Category Archives: Deaths in the Troubles

Deaths in Northern Ireland Troubles

John Gregg (UDA) The man who shot Gerry Adam?

March 13, 2016Blog, Deaths in the Troubles, Major events in The TroublesAssassination attempt on Gerry Adams, Gerry Adams, GRUGG, IRA, John Gregg, John Gregg UDA, The Reaper, Tiger's Bay, UDA, UDA South East Antrim Brigade, uff, ULFbelfastchildis

John Gregg

UDA

John Gregg (1957 – 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. From the 1990s until his shooting death in 2003 by rival associates, Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA’s South East Antrim Brigade. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a “hawk” in loyalist circles

———————————————

The views and opinions expressed in this documentary/ies and page are soley intended to educate and provide background information to those interested in the Troubles of Northern Ireland.

They in no way reflect my own opinions and I take no responsibility for any inaccuracies or factual errors

———————————————

John Gregg
John “Grugg” Gregg in 1990
Birth name	John Gregg
Nickname(s)	“Grugg”, “The Reaper”
Born	1957
Died	1 February 2003 (aged 45–46) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Buried at	Carnmoney Cemetery
Allegiance	Ulster Defence Association
Service/branch	UDA South East Antrim Brigade
Years of service	1971-2003
Rank	Brigadier
Conflict	The Troubles
Relations	Stuart Gregg (son

Early life

Gregg was born in 1957 and raised in a Protestant family from the Tigers Bay area of North Belfast. Gregg when explaining his family background, revealed that his father, regarded as a quiet man, had trust in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army but joined the loyalist vigilante groups set up around the start of the Troubles ostensibly to protect the Protestant community from attacks by republicans. His own earliest memory of the Troubles was the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association marches in Derry, a movement to which Gregg and his family were strongly opposed.

Ulster Defence Association

Gregg joined the Ulster Young Militants (UYM), the youth wing of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA) at the age of 14. He spent six months in jail for rioting in 1977. He later became part of the UDA South East Antrim Brigade. Members of this brigade were believed to be behind the killings of Catholic postman Danny McColgan, Protestant teenager Gavin Brett and Trevor Lowry (the latter kicked to death in the mistaken belief he was a Catholic), and a spate of pipe bomb attacks on the homes of Catholics.

Assassination attempt on Gerry Adams

On 14 March 1984, he severely wounded Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams in an attack supposedly ordered as a response to the earlier killings of Ulster Unionist Party politicians Robert Bradford and Edgar Graham.

Gregg, at the time the head of the UDA commando in Rathcoole, was in charge of a three-man hit team that pulled up alongside Adams’ car near Belfast City Hall and opened fire injuring Adams and his three fellow passengers, who nonetheless escaped to seek treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

Policeman outside ward where Gerry Adams was treated — Police guard outside hospital were Adams is treated

Gregg and his team were apprehended almost immediately by a British Army patrol that opened fire on them before ramming their car.^[4] The attack had been known in advance by security forces due to a tip-off from informants within Rathcoole; Adams and his co-passengers had survived in part because Royal Ulster Constabulary officers, acting on the informants’ information, had replaced much of the ammunition in the UDA’s Rathcoole weapons dump with low-velocity bullets.

Gregg was jailed for 18 years; however, he only served half his sentence and was released in 1993.

When asked by the BBC in prison if he regretted anything about the shooting, his reply was:

Brigadier

UDA mural in Gregg’s Rathcoole stronghold

Following his release from prison, Gregg returned to Rathcoole where he again became an important figure, taking a central role in the illegal drug trade, with his Rathcoole stronghold a centre of narcotics.Sometime after the Combined Loyalist Military Command of 1994 he succeeded Joe English, who had emerged as a leading figure in the Ulster Democratic Party, as brigadier of the South-East Antrim UDA.

Under Gregg the South-East Antrim Brigade were prepared to ignore the terms of the loyalist ceasefire, such as on 25 April 1997 when he dispatched a five-man team to Carrickfergus to set fire to a Catholic church in retaliation for a similar attack on a Protestant church in East Belfast (this earlier attack had actually been organised by dissident loyalists seeking to provoke the UDA into returning to violence).^[9] Gregg’s fearsome reputation earned him the nickname “the Reaper” and he bore a tattoo of the Grim Reaper on his back as a tribute.

Gregg played the bass drum in the UDA-affiliated flute band Cloughfern Young Conquerors, a loyalist flute band which police claimed regularly caused trouble at Orange Order parades. In late August 1997 this band was one of a number of similar flute bands to travel to Derry for the annual Apprentice Boys of Derry march through the city centre.

As the band prepared to take the train home that evening they met members of the Shankill Protestant Boys, another band in town for the parade that was affiliated to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Brawls between the two had been frequent and tensions had been growing between the UDA and UVF leading to a drink-fuelled pitched battle between the two groups at the train station.

During the course of the melee a Shankill Protestant Boys member managed to gouge out Gregg’s eye, although it is also claimed that Gregg lost his eye due to a fight with republicans at the same parade.

Anti-Catholic campaigns

Along with Jackie McDonald and Billy McFarland, fellow brigadiers on the UDA’s Inner Council, Gregg was lacking in enthusiasm for the Belfast Agreement when it appeared in 1998. Throughout 1999 his brigade continued to be active, undertaking a pipe bomb campaign against Catholic homes whilst on 12 May members of his brigade shot and wounded a Catholic builder in Carrickfergus under the cover name “Protestant Liberation Force”. Much of this activity was inspired by Gregg’s personal hatred of Catholics.

A senior police source once described him as a man driven by “pure and absolute bigotry”. Gregg was also characterised as “a bully, a racketeer, and a sectarian bigot who took particular delight in carrying out vicious punishment attacks and randomly targeting Roman Catholics.”

In 2000 he helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was rejected.

Having witnessed demographic shifts in Glengormley and Crumlin, traditionally loyalist majority towns that had come to have nationalist majorities on account of loyalists moving out of Belfast, he determined that the same thing would not happen in Carrickfergus and Larne and so launched a campaign of pipe bomb and arson attacks on Catholic homes there (despite these towns having very small Catholic populations).

The main target proved to be Danny O’Connor, a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) representative on initially Larne Borough Council and then the Northern Ireland Assembly, whose home and office were attacked at least twelve times by Gregg’s men between 2000 and 2002. Protestant Trevor Lowry (aged 49) was beaten to death in Glengormley by UDA members under Gregg’s command on 11 April 2001 after he was mistaken for a Catholic. Catholic workman Gary Moore was killed in Monkstown in 2000 in another killing attributed to Gregg’s unit.

In late 2001, Gregg’s reign of terror in Rathcoole, where drug dealing, knee-capping and savage beatings were the norm, was challenged by local British Labour Party Councillor Mark Langhammer, who also objected to Gregg’s close links to neo-Nazi groups in Great Britain.

He called on the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to establish an auxiliary police “clinic” on the estate, which had no permanent police building, so as locals concerned about crime could have somewhere to go. This followed in summer 2002 when a community centre was taken over for this purpose although Gregg’s UDA objected and daubed the building with the word “tout”.

On 4 September Langhammer’s car was blown up outside his Whiteabbey home by Gregg’s men, although Langhammer himself was asleep at the time and no one was injured.

Johnny Adair

Despite the continuing activity of his brigade, and his own earlier maiming, Gregg shared the reluctance of other brigadiers about what he saw as a coming war between the UVF and West Belfast brigadier Johnny Adair. Nonetheless he was not keen to antagonise Adair and so, along with McFarland, McDonald and Jimbo Simpson, accepted his invitation to attended a “Loyalist Day of Culture” organised by Adair on the Lower Shankill on 19 August 2000. Old tensions resurfaced however, and after Adair’s men fought with UVF supporters at the Shankill’s Rex Bar, Adair launched a pogrom of the lower Shankill, forcing out all UVF members and their families and initiating a loyalist feud.^[22]

Gregg initially remained aloof from the struggle and instead concentrated on his anti-Catholic campaign. However in the second half of 2002 he was dragged into the conflict after Adair made him a target in his own attempts to take full control of the UDA. A UDA member originally from the Woodvale Road had moved to Rathcoole where he had been beaten up after it emerged that he was a friend of Joe English, the former brigadier who had been exiled from the estate by Gregg for his anti-drugs stance.

As a result of the attack, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack. Gregg took this as a threat and, after complaining to senior figures in the West Belfast UDA, ordered the three men to be kneecapped. The shootings raised some anger on the Shankill, where the three were well-liked figures, and Adair sought to exploit this as a method of getting rid of Gregg. He sought to portray Gregg as unstable and thuggish and spread a rumour that he was about to be replaced as brigadier.

