Lodge and his body, which showed evidence of him having been beaten, was found off the Falls Road. [The IRA later admitted responsibility for the killing.]
Today is the anniversary of the following people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland
To the innocent on the list – Your memory will life forever
– To the Paramilitaries –
“There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.”
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13 People lost their lives on the 30th July between 1969 – 2015
30 July 1972
William McAfee, (54)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY) Found shot, Cairnburn Road, off Old Holywood Road, Belfast.
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30 July 1974
Bernard Fearns, (34) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Hillman Street, New Lodge, Belfast.
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July 1976
Robert Scott, (28)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Off duty. Killed by booby trap bomb attached to gate at his father’s farm, Druminard, near Moneymore, County Derry.
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30 July 1976
John McCleave, (48)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF) Shot during gun attack on Stag Inn, off Milltown Road, Belvoir, Belfast.
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30 July 1976
John McKay, (50)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF) Shot during gun attack on Stag Inn, off Milltown Road, Belvoir, Belfast
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30 July 1976
James Doherty, (70)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF) Shot during gun attack on Stag Inn, off Milltown Road, Belvoir, Belfast.
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30 July 1976
Thompson McCreight, (60)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF) Shot during gun attack on Stag Inn, off Milltown Road, Belvoir, Belfast. He died 8 August 1976
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July 1983
Martin Malone, (18)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) Shot during altercation between local people and Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) foot patrol, Callan Terrace, Armagh.
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30 July 1983
Mark Kinghan, (19)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: not known (nk) Died eight days after being hit on head by brick thrown during street disturbances at junction of Whitewell Road and Shore Road, Greencastle, Belfast.
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30 July 1986
John Kyle, (40)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Shot while in McCullagh’s Bar, Greencastle, County Tyrone. Contractor to Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).
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30 July 1990
Ian Gow, (53) nfNIB
Status: Civilian Political Activist (CivPA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Conservative Member of Parliament. Killed by booby trap bomb attached to his car outside his home, Hankham, Pevensey, Sussex, England.
See: Ian Gow’s death
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30 July 1999
Charles Bennett, (22)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP) Found shot in car park, by St. Gall’s GAA Club, off Falls Road, Belfast.
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30 July 2005
Stephen Paul (28)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ)
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot dead at Wheatfield Crescent, off the Crumlin Road, Belfast. [Media reports claimed that Stephen Paul was linked to the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). It was believed that the kiling was part of a feud between the UVF and the LVF
See: Ian Gow
My book is now available to order online see below
- Killing Rage – The life and death of Eamon Collins
- Ann Ogilby’s brutal murder: ” Forgotten ” victims of the Troubles
- Joe McCann – Life & Death
- Máire Drumm: Life & Death
- Death of Robert Hamill: 27th April 1997
- John Bingham UVF : Life & Death
- Patrick Rooney First Child killed in the Troubles 14th August 1969 : Northern Ireland History
- Dawn of the Troubles – August 1969: Northern Ireland History
Belfast Child 
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