By September 2002, Adair had even circulated stories to contacts in the media that Gregg was under death threat from the UDA. In late August, Adair had even managed to have Gregg stood down as Brigadier for “not being militant enough” and replaced by one of Adair’s own associates.

However, this proved short-lived. In October 2002, Gregg was one of the brigadiers who passed the resolution expelling Adair from the UDA for his involvement in the non-fatal shooting of Jim Gray.

Adair ignored the expulsion, erecting “West Belfast UDA – Business as Usual” banners on the Shankill Road, whilst continuing his struggles with the remaining brigadiers, Gregg in particular. On 8 December a bomb was found under Gregg’s car, apparently placed there by one of Adair’s allies from the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

Soon after two pipe bombs were thrown at Gregg’s house, and his friend Tommy Kirkham‘s house was shot at. In response, graffiti appeared around the walls of Rathcoole in December, stating:

as a threat to “Mad Dog” Adair and his ally John White. A bomb attack on Adair’s house on 8 January 2003 was blamed on Gregg by White, although Adair himself was returned to prison two days later after a dossier detailing his drug-dealing and racketeering activities was shown to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Paul Murphy.

Shooting death and aftermath

A mural commemorating Gregg and Carson in Cloughfern

————————————-

John Gregg – Funeral

————————————-

1 February 2003, along with another UDA member, Robert “Rab” Carson, Gregg was shot dead on Nelson Street, in the old Sailortown district near the Belfast docks, while travelling in a red Toyota taxi after returning from Glasgow where he regularly went to watch Rangers F.C. games. Gregg had been a regular visitor to Ibrox Park for a number of years,

often in the company of Michael Stone, and had even picked up a conviction for violence at an Old Firm match. Gregg’s movements were known to C Company member Alan McCullough who, receiving instruction from Adair (then in HMP Maghaberry), arranged for a hit team to kill Gregg and his associate as the taxi took them from the port of Belfast.

When the taxi stopped at traffic lights close to the motorway, it was rammed by another taxi which had been hijacked earlier on the Shankill Road. Masked gunmen immediately opened fire on the occupants with automatic weapons. Gregg, seated in the backseat, was hit at close range and died instantly.

A mortally-wounded Carson died later in hospital, and taxi driver William McKnight was seriously hurt. Gregg’s 18-year-old son Stuart and another man were also in the vehicle but neither sustained injuries in the shooting attack. Carson was described by UDA sources as a “dear friend” of Gregg’s and a junior member of the South-East Antrim Brigade.

South East Antrim Brigade mural in Ballymena honouring Gregg

Gregg’s killing proved to be the undoing of Adair. Gregg was the most senior UDA member killed since South Belfast brigadier John McMichael was blown up by the IRA in 1987. Despite his reputation for gangsterism, Gregg’s failed attack on Gerry Adams had afforded him legendary status and, under the direction of Jackie McDonald, the remaining UDA brigadiers concluded that Adair had to be removed.

Gregg was given a paramilitary funeral which was attended by thousands of mourners, including senior UDA members Jackie McDonald, Jim Gray, Sammy Duddy and Michael Stone. Senior members of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando also attended. A volley of shots was fired over his coffin by UDA gunmen outside his Rathcoole home. The coffin was draped in the Ulster flag and the flag of the UFF. Members of the Cloughfern Young Conquerors dressed in uniform accompanied the coffin.

Afterwards a lone piper led the cortege to Carnmoney Cemetery where he was buried. At the service on 6 February, UVF/RHC representatives joined the UDA leadership in a show of anti-Adair solidarity. That same night Jackie McDonald’s forces invaded the lower Shankill and ran those members of C Company that had remained loyal to Adair, who was still in prison, out of the city. In May of that same year, Alan McCullough was himself killed by the UDA.

Following the conclusion of the feud with Adair the UDA reconstituted its ceasefire in what they christened the “Gregg initiative”. The juxtaposition of this initiative with the name of Gregg was condemned by the mother of a Catholic who had been killed by members of the South-East Antrim Brigade in 2000 as she argued:

In November 2011, Stuart Gregg received £400,000 compensation for psychological trauma due to having witnessed his father’s murder.

Personal life

Gregg was married with one son and two stepdaughters

13th March – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

March 12, 2016Deaths in the Troubles13th march, 13th March deaths in the troubles, Alexander Frame, David Farrington, George Brown,, John Chambers, John King, Lord Kaberry,, Marie Doyle,, Nicholas White, Patrick McCrory, Robert McNally, Robert Skillen,, Ronald Funston,, William Brownbelfastchildis

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

13^th March

Monday 13 March 1972

[Public Records 1972 – Released 1 January 2003:

A Letter from Sir Alec Douglas-Home, then Foreign Secretary, to Edward Heath, then Prime Minister. The letter sets out Douglas-Home’s opposition to Direct Rule and a preference for a United Ireland.]

Wednesday 13 March 1974

Liam Cosgrave, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), made a statement in the Dáil in which he said that the position of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom could not be changed except with the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland.

Thursday 13 March 1975

Two people died as a result of a Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) gun and bomb attack on Conway’s Bar, Greencastle, Belfast.

One of those killed was a Catholic civilian, and the other was a member of the UVF who died when the bomb he was planting in the pub exploded prematurely. A Catholic civilian died three weeks after been shot by Loyalists in Belfast.

Thursday 13 March 1986

It was announced that additional British Army soldiers would be sent to Northern Ireland to support the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).

The move was the result of Unionist protests against the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA).

In the High Court in Glasgow, Scotland, two men were sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for attempting to acquire arms for the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).

Tuesday 13 March 1990

The Irish Supreme Court upheld the appeal of Dermot Finucane and James Clarke against extradition to Northern Ireland. The two men had escaped from the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland, on 25 September 1983. The decision caused uproar among Unionist politicians and the British Government

Wednesday 13 March 1991

An opinion poll carried out for The Guardian (a British newspaper) by International Communications and Marketing showed that 43 per cent of people were in support of the withdrawal of the British Army from Northern Ireland.

Of those questioned, 43 per cent were in favour of the reunification of Ireland, while 30 per cent wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom (UK).

Friday 13 March 1992

The Garda Síochána (the Irish police) uncovered a number of weapons at County Donegal, Republic of Ireland.

Sunday 13 March 1994

Third IRA Mortar Attack on Heathrow

Heathrow Airport was closed for two hours following a third Irish Republican Army (IRA) mortar attack. None of the mortars exploded.

[The mortars had been concealed underground and were fired from a wooded area close to the perimeter fence. There had been two previous attacks on 9 March 1994 and 11 March 1994.]

The leadership of the IRA issued a statement which said that their “positive and flexible” attitude to the peace process was “abiding and enduring”.

Thursday 13 March 1997

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out a bomb attack in the Short Strand area of east Belfast and injured a British soldier and a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer.

Twenty Republicans were warned by the RUC that their names were on a list found in the possession of a man suspected of being a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).

The man was arrested during an attempted post office robbery in the Village area of Belfast.

The British Home Office announced that Roisín McAliskey, then being held in prison awaiting a decision about extradition, would be allowed to keep her baby in the mother and baby unit of Holloway Prison.

Wednesday 13 March 2002

There was a series of events in the White House, Washington, USA, to mark the celebrations leading to St Patrick’s Day.

The leaders of the three main political parties in Northern Ireland attended, however Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), stayed away from the event because he did not wish to be photographed alongside Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF).

Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), presented George Bush, then President of the USA, with a bowl of shamrock. Ahern dismissed comments earlier in the day by David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

At a morning debate Trimble had renewed his criticism of the Republic of Ireland. He described the recent abortion referendum as “a sectarian exercise” and a “sectarian vote”.

In Northern Ireland the prospect of an agricultural show being held on a Sunday was averted. The Orange Order had threatened “to take every action necessary, regardless of the consequences”, to prevent the 102 year old Ballymena Show being extended into the Sabbath for the first time.

In the face of such opposition the County Antrim Agricultural Association withdrew the proposal. Ken Good (49), the Church of Ireland Archdeacon of Dromore, was appointed as Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. He succeeded James Mehaffey, who retired in January.

——————————————————————

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.

13 People lost their lives on the 13th March between 1972 – 1991

—————————————————————————

13 March 1972
Patrick McCrory, (19)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his home, Ravenhill Avenue, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

13 March 1973
John King, (22)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Coolderry, near Crossmaglen, County Armagh.

—————————————————————————

13 March 1974

David Farrington, (23)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while at British Army (BA) pedestrian check point, Chapel Lane, Belfast

—————————————————————————

13 March 1975
Marie Doyle, (38)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun and bomb attack on Conways Bar, Greencastle, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

13 March 1975
George Brown, (22)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Injured in premature explosion during Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) bomb and gun attack on Conways Bar, Greencastle, Belfast. He died 28 April

—————————————————————————

13 March 1975
Robert Skillen, (19)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Died three weeks after being shot in Parke’s grocery shop, North Queen Street, New Lodge, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

13 March 1976
Alexander Frame, (26)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF),

Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Found beaten to death, Aberdeen Street, Shankill, Belfast. Ulster Defence Association / Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) feud

—————————————————————————

13 March 1976

Nicholas White, (34)

nfNI
Status: ex-British Army (xBA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Youth worker. Shot at youth club, Alliance Avenue, Ardoyne, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

13 March 1977
William Brown, (18)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol, Ballagh Cross Roads, Donagh, near Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh.

—————————————————————————

13 March 1979
Robert McNally, (20)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Off duty. Died seven days after being injured by booby trap bomb attached to his car, which exploded while leaving car park, West Street, Portadown, County Armagh.

—————————————————————————

13 March 1984

Ronald Funston, (28)

Protestant
Status: ex-Ulster Defence Regiment (xUDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at his farm, Lowery, near Pettigoe, County Fermanagh.

—————————————————————————

13 March 1987
John Chambers, (56)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while driving lorry, Killowen, near Rostrevor, County Down. Off duty Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) member intended target.

—————————————————————————

13 March 1991
Lord Kaberry, (83)

nfNIB
Status: Civilian Political Activist (CivPA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Former Conservative Member of Parliament. Died 8 months after being injured, in bomb attack on Carlton Club, St James Street, London. Attack occurred on 25 June 1990

—————————————————————————

12th March – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

March 11, 2016Deaths in the Troubles12th March, 12th March deaths in the troubles, Alan Welsh, Bernadette Hyndman, Billy Fox, Edward Sharpe, Joseph Clarke,, Raymond Carrothersbelfastchildis

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

12^th March

———————————————

Friday 12 March 1971

Thousands of Belfast shipyard workers took part in a march demanding the introduction of Internment for members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Saturday 12 March 1977

Roy Mason, then Secretary of State, denied that his officials were engaged in ‘black propaganda’.

Wednesday 12 March 1986

Evelyn Glenhomes, then wanted by British police on suspicion of involvement in the Brighton bombing on 12 October 1984, was arrested in Ireland.

[The British authorities began a process to extradite Glenhomes. However, on 24 March 1986 Glenhomes was released from custody due to administrative errors in the extradition warrant.]

Wednesday 12 March 1997

The Irish News carried a report which claimed that the group ‘Loyalist Solidarity on the Right to March’ was planning to hold a series of rallies in areas where Orange Order parades were being contested.

There was a meeting in Dublin of the Anglo-Irish Conference attended by Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs).

In their joint communiqué there was a call for compromise over the issue of contentious parades. Mary Robinson, then President of the Republic of Ireland, announced that she would not be seeking a second term of office.

Thursday 12 March 1998

Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), travelled to London for talks with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister.

In the Republic of Ireland the Irish Labour Party has won by-elections in Limerick East and Dublin North, which reduced the government’s overall majority to one.

The punt hit its lowest level against sterling for nine years, closing at 81.95p. Albert Reynolds, formerly Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) announced his retirement when he said that he would not stand for the Daíl at the next general election.

[Reynolds had played a vital role in the Peace Process.]

Friday 12 March 1999

A man was shot in the leg during a paramilitary ‘punishment’ attack in Newry, County Armagh. Republican paramilitaries were believed to have been responsible

Tuesday 12 March 2002

David Trimble (UUP), then First Minister, and Mark Durkan (SDLP), then Deputy First Minister, arrived in Washington, USA, to carry out a series of engagements during a three-day visit. These included meetings with a number of senior representatives of the US administration, among them Colin Powell (Gen.), then Secretary of State.

Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), was also in Washington where he attended the annual dinner of the US Ireland Fund, and was presented with an award for his contribution to the peace process.

The Garda Síochána (the Irish police) and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) launched their first formal exchange training programme aimed at forging closer ties between the two services.

—————————————————————————

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 12th March between 1972 – 1992

—————————————————————————

12 March 1972

Bernadette Hyndman, (24)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA)
Shot outside her home during sniper attack on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Abyssinia Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

12 March 1973

Edward Sharpe, (28)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot by British Army (BA) sniper, at the front door of his home, Cranbrook Gardens, Ardoyne, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

12 March 1973
Alan Welsh, (16)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Died one week after being injured in premature explosion at derelict shop, Woodstock Road, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

12 March 1974

Billy Fox, (36)

nfNIRI
Status: Civilian Political Activist (CivPA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Fine Gael member of Seanad Eireann. Found shot near to his girlfriend’s home, Tircooney, near Clones, County Monaghan.

—————————————————————————

12 March 1975

Joseph Clarke, (18)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Died eight days after being shot at his home, Rushfield Avenue, Ballynafeigh, Belfast

—————————————————————————

12 March 1975

Raymond Carrothers, (51)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Shot at his home, Orient Gardens, off Cliftonville Road, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

12 March 1992

Liam McCartan, (32)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Shot at his home, Alliance Avenue, Ardoyne, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

11th March – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

March 10, 2016Deaths in the Troubles11th March, 11th March deaths in the troubles, Eamon Kerr, Eamon Quinn, Francis Brown, George Keating, Harry Scott, Norman Hannabelfastchildis

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

11^th March

—————————————————

Tuesday 11 March 1969

The Parliamentary Commissioner Bill was introduced which would allow for the appointment of an Ombudsman to investigate complaints against Stormont government departments.

Friday 11 March 1977

Twenty-six members of the UVF were sentenced in a Belfast court to a total of 700 years in prison.

[The imprisonment of so many members of the UVF is believed to have helped curtailed paramilitary activities by this group.]

Tuesday 11 March 1980

The body of Thomas Niedermayer, a West German industrialist who had disappeared in December 1973, was found at Colinglen Road, West Belfast.

Friday 11 March 1983

The Irish government announced that it was establishing a forum which became known as the New Ireland Forum. The Forum was proposed by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

[Many commentators considered the Forum to be a response to the perceived threat that was presented by Sinn Féin (SF) to the electoral position of the SDLP as the main Nationalist party in Northern Ireland. All the constitutional Nationalist parties in Ireland, with the exception of SF, were invited to attend the Forum. The first meeting of the Forum took place on 30 May 1983 and the final report was published on 2 May 1984.]

James Prior, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said that the British government would not co-operate with the inquiry on the conflict that had been set up by the Political Committee of the European Parliament. The Rapporteur was Mr N.J. Haagerup.

[The report was drawn up and passed by the European Parliament on 29 March 1984.]

Tuesday 11 March 1986

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) arrested three Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Assembly Members when they tried to enter Stormont Castle where the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference was in session.

[The DUP members were attempting to cut through a wire fence when they were arrested.]

The House of Representatives in the United States of America (USA) unanimously voted to approve a $250 million aid package, over a five year period, to Northern Ireland to support the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA).

Wednesday 11 March 1987

Garret FitzGerald resigned as leader of Fine Gael (FG). He was replaced on 21 March 1987 by Alan Dukes.

Friday 11 March 1988

Andy Tyrie, then chairman of the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), resigned his post after losing a vote of confidence. A bomb had been planted under his car several days earlier and it was widely assumed to have been planted by Loyalists.

Wednesday 11 March 1992

John Major, then British Prime Minister, announced that there would be a general election on 9 April 1992.

Friday 11 March 1994

Second IRA Mortar Attack on Heathrow

Francis Brown (38), a Catholic civilian, was killed by a bomb planted by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in Portadown, County Armagh.

In a second attack on Heathrow Airport the Irish Republican Army (IRA) launched four mortars over the perimeter fence. None of the mortars exploded. A Royal Air Force plane with the Queen on board landed at the airport while the security forces were conducting a search of the terminal.

[There had been a previous attack on 9 March 1994. The mortars were fired from a wooded area close to the perimeter fence. The police carried out a further search of wooded areas but discovered no further mortars. However, there was another attack on the airport on 13 March 1994.]

Monday 11 March 1996

David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), met with the leaders of the Irish Coalition Government in Dublin

Thursday 11 March 1999

See Lee Clegg

Lee Clegg, then a soldier in the Parachute Regiment, was cleared in a Belfast court of murdering teenager Karen Reilly during an incident involving a stolen car in west Belfast on 30 September 1990. Justice Kerr ruled that it was not certain that Clegg had fired the fatal shot. The judge upheld Clegg’s conviction for attempting to wound Martin Peake with intent. The judge described Clegg’s version of events as “untruthful and incapable of belief”.

[Clegg had been released from prison in 1995.]

Monday 11 March 2002

There was further reaction to a speech made by David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), on Saturday 9 March 2002.

Trimble said that he stood by his description of the Republic of Ireland as “pathetic, sectarian State”, and he accused nationalists of over-reacting.

Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of Sinn Féin (SF), described Trimble as “a twit” and said it was not the behaviour expected of a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Walton Empey (Dr), then Archbishop of Dublin, said Trimble’s comments were totally uncalled for.

Ruairí Quinn, then Labour leader, said the comments were ill-considered and ill-informed.

The Garda Síochána (the Irish police) arrested Martin Ferris, then Sinn Féin (SF) candidate for Kerry North, Republic of Ireland, and questioned him about an alleged vigilante abduction in early December 2001.

A total of six SF members had been questioned about the incident. George Bush, then President of the United States of America (USA), decreed March as Irish-American Heritage Month with a proclamation that paid tribute to the role of the Irish in the history of the US.

—————————————————————————

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.

6 People lost their lives on the 11th March between 1974 – 1994

—————————————————————————

11 March 1974

George Keating, (47)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot during gun attack on Bunch of Grapes Bar, Garmoyle Street, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

11 March 1976
Harry Scott, (64)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at the entrance to Farmer’s Inn, Collin Glen Road, Collin, Belfast

—————————————————————————

11 March 1982

Norman Hanna, (28)

Protestant
Status: ex-Ulster Defence Regiment (xUDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot outside his workplace, Department of the Environment office, Rathfriland Road, Newry, County Down

—————————————————————————

11 March 1983

Eamon Kerr, (33)

Catholic
Status: Civilian Political Activist (CivPA),

Killed by: not known (nk)
Workers’ Party (WP) member. Shot at his home, Cape Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

11 March 1990
Eamon Quinn, (32)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Shot while working on his car outside his home, Kashmir Road, Falls, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

11 March 1994

Francis Brown, (38)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Killed by booby trap bomb, hidden in concrete block under his parked lorry, Obins Street, Portadown, County Armagh.

—————————————————————————

10th March – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

March 9, 2016Deaths in the Troubles10th March, 10th March deaths in the troubles, Denis Eccles, Dougald McCaughey, IRA Honey Trap Killings, James McCartney, John Haggan,, John McCaig, Joseph McCaig, Michael Gallagher, Michael McCreesh, Norman Sharkie, Norman Truesdale, Peter Nesbitt, Robert Dorman, Sammy Smythbelfastchildis

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

10^th March

Tuesday 10 March 1970

Members of the Stormont parliament were given police protection.

Wednesday 10 March 1971

See IRA Honey Trap Killings

Dougald McCaughey (23), Joseph McCaig (18) and John McCaig (17), all three members of the Royal Highland Fusiliers (a regiment of the British Army; BA), were killed by members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

The soldiers were off-duty and lured from a pub where they had been drinking. Their bodies were found at Squire’s Hill, in the Ligoniel area of Belfast.

[There was widespread condemnation of the killings and increased pressure on Chichester-Clark, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, to take a tougher line on security in the region.]

See IRA Honey Trap Killings

Sunday 10 March 1974

Michael McCreesh

Two Catholic teenagers were killed by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) booby-trap bomb near Forkhill, County Armagh. The bomb had been intended for a British Army foot patrol.

Wednesday 10 March 1976

Sammy Smith

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) shot and killed Sammy Smyth (46), a former spokesman for the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), at his sister’s house in Alliance Avenue, Ardoyne, Belfast.

A Protestant civilian was shot dead by the IRA in an attack on a public house near Lisburn, County Antrim.

The Irish government referred Britain to the European Commission on Human Rights over the case of alleged ill-treatment of internees in 1971.

[A decision by the Commission was announced on 2 September 1976. The case was then passed to the European Court of Human Rights who made a further ruling on 18 January 1978.] [ Hunger Strike. ]

Monday 10 March 1986

Unionist leaders said that they would resume talks with the British government if the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) was suspended.

Tuesday 10 March 1987

Fianna Fáil (FF), then led by Charles Haughey, formed a minority government in the Republic of Ireland.

Thursday 10 March 1988

Sixty British Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) criticised the shootings in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988.

Tuesday 10 March 1992

The Garda Síochána (the Irish police) uncovered an estimated 3,500 pounds of explosives together with a number of weapons at Drumkeen in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland.

Wednesday 10 March 1993

The House of Commons at Westminster decided by 329 to 202 votes to renew the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The Labour Party voted against the motion whereas in previous years the party had abstained.

Thursday 10 March 1994

James Haggan (33), an Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer, was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) while he was off-duty at a greyhound track in north Belfast.

Friday 10 March 1995

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) rejected all the proposals in the ‘Framework Documents’ (22 February 1995).

Monday 10 March 1997

Maurice Hayes

Maurice Hayes, the former Northern Ireland Ombudsman, was appointed by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) to investigate the claim that a Catholic woman, who was the victim of sectarian harassment, was moved from her job in the office of Baroness Denton.

Michael Ancram, then Political Development Minister, condemned the picketing by Loyalists of the Catholic chapel at Harryville, Ballymena. Ancram made the comments when on a visit to Catholic schools in Ballymena which had been damaged in arson attacks.

The parents of Stephen Restorick, a British soldier who had been shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 12 February 1997, received a letter of condolence from Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF).

See Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick

Tuesday 10 March 1998

Republican paramilitaries carried out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base on the Newry Road in Armagh.

A British Army patrol spotted the mortars and raised the alarm. People were evacuated from the surrounding area and there were no injuries.

[It was believed that the attack was carried out by the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA).]

A west Belfast Republican activist accused members of a joint Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army patrol of firing blank shots at him after they had carried out a body search and an identity check.

A British soldier fired live rounds 20 minutes later in a nearby area when he believed he had seen a gunman. No shots were fired at the patrol.

The chairmen of the multi-party talks issued a discussion paper on the proposed cross-border bodies.

Wednesday 10 March 1999

Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) issued a statement on the present state of the peace process and the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

Friday 10 March 2000

The Belfast shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff lost a contract worth £400m to build the passenger ship Queen Mary II. The contract would have helped to secure the company’s future.

—————————————————————————

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.

13 People lost their lives on the 10th March between 1971 – 1994

—————————————————————————

10 March 1971

Dougald McCaughey, (23)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Found shot, Squire’s Hill, Ligoniel, Belfast.

See IRA Honey Trap Killings

—————————————————————————

10 March 1971

Joseph McCaig, (18)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Found shot, Squire’s Hill, Ligoniel, Belfast.

See IRA Honey Trap Killings

—————————————————————————

10 March 1971

John McCaig, (17)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Found shot, Squire’s Hill, Ligoniel, Belfast.

See IRA Honey Trap Killings

—————————————————————————

10 March 1973
Denis Eccles, (25)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot while in Ulster Defence Association social club, Silverstream Road, Ballysillan, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

10 March 1974

Michael McCreesh, (15)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb hidden in abandoned car, Dromintee, near Forkhill, County Armagh. Intended for British Army (BA) foot patrol.

—————————————————————————

10 March 1974
Michael Gallagher, (18)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Injured by booby trap bomb hidden in abandoned car, Dromintee, near Forkhill, County Armagh. Intended for British Army (BA) foot patrol. He died 14 March 1974.

—————————————————————————

10 March 1976
Robert Dorman, (60)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot during gun attack on Homestead Inn, Ballyaghlis, near Lisburn, County Antrim

—————————————————————————

10 March 1976

Sammy Smyth, (46)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while at his relative’s home, Alliance Avenue, Ardoyne, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

10 March 1977
Norman Sharkie, (18)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot during bomb attack on his workplace, a shop in York Street, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

10 March 1987

Peter Nesbitt, (32)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by remote controlled bomb hidden in derelict shop, detonated when Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol lured to bogus robbery at an adjoining shop, Ardoyne shops, Crumlin Road, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

10 March 1989

James McCartney, (38)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Security man. Shot outside Orient Bar, Springfield Road, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

10 March 1993

Norman Truesdale, (39)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at his shop, Century Street, Lower Oldpark, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

10 March 1994

John Haggan, (33)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while at Dunmore Greyhound Stadium, off Antrim Road, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

9th March – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

March 8, 2016Deaths in the Troubles9th March, 9th March deaths in the troubles, Anthony Lewis,, Anthony O'Reilly, Gerard Crossen, James Hogg,, John Reid, Myles O'Reilly, Sean Johnson, Stephen Paul Carroll, Thomas McCannbelfastchildis

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

9^th March

————————————————————-

Thursday 9 March 1972

Gerard Crossan one of the IRA members killed in premature bomb

Four members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) died in a premature explosion at a house in Clonard Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.

Saturday 9 March 1974

The United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) organise a protest march to Stormont to call for an end to the Executive.

Tuesday 9 March 1976

Anthony & Myles O’Reilly

Two Catholic civilians were shot dead during a gun and bomb attack on their restaurant, the Golden Pheasant Inn, Ballynahinch Road, Baillies Mills, near Lisburn, County Down. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries. Merlyn Rees, then Secretary of State, announced the dissolution of the Constitutional Convention.

Sunday 9 March 1986

John Hermon, then Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), defended the action of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) during the ‘Day of Action’ on 3 March 1986.

[The RUC had been criticised for not dealing with the high level of intimidation and for not keeping main roads open.]

Monday 9 March 1987

In a sex-discrimination case against the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), 31 women RUC officers were awarded £240,000 compensation.

Monday 9 March 1992

Plenary Session of Talks

Representatives of the four main political parties in Northern Ireland held a ‘plenary session’ of talks (later known as the Brooke / Mayhew talks) in Stormont. The parties agreed to meet again following the forthcoming general election.

The Fair Employment Commission (FEC) published a report on the religious composition of the workforce based on returns from over 1,700 employers in Northern Ireland. The report showed that Catholics made up 35 per cent of those employed but 38 per cent of those available for work.

Wednesday 9 March 1994

First IRA Mortar Attack on Heathrow

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out a mortar attack on the perimeter of Heathrow Airport. Although the five mortars fell inside the airport grounds none of them exploded. The mortars were fired from a car parked near to the perimeter fence.

[Police and security services searched the area looking for other vehicles containing mortars but found none. However, this turned out to be the first in a series of three carefully planned attacks on the airport; the others happened on 11 March 1994 and 13 March 1994.]

The House of Commons voted to set up a select committee on Northern Ireland affairs. The Commons also voted to renew the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

Thursday 9 March 1995

The White House in Washington announced that Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), would be allowed to raise funds in the United States on behalf of SF and that he would be invited to attend the President’s St Patrick’s Day reception.

[The British government reacted furiously to the announcement and indeed for several days John Major, then British Prime Minister, refused for accept a call from Bill Clinton, then President of the USA. The two men met on 4 April 1995 and began to repair the damage to relations between the two administrations.]

Boy grabs a cheeky selfie with Queen in Northern Ireland

The Queen paid a one day visit to Northern Ireland. During her visit the Queen met Cardinal Cahal Daly, then Catholic Primate.

Saturday 9 March 1996

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) later admitted responsibility for a small ‘improvised device’ which exploded in Old Brompton Road, London. The explosion caused no injuries and only minor damage.

Monday 9 March 1998

Decision Not To Extradite McAliskey

The British government took the decision not to extradite Roísín McAliskey to Germany. The charge related to an Irish Republican Army (IRA) mortar attack on the British Army Osnabruck barracks in Germany on 28 June 1996.

McAliskey was five months pregnant at the time of her arrest. The British decision was based on medical grounds and followed the detention of McAliskey for a period of 16 months during which time she gave birth to a baby girl. McAliskey was subsequently released in April 1998 and returned to Northern Ireland.

[There had been a strong campaign to secure her release in Britain, Ireland, Europe and the United States of America (USA). A number of commentators felt that the timing of the announcement was designed to increase the pressure on Sinn Féin (SF) to rejoin the multi-party talks at Stormont.]

Tuesday 9 March 1999

There was a pipe-bomb attack in Portadown, County Armagh. Nine families had to be evacuated from houses nearby while the device was made safe.

Representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and Sinn Féin (SF) met at Stormont for talks. Paul Murphy, then Political Development Minister, introduced the Implementation Bodies (Northern Ireland) Order in the House of Commons.

Saturday 9 March 2002

Sectarian State Speech by Trimble

David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), gave a (scripted) speech to the annual general meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) during which he referred to the Republic of Ireland as a: “pathetic sectarian, mono-ethnic, mono-cultural state”.

[The comments provoked widespread criticism from Nationalists in Northern Ireland and in the Republic.]

At a press conference following the meeting Trimble defended his comments. He maintained that what he had said was “self-evident” but refused requests from reporters to provide evidence to support his claims.

During his speech Trimble also called for a border poll to test whether a majority of people in Northern Ireland would favour a united Ireland. He suggested that the referendum be held on the same day as the next Northern Ireland Assembly election (1 May 2003).

[A number of commentators suggested this was a ploy which would have the effect of maximising the UUP vote at the Assembly election.]

During his speech Trimble also criticised the work of the two Sinn Féin (SF) ministers Martin McGuinness, then Education Minister, and Bairbre de Brún, then Minister of Health.

At the UUC meeting Trimble was re-elected unopposed as leader of the party.

Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), later responded to the criticism by insisting that no one would identify the description “sectarian state” with the Republic which did not have “the Drumcrees or the Garvaghy Roads” of Northern Ireland.

—————————————————————————

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.

9 People lost their lives on the 9th March between 1972 – 2009

—————————————————————————

09 March 1972

Gerard Crossen, (19)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature bomb explosion in house, Clonard Street, Lower Falls, Belfast

—————————————————————————

09 March 1972
Anthony Lewis, (16)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature bomb explosion in house, Clonard Street, Lower Falls

—————————————————————————

09 March 1972
Sean Johnson, (19)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature bomb explosion in house, Clonard Street, Lower Falls, Belfast

—————————————————————————

09 March 1972
Thomas McCann, (20)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature bomb explosion in house, Clonard Street, Lower Falls, Belfast

—————————————————————————

09 March 1976

Anthony O’Reilly, (43)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot, together with his brother, during gun and bomb attack on their restaurant, Golden Pheasant Inn, Ballynahinch Road, Baileysmill, near Lisburn, County Down.

—————————————————————————

09 March 1976

Myles O’Reilly, (41)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

—————————————————————————

09 March 1977
John Reid, (53)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), K

illed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot at his farm, Annaghroe, near Caledon, County Tyrone.

—————————————————————————

09 March 1983
James Hogg, (23)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Shot while renovating houses, Dobbin Lane, Armagh.

—————————————————————————

9 March 2009

Stephen Paul Carroll (48)

Catholic
Status: Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)

Killed by:Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)
Shot dead at Lismore Manor, Craigavon, County Armagh.

First member of the PSNI to be killed. The previous RUC officer killed, died from injuries on 6 October 1998.

—————————————————————————-

Source:

8th March – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

March 7, 2016Deaths in the Troubles08 March 1972, 8th March, 8th March deaths in the troubles, Charles Hughes, David Glennon,, David Montgomery, Denis Kelly,, Eamon Gamble, John Green, Joseph Leahy, Michael Adamson,, Miles Amos, Nigel McCollum,, Stephen Cummins, Thomas Trainorbelfastchildis

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

8^th March

————————————————-

Monday 8 March

1971

Members of the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) engaged in a gun battle with members of the Provisional IRA (PIRA). One man was killed. The feud between the two wings of the IRA had been developing ever since the Republic movement split on 11 January 1970.

Thursday 8 March 1973

The Border Poll

A referendum was held on whether or not the people of Northern Ireland wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom (UK). This referendum became known as the ‘Border Poll’. However, Nationalists boycotted the referendum and only 57 per cent of the electorate took part in the poll. It was not surprising therefore that, of those who took part, 98 per cent were in favour of maintaining the Union with Britain.

A British soldier guarding a polling station in the lower Falls area of Belfast was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

A Catholic civilian was found shot dead in an abandoned car in the Oldpark area of Belfast. He had been killed by Loyalist paramilitaries.

The IRA exploded two car bombs in London and injured over 200 people. (One person in the vicinity died a sudden death due to a heart problem; listed in appendix to Sutton.)

One of the bombs had been planted at the ‘Old Bailey’ court in London. Two other car bombs were diffused.

[Nine people were found guilty of the bombings on 14th November 1973. Among those found guilty was Gerry Kelly. Kelly was later to become a leading member of Sinn Féin and played a role in the negotiations that led to the Goody Friday Agreement on 10th April 1998 ]

There were bombs in Belfast and Derry. Loyalist paramilitaries carried out a raid on an Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) guard at a polling station in east Belfast and stole 8 British Army issue self-loading rifles (SLRs) and ammunition. The members of the guard claimed that they were ‘overpowered’ by the Loyalists.

Tuesday 8 March 1977

Eight members of the SAS were each fined £100 in a Dublin court for carrying guns without a certificate. The men had been found in the Republic of Ireland and were arrested.

Wednesday 8 March 1978

Thomas Trainor (29), a member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), and Denis Kelly (31), a Catholic civilian, were shot dead by the Red Hand Commando (RHC) in Portadown, County Armagh.

[The RHC was a Loyalist paramilitary group with links to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).]

Sunday 8 March 1987

The body of Lorraine McCausland’s (23), a Protestant civilian, was found in a stream near a Tynedale loyalist club in north Belfast.

McCausland had been drinking in the club the night before her half-naked body was discovered. She had been beaten to death.

[The book ‘Lost Lives’ (2004; p1064) included a claim that “Reliable loyalist sources said the men who killed her belonged to the UDA”. However, currently (2007) the motivation for the killing remains unclear.]

Tuesday 8 March 1988

A car believed to belong to those killed in Gibraltar was found in Marbella and was discovered to contain 140 pounds of high explosives.

Wednesday 8 March 1989

Miles Amos & Stephen Cummins

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) killed two soldiers and injured six others in a landmine explosion on the Buncrana Road near Derry. The Emergency Provision Act was renewed in the House of Commons.

Monday 8 March 1993

Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, welcomed the speech made by Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs), on 5 March 1993. Mayhew said that Spring was someone he could “do business with”.

Wednesday 8 March 1995

Michael Howard, then British Home Secretary, lifted exclusion orders against 16 people. The orders were made under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) announced that security barriers in Belfast city centre would be removed.

Friday 8 March 1996

David Cook, then chairman of the Police Authority of Northern Ireland, and Chris Ryder, then a Police Authority member, were both dismissed from their positions on the Authority by Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The two men had earlier lost a vote of confidence.

Saturday 8 March 1997

Sunday 9 March 1997

The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) planted firebombs in the offices of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) in Banbridge and Newcastle, which caused serious damage.

[The attacks were believed to be a response to the marketing of the whole of Ireland as a tourist destination by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board in conjunction with Bord Fáilte (the tourist board in the Republic of Ireland). Many Loyalists are opposed to cross-border co-operation of any kind.]

There were demonstrations in support of Roisín McAliskey, then being held in prison awaiting a decision about extradition, in Dublin, London, New York, Washington, and a number of other cities.

Sunday 8 March 1998

Loyalist paramilitaries carried out a bomb attack on the home of a Catholic man and his Protestant partner in Larne, County Antrim. The man claimed that attack was sectarian and blamed local members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA); he said that he was involved in a ‘run-in’ (a fracas) with a leading Loyalist figure the previous week.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) said that no motive had been established for the attack.

The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) issued threats against Protestant churchmen, business leaders and politicians whom it claimed were “colluding” with the peace process. In a ‘policy document’ the LVF expressed support for Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), saying “Paisley has got it absolutely right”.

Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), conceded that there was no prospect of an imminent united Ireland. An article written by Adams appeared in the Ireland on Sunday (a Republic of Ireland newspaper) set out the minimum demands that would have to be met before SF would sign any agreement.

An opinion poll published in the same paper reported that 71 per cent of people in the Republic of Ireland wanted to see a united Ireland.

Monday 8 March 1999

Treaties Signed

The British and Irish governments signed four international treaties providing the legal framework for the establishment of the associated institutions of devolved government in Northern Ireland. The treaties covered: the six North-South implementation bodies; the North-South Ministerial Council; the British-Irish Council; and the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.

David Trimble, then First Minister Designate, reacted angrily to Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam’s, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announcement extending the deadline for the creation of the Northern Ireland Executive until Easter week (2 April 1999).

Sinn Féin (SF) also criticised the delay.

Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), met with Gerry Adams, then President of SF, in Government Buildings in Dublin.

Loyalists carried out a ‘pipe-bomb’ attack on the home of a family in Portadown, County Armagh

. It was disclosed that the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) had advised Gerry Adams of a threat to his life from dissident Republicans.

On International Women’s Day, the President, Mrs McAleese, said “skewed, twisted and unhealthy” thinking and teaching about the role of women over generations had left an obstacle course of impediments to their equal treatment.

A special debate in Parliament Buildings, Stormont, was among many events to mark the day on both sides of the Border.

Thursday 8 March 2001

Political Talks in Northern Ireland

Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, and Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), held new talks in Belfast with the political parties. It appeared that the two governments were resigned to being unable to achieve any breakthrough deal before the British general election.

However the two men hoped for an interim agreement to keep the peace process alive.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) stated that it was willing to meet with John de Chastelain (Gen.), then head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD).

[This was to be the first meeting since June 2000. Most Unionists were not impressed by the IRA offer of talks and demanded action on disarmament.]

—————————————————————————

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.

14 People lost their lives on the 8th March between 1971 – 1993

—————————————————————————

08 March 1971

Charles Hughes, (26)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA)
Shot while leaving house, Leeson Street, Lower Falls, Belfast. Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) / Irish Republican Army (IRA) feud.

—————————————————————————

08 March 1972
Eamon Gamble, (27)

Catholic
Status: non-specific Republican group (REP),

Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Died one month after being injured in an explosion at temporary council offices in school hall, Keady, County Armagh. Explosion occurred on 6 February 1972.

—————————————————————————

08 March 1972

Joseph Jardine, (44)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot at his workplace, Ministry of Agriculture office, Middletown, County Armagh.

—————————————————————————

08 March 1973

David Glennon, (45)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Found shot in abandoned car, Summer Street, Lower Oldpark, Belfast

—————————————————————————

08 March 1973
John Green, (21)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while guarding polling station, Slate Street School, Lower Falls,

—————————————————————————

08 March 1973
Joseph Leahy, (31)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died two days after being injured when detonated booby trap bomb in derelict house, Mullaghbawn, near Forkhill, County Armagh.

—————————————————————————

08 March 1975
Michael Adamson, (23)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his home, Clifton Drive, off Cliftonville Road, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

08 March 1978
Thomas Trainor, (29)

Catholic
Status: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot from passing motorcycle shortly after leaving Department of Health and Social Services office, Armagh Road, Portadown, County Armagh.

—————————————————————————

08 March 1978
Denis Kelly, (31)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot from passing motorcycle shortly after leaving Department of Health and Social Services office, Armagh Road, Portadown, County Armagh.

—————————————————————————

08 March 1984

David Montgomery, (24)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot at his workplace, a petrol station, Airport Road, near Moira, County Down.

—————————————————————————

08 March 1989

Miles Amos, (18)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack, while on British Army (BA) mobile patrol, Buncrana Road, near Derry.

—————————————————————————

08 March 1989

Stephen Cummins, (24)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack while on British Army (BA) mobile patrol, Buncrana Road, near Derry.

—————————————————————————

08 March 1990

Thomas Jamison, (40)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while driving his firm’s lorry, Tullynure, near Donaghmore, County Tyrone.

—————————————————————————

08 March 1993
Nigel McCollum, (25)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in mortar bomb attack on Keady British Army (BA) / Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, County Armagh. Construction worker at the base.

—————————————————————————

7th March – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

March 6, 2016Deaths in the Troubles7th March, 7th March deaths in the troubles, Austin Nelson, Ernest Rankin, Leslie Dallas,, Massereene Barracks Shooting, Massereene Barracks shooting 2009, Myles Scullion,, Patrick Mone,, Samuel Marshall,, Sapper Mark Quinsey, Sapper Patrick Azimkar, Thomas Maguire,belfastchildis

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

7^th March

——————————————————–

Monday 7 March 1983

James Prior, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced a new anti-terrorism Bill which would have a five year life and be subject to annual review.

Thursday 7 March 1985

In London two men were sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment for planning the 1981 bombings in the city.

Tuesday 7 March 1989

See below for more details

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) killed three Protestant men in Coagh, County Tyrone.

Wednesday 7 March 1990

Sam Marshall (31), a former Republican prisoner, was shot dead by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in Lurgan, County Armagh. He, and two other Republicans, had earlier been to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police station in the town to sign in as part of their bail conditions. The attack on the three men happened minutes after they had left the police station.

[Republicans claimed that there had been police collusion in the attack because only the men, their solicitors and the police knew of the timing of their appearance at the police station. Republicans also claimed that the men were under security force surveillance at the time of the killing, this was denied by the RUC.]

[On 5 March 2012 some details from an Historical Enquires Team (HET) report into the incident were released. The HET review found that at least eight armed undercover British soldiers were deployed near the killing, while their commander monitored the operation from a remote location. The armed soldiers were in six cars. When the three men left the police station, two soldiers followed them on foot and “partially witnessed” the shooting. There were two plainclothed soldiers with camera equipment in the observation post at the entrance to the police station. The guns used by the UVF were never recovered but were linked through ballistic tests to three other killings and one attempted killing.]

Sunday 7 March 1993

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded a large bomb, estimated at 500 pounds, in Main Street in Bangor, County Down. Four Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers were injured in the explosion.

[The cost of the damage was later estimated at £2 million. The blast came five days after Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, delivered a speech in the town. There was another large explosion in the same street in Bangor on 21 October 1992.]

Tuesday 7 March 1995

‘Washington Three’ Conditions

Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, during a visit to Washington outlined a three-point plan for the decommissioning of Irish Republican Army (IRA) weapons. Mayhew said that Sinn Féin (SF) could only enter into substantive negotiations when: there was a willingness by the IRA to “disarm progressively”; there was agreement on the method of decommissioning; and there had been a start to the process of decommissioning.

[These three conditions became known as the ‘Washington 3’ conditions. This statement signalled a period of deadlock over the issue of decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.]

Friday 7 March 1997

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) left a bomb near Dungannon, County Tyrone. The bomb was defused by the British Army.

Billy Wright, then a leading Loyalist figure from Portadown, was sentenced to seven years for threatening a witness. At the same trial Dale Weathered and Trevor Buchanan were sentenced to seven and eight years respectively for their part in a paramilitary ‘punishment’ attack.

See Billy Wright

The security status of Roisín McAliskey, then being held in prison awaiting a decision about extradition, was reduced from High Risk Category A to Standard Risk Category A. This had the affect of ending regular strip searches of McAliskey who was then seven months pregnant.

Thursday 7 March 2002

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) announced that it had received at least 200 names of people ‘on the run’ (paramilitary fugitives). However, it was also understood that some of the names submitted to the PSNI were ones that were not known to the police. The offences for which people were being sought by the police included firearms offences, bombings and murder. Most of those seeking to return to Northern Ireland have been living in the Republic of Ireland with some in the United States of America (USA), central America, and a number of other countries.

It was reported in the media that relations between Catholic and Protestant workers in the Mater Hospital, north Belfast, were so bad that the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) was to bring in Counteract, the union’s anti-sectarian unit, to try to ease the situation.

Loyalist paramilitaries had issued death threats against Catholic staff 13 months earlier. However, following the protest by Glenbryn residents outside the Holy Cross Girls Primary School relationships had deteriorated to such an extent that staff were refusing to speak to each other. Glenbryn residents and parents of children attend the Holy Cross school were both employed in the hospital.

The family of Pat Finucane, a Belfast solicitor killed on 12 February 1989, said they were “insulted” by a British government’s offer of compensation of £10,000. The British government had been ordered to pay compensation by the European Court of Human Rights because the government had failed to carry out a proper investigation into his killing. Finucane’s widow said her family had not sought compensation but had requested a full independent judicial inquiry.

See Pat Finucane

The number of people on hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland had reached an all-time high of 58,000. Bairbre de Brún (SF) then Minister of Health, admitted that her department had failed to meet its pledge made last year of reducing the waiting list to 48,000.

There was a referendum in the Republic of Ireland over a change to the constitution that would have had the affect of tightening the rules surrounding abortion. Although Fianna Fáil (FF) had campaigned for a ‘yes’ vote, and was backed by the Catholic church, there was a slight majority who voted ‘no’ (50.42% ‘No’, 49.58% ‘Yes’).

[Some commentators saw this as evidence of the further liberalisation of society in the Republic.]

7th March 2009

Massereene Barracks

On 7 March 2009, two off-duty British soldiers of 38 Engineer Regiment were shot dead outside Massereene Barracks in Antrim town, Northern Ireland. Two other soldiers and two civilian delivery men were also shot and wounded during the attack.

See Below for more details

See: The Massereene Barracks for more details.

—————————————————————————

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 7th March between 1976 – 1990

—————————————————————————

.07 March 1976
Patrick Mone, (56)

nfNIRI
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Killed when car bomb exploded outside Three Star Inn, Main Street, Castleblayney, County Monaghan.

—————————————————————————

07 March 1977
Myles Scullion, (47)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot at his home, Enniskeen, Craigavon, County Armagh.

—————————————————————————

07 March 1987

Thomas Maguire, (19)

Catholic
Status: Irish People’s Liberation Organisation (IPLO),

Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Found shot, Ballinliss, near Meigh, County Armagh. Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) / Irish Peoples Liberation Organisation (IPLO) feud.

—————————————————————————

07 March 1989

Leslie Dallas, (38)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at his garage, Hanover Square, Coagh, County Tyrone.

—————————————————————————

07 March 1989

Austin Nelson, (62)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at Leslie Dallas’ garage, Hanover Square, Coagh, County Tyrone.

—————————————————————————

07 March 1989

Ernest Rankin, (72)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at Leslie Dallas’ garage, Hanover Square, Coagh, County Tyrone

—————————————————————————

07 March 1990

Samuel Marshall, (31)

Catholic
Status: ex-Irish Republican Army (xIRA),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Former Republican prisoner. Shot from passing car while walking along Kilmaine Street, Lurgan, County Armagh.

—————————————————————————

———————————————————————

Saturday

9th March 2009

Sapper Patrick Azimkar (21) nfNI

Status: British Army (BA)

Killed by: Real IRA

Sappers Patrick Azimkar from 25 Field Squadron, 38 Engineer Regiment, was killed in an attack at Massareene Barracks in Antrim, Northern Ireland, on Saturday 7 March 2009.

———————————————————————

Saturday

9th March 2009

Sapper Mark Quinsey (23) nfNI

Status: British Army (BA)

Killed by: Real IRA

Sappers Mark Quinsey was from 25 Field Squadron, 38 Engineer Regiment, was killed in an attack at Massareene Barracks in Antrim, Northern Ireland, on Saturday 7 March 2009.

See: Massereene Barracks Shooting for fully story & background

6th March – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

March 6, 2016Deaths in the Troubles6th March, 6th March deaths in the Troubles, Anton Brown, Daniel McCann, Edward Clayton,, Henry Livingstone,, Mairéad Farrell, Seán Savage, William Halligan, William McConnellbelfastchildis

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

6^th March

——————————————-

Saturday 6 March 1971

A Catholic man was shot dead by British soldiers in Belfast.

Monday 6 March 1978

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) refused to consider talks with Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and Ernest Baird, then leader of the United Ulster Unionist Movement (UUUM).

Friday 6 March 1981

Second day of visit by Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister, to Northern Ireland.

1981 Hunger Strike

See Hunger Strike

Tuesday 6 March 1984

William McConnell (35), then Assistant Governor of the Maze Prison, was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) outside his home in east Belfast.

Sunday 6 March 1988 Gibraltar Killings

Three unarmed Irish Republican Army (IRA) members were shot dead by undercover members of the Special Air Service (SAS) in Gibraltar.

[The episode sparked intense controversy and began a chain of events that lead to a series of deaths in Northern Ireland on 16 March 1988 and 19 March 1988. The British government claimed that the SAS shot the IRA members because they thought a bomb was about to be detonated. Eye-witnesses claimed that those shot were given no warning.]

See Operation Flavius

Wednesday 6 March 1991

In a court in Paris, France, five people were sentenced for attempting to smuggle guns from Libya to Ireland in 1987. The men had been members of the crew of the ship Eksund.

Monday 6 March 1995

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) published a document written by Ken Maginnis, then Security Spokesman of the UUP, outlining a plan for a seven member commission to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons. The document had been given to John Major, then British Prime Minister, in January 1995.

[The plan was rejected by Sinn Féin (SF) and the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP).]

Friday 6 March 1998

In the village of Poyntzpass, County Armagh, Protestants and Catholics attended both funeral services for the victims of the double killings on 3 March 1998.

[Many people believed and hoped that the killings might prove a watershed in the conflict.]

Ian Paisley Jr and Sammy Wilson, then both members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), attended a Loyalist rally in Portadown, County Armagh, which was called to oppose the Peace Process. Paisley called for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to be “exterminated”.

[The rally was organised by the Concerned Protestants Committee (CPC) a group which was campaigning for an inquiry into the death of Billy Wright (37), who had been leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF).

See Billy Wright

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) was critical of the DUP for taking part in the rally and claimed that the organisers were sympathetic to the LVF.]

A report in The Irish Times confirmed that the Irish nation would be defined in terms of its people, rather than its territory, in the new wording for Article 2 of the Irish Constitution. The paper also reported that the new Article 3 would enshrine the principle of consent while “expressing the wish of the majority of the Irish people for a united Ireland”. The proposed amendments to the Irish Constitution was part of the political package to bring about a settlement in the North.

Saturday 6 March 1999

David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), called for a face-to-face ‘summit’ between himself, John Taylor, then Deputy Leader of the UUP, Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), and Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of Sinn Féin (SF).

The summit would try to break the deadlock surrounding the appointment of an Executive Committee. However, senior UUP figures said there was no secret deal that would let Sinn Féin (SF) into the power-sharing Executive without prior decommissioning by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Wednesday 6 March 2002

The Northern Ireland Assembly debated a motion proposing the expulsion of Sinn Féin (SF) from the Executive for a period of one year. The motion was tabled by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and other anti-Agreement Unionist parties. David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), had described the timing of the motion as a “stunt”.

Those requesting the debate had specifically asked for it to be held before 9 March 2002 – the date of the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) annual general meeting. Most pro-Agreement Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) did not attend the debate and the motion was defeated. Trimble told the House of Commons that he opposed any “amnesty” for paramilitary fugitives (those described as being ‘on the run’). He said it would represent the “last straw” for many Unionist supporters of the Agreement.

—————————————————————————

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.

8 People lost their lives on the 6th March between 1971– 1988

—————————————————————————

06 March 1971
William Halligan, (21)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot during street disturbances, Balaclava Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

06 March 1973

Anton Brown, (22)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Whitecliff Crescent, Ballymurphy, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

06 March 1975

Edward Clayton, (27)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Killed by booby trap bomb attached to his car parked near to his home, Bognor Terrace, Portadown, County Armagh.

—————————————————————————

06 March 1980
Henry Livingstone, (38)

Protestant
Status: ex-Ulster Defence Regiment (xUDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at his farm, Cortyna, near Tynan, County Armagh.

—————————————————————————

06 March 1984

William McConnell, (35)

Protestant
Status: Prison Officer (PO),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot outside his home, Hawthornden Drive, Belmont, Belfast.

—————————————————————————

06 March 1988

Mairead Farrell, (31)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot by undercover British Army (BA) members, while walking along Winston Churchill Avenue, Gibraltar.

See IRA Gibraltar team get taken out by SAS

—————————————————————————

06 March 1988

Daniel McCann, (30)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot by undercover British Army (BA) members, while walking along Winston Churchill Avenue, Gibraltar

See IRA Gibraltar team get taken out by SAS

—————————————————————————

06 March 1988

Sean Savage, (24)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot by undercover British Army (BA) members, while walking along Winston Churchill Avenue, Gibraltar

See IRA Gibraltar team get taken out by SAS

—————————————————————————

5th March – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

March 4, 2016Deaths in the Troubles5th March, 5th March deaths in the troubles, Alexander Jamison, John Fennell,, Raymond Hall,, Seamus Morganbelfastchildis

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

5^th March

————————————-

Thursday 1 March 1973

There was a general election in the Republic of Ireland. As a result of the election there was a change of government. Fine Gael / Labour coalition government took over from Fianna Fáil which had been in power for 16 years. Liam Cosgrave succeeded Jack Lynch as Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister).

Tuesday 5 March 1974

Merlyn Rees was appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

[Due to the narrow majority of the Labour government, Rees found that he was tied to Westminster more than he may have wished.

Sunningdale; Ulster Workers’ Council Strike.

Friday 5 March 1976

Merlyn Rees, then Secretary of State, announced the dissolution of the Constitutional Convention.

Wednesday 5 March 1980

Tomás Ó Fiaich, then Catholic Primate of Ireland, and Edward Daly, then Bishop of Derry held a meeting with Humphrey Atkins, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, to express their concerns about conditions within the Maze Prison.

A former chairman of the Peace People, Peter McLachlan, resigned from the organisation.

Thursday 5 March 1981

Frank Maguire, then Independent Member of Parliament for Fermanagh / South Tyrone, died.

[In the aftermath of his death there was some debate amongst Nationalists as to the possibility of an agreed candidate for the forthcoming by-election. Initially Noel Maguire, Frank’s brother, Austin Curry, then a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and Bernadette McAliskey all expressed an interest in standing for the vacant seat.

However McAliskey later stated that she would be willing to step down in favour of a candidate chosen by the prisoners in the H-Blocks. Eventually the leadership of Sinn Féin (SF) decided to put forward a candidate and on 26 March 1981 Bobby Sands was nominated.]

Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister, paid a visit to Northern Ireland and denied claims that the constitutional position of Northern Ireland would be threatened by the on-going talks between the British and Irish governments.

1981 Hunger Strike.

Friday 5 March 1982

Seamus Morgan (24), a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), was shot dead by fellow members of the IRA who alleged that he was an informer. His body was found near to Forkhill, County Armagh.

Sunday 5 March 1989

Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), delivered a speech in which he said that he sought a “non-armed political movement to work for self-determination” in Ireland.

Thursday 5 March 1992

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded a bomb, estimated at 1,000 pounds, in the centre of Lurgan, County Armagh. The bomb caused extensive damage of commercial properties in the town.

The IRA exploded another bomb in the centre of Belfast that also caused extensive damage.

Friday 5 March 1993

Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs), gave a speech at a meeting of the Irish Association in which he acknowledged that changes to the Irish Constitution would be required in any future settlement

Wednesday 5 March 1997

Stormont Talks Adjourned

The Stormont multi-party talks were adjourned until 3 June 1997. This break was to allow the parties to contest the forthcoming general election.

Thursday 5 March 1998

The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) were believed to be responsible for a gun attack on a family in the mainly Protestant Parkhill Estate in Antrim, County Antrim.

A three year old girl and her Protestant mother were injured in the attack while her Catholic husband escaped injury.

Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, visited the families of the two men killed in Poyntzpass, County Armagh, on 3 March 1998.

[Mowlam was seen to be visibly moved following the meeting. She was later criticised by Unionists for not going to the bomb sites at Moira and Portadown.]

The Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference issued a joint statement following a meeting of the Conference

Friday 5 March 1999

Arson attacks were carried out by Loyalists on the homes of two Catholic families in north Belfast.

Bobby Philpott, formerly a leader in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), said that when active in the organisation he had received so many leaked security documents from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the British Army (BA) that he had difficulty in storing them. The claim was made in a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) programme.

Tuesday 5 March 2002

Martin McGuinness (SF), then Education Minister, addressed the Sinn Féin (SF) student group at the Student Union building in the Queen’s University, Belfast.

A group called Unionist Students Against Intimidation (USAI) staged a protest against the visit and were involved in scuffles and also threw eggs. No one was injured.

It was disclosed that insurance claims by former workers of the Harland and Wolff shipyard could cost the British government up to £190 million. The claims related to illness caused by exposure to asbestos.

Reg Empy (Sir), then Enterprise Minister, told the Northern Ireland Assembly that up to 3,000 former employees could become affected.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) lobbied Reg Empy to gain his support for a campaign calling for the closure of all nuclear power plants on the west coast of Britain including Sellafield.

John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, confirmed that he did have face-to-face discussions with the Loyalist Commission, a body which includes representatives from the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and the Red Hand Commando (RHC).

A plan to display ‘Easter lilies’ in the main hall of Stormont parliament buildings was rejected by the corporate body of the Assembly. Unionists had objected to the display of flowers which are seen as a Republican symbol. It was suggested that shamrocks should be put on display instead.

At the monthly meeting of Belfast City Council, Sinn Féin (SF) accused the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of being “spoilers” for blocking funding to the St Patrick’s Carnival Committee.

[The result meant that there would be no officially backed St Patrick’s Day event in Belfast.]

The Northern Ireland Yearbook was launched in Dublin by John Hume, former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The yearbook includes a history of Northern Ireland, and an A-Z guide to government departments and agencies as well as independent organisations, and is described as: “a comprehensive reference guide to political, economic and social life”.

—————————————————————

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 5th March between 1973– 1996

—————————————————————————

05 March 1973
Raymond Hall, (22)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Died four weeks after being shot during street disturbances, junction of Welland Street and Newtownards Road, Belfast. He was injured on 7 February 1973.

—————————————————————————

05 March 1976

Alexander Jamison (48)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Found shot in derelict house, Argyle Street, Shankill, Belfast. Internal Ulster Defence Association dispute.

—————————————————————————

05 March 1982

Seamus Morgan, (24)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Found shot near Forkhill, County Armagh. Alleged informer.

—————————————————————————

05 March 1996

John Fennell, (40)

Catholic
Status: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA),

Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Found beaten to death at caravan park, Station Road, Bundoran, County Donegal. Internal Irish National Liberation Army dispute.

—————————————————————————

	Jennifer on The Loyalist Mod: Death of a f…
	Belfast Mods –… on Jean McConville – The Sh…
	Mary Dominick on Protestants of Ulster and Prot…
	seachranaidhe1 on Ann Ogilby’s brutal murd…

	Jennifer on The Loyalist Mod: Death of a f…
	Belfast Mods –… on Jean McConville – The Sh…
	Mary Dominick on Protestants of Ulster and Prot…
	seachranaidhe1 on Ann Ogilby’s brutal murd…
	seachranaidhe1 on Ulster Defence Association ( U…

John Gregg

UDA

Early life

Ulster Defence Association

Assassination attempt on Gerry Adams

Brigadier

Anti-Catholic campaigns

Johnny Adair

Shooting death and aftermath

Personal life

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

7th March 2009

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: