24th October – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Deaths in the Troubles, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

 24th October

Sunday 24 October 1971 A member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) was shot dead by undercover Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers during a bomb attack in Belfast.

Ruairi O’Brady

Ruairi O’Brady, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), addressed a SF Ard Fheis in Dublin and said that the North of Ireland must be made ungovernable as first step in achieving a united Ireland.

Tuesday 24 October 1972

Michael Naan & Andrew Murray

Two Catholic men were found dead at a farm at Aughinahinch, near Newtownbbutler, County Fermanagh. The incident was referred to as ‘the pitchfork killings’ and was initially thought to have been carried out by Loyalists. However it was later discovered that British soldiers had carried out the killings.

pitcfork murders
Newspaper Report on the murders

Thursday 24 October 1974

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out a bomb attack on a cottage in the grounds of Harrow School in north-west London. No one was injured in the explosion. The time bomb, estimated to have contained 5lbs of explosives, exploded shortly before midnight just outside the cottage which had until just before this date been occupied by the head of the school’s Combined Cadet Force.

At 11.30pm a telephone warning about the bomb had been given to the Press Association.

Sunday 24 October 1976

Oakfield Street, 1970’s

Two British soldiers died as a result of a gun attack at Oakfield Street, Ardoyne, Belfast. The attack was carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Monday 24 October 1977

Michael Neill (16), a Catholic boy, was shot dead by the British Army on Cliftonville Road, Belfast. He had been in the vicinity of an attempted bus-hijacking.

Sunday 24 October 1982

Joseph Donegan (48), a Catholic civilian, was abducted, tortured, and beaten to death by members of a Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) gang in an attack that bore the hallmarks of the ‘Shankill Butchers’.

See Shankill Butchers

[Lenny Murphy, who had been leader of the ‘Shankill Butchers’, was one of the gang who abducted and killed Donegan (Dillon, 1990).]

Lenny Murphy

Friday 24 October 1986 The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) announced that legislation would be introduced to allow public houses in Northern Ireland to open on Sundays.

Wednesday 24 October 1990 ‘Proxy Bomb’ Attacks

proxy bomb

See Coshquinn Proxy Bomb

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) launched three bomb attacks at British Army check points. The attacks became know as ‘proxy bombs’ or ‘human bombs’ because three Catholic men, whom the IRA claimed had worked for the security forces, were tied into cars which had been loaded with explosives and ordered to drive to the check points. At the Coshquin checkpoint near Derry five soldiers and the man who was forced to drive the car were all killed.

In a second attack, at Killeen near Newry, a soldier was killed. The third bomb, that had been driven to Omagh, County Tyrone, failed to detonate. The attacks resulted in widespread outrage.

The Protestant Action Force (PAF) shot and killed a Catholic taxi driver, Francis Hughes, near Moy, County Tyrone.

Monday 24 October 1994

British Army (BA) soldiers stopped patrolling in Derry.

[Troops had been patrolling the city since August 1969.]

Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers in Belfast began to patrol without bullet-proof (‘flak’) jackets. A six member delegation of Loyalist representatives addressed the National Committee on American Foreign Policy in Washington. The delegation was led by Gary McMichael, then leader of the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), and David Ervine, then leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP).

Saturday 24 October 1998

David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), delivered a speech to the Annual Conference of the UUP. Trimble repeated his view that Sinn Féin (SF) members could not become part of an Executive before decommissioning by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Wednesday 24 October 2001

Two men were arrested when RUC officers stopped a car near Moira, County Down, and discovered a sub-machine gun. The car was on the Moira interchange at the M1 motorway.

[The two men were believed to be members of a dissident Republican paramilitary group. The incident happened at approximately 4.00pm (1600BST).]

There were disturbances on the Crumlin Road, north Belfast. Loyalists blocked the main road at approximately 4.30pm (1630BST) thus preventing Catholic school children from getting home. Nationalists tried to get up the Crumlin Road to escort their children home and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) moved between the two groups. Bricks and bottles were thrown by both groups.

Flax Street – Crumlin Road

[The Crumlin Road is the ‘alternative’ route that Loyalists want Catholic children and their parents to use when going to and from the Holy Cross Girls’ Primary School on the nearby Ardoyne Road.]

A man (40) was shot in the leg at 8.00pm (2000BST) in the Kilcooley Estate, Bangor, County Down.

[The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were investigating the motive for the shooting.]

There were a number of statements in the House of Commons. Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, welcomed the decommissioning by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), said that he had reappointed the three UUP Ministers to the Northern Ireland Executive “without prejudice” to the decision to be taken by the UUP executive on Saturday 27 October 2001. However, Trimble asked Blair,

“what sanctions will the government apply to them [those who had not decommissioning by February 2002] so as to avoid others having to apply sanctions?”.

[Trimble was thus explicitly setting a new deadline in the peace process.]

John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced that work had begun on the dismantling of two British Army observation towers in south Armagh. One on Sturgan mountain and one on Camlough mountain. He also announced that work would begin on Thursday 25 October 2001 on demolishing a sangar at Newtownhamilton police station in south Armagh, and also on demolishing the British Royal Irish Regiment (British Army) base in Magherafelt, County Derry. Reid also pledged to introduce a progressive programme of security normalisation as the paramilitary threat lessened.

[The demolition work is expected to take a year to complete. There was no word on the other watch towers (12?) in south Armagh. It is envisaged that there would be further cuts in the number of British Army troops based in Northern Ireland. It is also likely that the British government will make further movement on police-reform legislation, review criminal justice, and honour human rights and equality measures. Some of the security (and other) measures were ones outlined in the British and Irish governments’ Implementation Plan published on 1 August 2001.]

Tony Blair with Martti Ahtisaari (c) and Cyril Ramaphosa (r)

Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisarri, the two independent arms inspectors, announced that they had resigned their positions. They said that they were no longer required given that the IICD and the IRA were dealing with the weapons issue. [The arms inspectors had been appointed on 14 May 2000.] The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) called on Loyalist paramilitaries to begin the process of decommissioning their weapons.

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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles

Today is the anniversary of the death of the following  people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die

– Thomas Campbell

To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live  forever

– To  the Paramilitaries  –

There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.

  18 People lost their lives on the 24th  October  between 1971 – 1990

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24 October 1971


 Martin Forsythe,  (19)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)
Shot by undercover RUC during bomb attack on Celebrity Club, Donegall Place, Belfast.

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24 October 1972
 Robert Mason,  (19) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Naples Street, off Grosvenor Road, Belfast.

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24 October 1972
 John Morrell,   (32) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died ten days after being injured when detonated booby trap bomb while searching house, Drumarg, Armagh.

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24 October 1976
 Anthony Abbott,  (19) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by snipers while checking abandoned car, Oakfield Street, Ardoyne, Belfast.

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24 October 1976
 Maurice Murphy,   (26) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by snipers while checking abandoned car, Oakfield Street, Ardoyne, Belfast. He died 23 November 1976.

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24 October 1977


 Michael Neill,   (16)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot while in the vicinity of an attempted hijacking of bus, junction of Cliftonville Road and Oldpark Road, Belfast.

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24 October 1979


 Walter Moore,   (50)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot outside his home, Lyndhurst Parade, off Ballygomartin Road, Belfast.

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24 October 1982


 Joseph Donegan,   (48)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Kiddlled by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Abducted while walking along Falls Road, Belfast. Found beaten to death, in entry, off Brookmount Street, Shankill, Belfast, on 25 October 1982.

See Shankill Butchers

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24 October 1983


 Cyrus Campbell,  (49)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while driving car at his farm, Carricklongfield, near Aughnacloy, County Tyrone.

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24 October 1986
 Kenneth Johnston,  (25)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while sitting in his firm’s stationary car, Magherafelt, County Derry. His firm contractor to British Army (BA) / Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).

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24 October 1990


 Francis Hughes,  (61)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Taxi driver. Found shot in his burnt out car Derryane Road, near Moy, County Tyrone.

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24 October 1990
 Stephen Burrows,   (30) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in van bomb attack on permanent British Army (BA) Vehicle Check Point (VCP), Buncrana Road, Coshquinn, near Derry.

See Coshquin Proxy Bomb

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24 October 1990
 Stephen Beacham,   (20) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in van bomb attack on permanent British Army (BA) Vehicle Check Point (VCP), Buncrana Road, Coshquinn, near Derry.

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24 October 1990


 Paul Worrall,  (23) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in van bomb attack on permanent British Army (BA) Vehicle Check Point (VCP), Buncrana Road, Coshquinn, near Derry.

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24 October 1990
 Vincent Scott,   (21) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in van bomb attack on permanent British Army (BA) Vehicle Check Point (VCP), Buncrana Road, Coshquinn, near Derry.

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24 October 1990
 David Sweeney,  (19) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in van bomb attack on permanent British Army (BA) Vehicle Check Point (VCP), Buncrana Road, Coshquinn, near Derry.

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24 October 1990


 Patrick Gillespie,   (42)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

#Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in van bomb attack on permanent British Army (BA) Vehicle Check Point (VCP), Buncrana Road, Coshquinn, near Derry. A civilian employed by British Army (BA), he was forced to drive the van bomb to the Vehicle Check Point (VCP).

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24 October 1990


 Cyril Smith,   (21)

Catholic
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
From Northern Ireland. Killed in van bomb attack on permanent British Army (BA) Vehicle Check Point (VCP), Dublin Road, Killeen, County Armagh.

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My Daughter wants Oysters ?

Blog,

Well woke up this morning and still half sleeping  I vaguely recalled a conversation between my daughter ( Autumn ) and wife (Simone). I can’t remember much of the conversation but I did hear hair mentioned and a shopping list being put together. The plan was to purchase a list of items which would enhance and make Autumn’s hair grow longer, stronger and healthier. There were also a number of vitamins  and other beauty products.

Not my Daughter – but nice hair!

Getting random  shopping lists is a regular   occurrence with a teenage daughter and I though nothing more until the wife showed me the list – which I have scanned and posted below……

autumn letter 2
Daughter’s Shopping list

Now I’m no expert , but I was still  rather surprised and slightly worried to see item number nine  on the list , under the heading “food & drink”

Oysters…

Oysters

OYSTER ?

I mean is she going to eat them ?  or does she have to wash her hair in them. Do  they have to be a particular breed of Oyster or will any do?  ?

And are there more than one type of Oyster available to purchase?

As these questions drifting about my mind I tried to recall my lifetime knowledge of Oysters and I’m afraid that it only amounted to a distasteful memory of eating something that was cold , slimy and felt similar to swallowing (and I feel sick even saying this) a mouthful of Phlegm. Not that I’ve ever swallowed a mouthful of phlegm, I assure you.

Scanning the rest of column one everything else seemed to a reasonable request and I moved onto the second column. All was going well and fitting in with the “hair” and healthy living theme until I came to the last item on the list.

 

Spongebob washing his hair

Spongbob Square Pants ?

Well you could have blown me over with a feather.

She’s 16 years old and is dating her first serious (not in my eyes) boyfriend and all her time, energy and daily moods swings are dependent  on  this relationship running smoothly – Which I am sad to admit is not always the case.

I’m starting to depress myself now – so I’ll just go along with the list and make  a fatherly contribution to my beautiful daughters emotional wellbeing. Because – I know if I don’t get everything on the list I’ll be in for a hissy fit and dirty looks over  the dinning table.

Now then  , where do I buy Oysters?

23rd October – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Deaths in the Troubles, Major events in The Troubles, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

 23rd Octobe

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Friday 23 October 1970

Charles Haughey, and two others were found not guilty of illegal arms importation by a Dublin jury. The ‘Arms Trial’ had begun on 28 May 1970. Neil Blaney, a co-accused, had been found not guilty on 2 July 1970.

Saturday 23 October 1971

Funeral of Mrs Maura Meehan 31

Two female members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Maura Meehan (30) and Dorothy Maguire (19), were shot dead by the British Army (BA) in the Lower Falls area of Belfast. The two women had been travelling the area warning people of British Army raids on houses.

[The two women were the first members of Cumann na mBan to die in the conflict.] Three Catholic civilians, Sean Ruddy (28), James McLaughlin (26) and Robert Anderson (26), were shot dead by the British Army during an attempted robbery in Newry, County Down.

Tuesday 23 October 1973

The Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) voted by 132 to 105 to support a policy which would allow UUP members to take part in any future power-sharing executive.

[While Brian Faulkner, then leader of the UUP expressed his public pleasure at the result, the narrowness of the victory was an indication of deep divisions within the UUP.]

Thursday 23 October 1975

Two Catholic civilians, Peter McKearney (63) and his wife Jane McKearney (58), were shot dead by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) at their home near Moy, County Tyrone.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) planted a bomb on a car outside the home of Hugh Fraser, then a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP). A person passing the car was killed when the bomb exploded prematurely.

Monday 23 October 1978 [ Hunger Strike. ]

Friday 23 October 1981

Ulster Unionist Party conference took place over two days (23 – 24 October 1981). [ Political Developments.]

Friday 23 October 1987

Sinn Féin (SF) gained by-election victories in elections to Belfast City Council.

Tuesday 23 October 1990

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) shot and killed a Protestant taxi driver, William Aitken, in Belfast.

Saturday 23 October 1993

Shankill Road Bombing

See Shankill Bomb

See Greysteel

Ten people were killed when a bomb being planted by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded prematurely as it was being planted in a fish shop on the Shankill Road, Belfast. With the exception of one of the bombers who was also killed, the rest of those who died were Protestant civilians. The bombing represented the greatest loss of life in Northern Ireland in a single incident since the Enniskillen bombing on 8 November 1987.

A further 57 people were injured in the attack. There was a wave of condemnations of the attack. Loyalist paramilitaries reacted immediately shooting two Catholic men one of whom died later from his wounds.

[Over the next week Loyalist paramilitaries killed a total of 12 Catholic civilians. The IRA later claimed that the intended target of the bomb was a meeting of Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) members that was believed to be taking place in the former Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office above the fish shop.]

It was announced that the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (AIIC) meeting planned for 27 October would be postponed as a mark of respect following the Shankill Road bombing. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in Belfast City Council decided not to engage with the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) until the Hume-Adams Initiative had ended.

Sunday 23 October 1994

Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of Sinn Féin (SF), who was on a visit to London, stated that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) could end its ceasefire if a satisfactory outcome was not produced by the peace process.

Monday 23 October 1995

Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs), travelled to Belfast for talks with David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). The two men failed to agree on the issue of the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons. Spring also held a meeting with a delegation from the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) which was led by Gusty Spence, former leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).

Wednesday 23 October 1996

In the Queen’s speech during the opening of a new session of the British parliament, the government announced that it would pass a bill on decommissioning. Later John Major, then British Prime Minister, stated that it would require more than a new ceasefire to allow Sinn Féin (SF) to enter the Stormont talks. James Molyneaux, the former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), announced that he would not be standing for re-election to the Lagan Valley constituency.

Friday 23 October 1998

Davy Jones, then a Orange Order spokesperson, was suspended by Dennis Watson, then Grand Master of Armagh, for “breaching Orange protocol”

. [The suspension was lifted the following day.]

Saturday 23 October 1999

Senator George Mitchell announced his review of the Good Friday Agreement would be extended as the pro-Agreement parties met at Castle Buildings, Stormont, Belfast. Sinn Féin (SF), the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) were attempting to end the stalemate over decommissioning and the formation of an Executive. David Trimble, then leader of the UUP, wrote an article for the Newsletter (a Belfast based newspaper).

Tuesday 23 October 2001

IRA Began Decommissioning

Loyalist paramilitaries threw a pipe-bomb at the home of a Catholic family on the Deerpark Road, north Belfast, at approximately 9.00pm (2100BST). The RUC said the family, “narrowly escaped death or injury”. There was some damage to the house and a car. At around 4.00pm (1600BST) the Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a statement that announced that the organisation had begun to decommission its weapons.

The IRA statement included the sentence:

“Therefore, in order to save the peace process we have implemented the scheme agreed with the IICD [Independent International Commission on Decommissioning] in August [2001].”

Later in the day the IICD issued a statement, part of which read: “We have now witnessed an event – which we regard as significant – in which the IRA has put a quantity of arms completely beyond use. The material in question includes arms, ammunition and explosives.” David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), held a meeting with John de Chastelain (Gen.), then chairman of the IICD, to discuss the act of decommissioning by the IRA. Following the discussions Trimble announced that he would would be recommending to a meeting of the UUP executive on Saturday (27 October 20001) that the UUP ministers retake their seats on the Northern Ireland Executive. The announcements by the IRA and the IICD were welcomed by the British and Irish governments, by the American administration, by Nationalists, and by some Unionists. The Democratice Unionist Party (DUP) and some members of the UUP claimed the move by the IRA was “one-off gesture” or a “stunt”.

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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles

Today is the anniversary of the death of the following  people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
― Thomas Campbell

To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live  forever

– To  the Paramilitaries  –

There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.

  22  People lost their lives on the 23rd  October  between 1971 – 1993

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23 October 1971


 Maura Meehan,  (30)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot while travelling in car warning local residents of British Army (BA) house raids, Cape Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.

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23 October 1971


 Dorothy Maguire,  (19)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot while travelling in car warning local residents of British Army (BA) house raids, Cape Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.

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23 October 1971


 Sean Ruddy,   (19)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot by undercover British Army (BA) members, from nearby roof top, during attempted robbery of man outside bank, Hill Street, Newry, County Down. Assumed to be an Irish Republican Army (IRA) member.

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23 October 1971
 Thomas McLoughlin,   (27)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot by undercover British Army (BA) members, from nearby roof top, during attempted robbery of man outside bank, Hill Street, Newry, County Down. Assumed to be an Irish Republican Army (IRA) member.

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23 October 1971


 Robert Anderson,  (25)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot by undercover British Army (BA) members, from nearby roof top, during attempted robbery of man outside bank, Hill Street, Newry, County Down. Assumed to be an Irish Republican Army (IRA) member.

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23 October 1972


 Michael Naan,  (31)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Stabbed to death at his farm, Aghnahinch, near Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh. His body found on 24 October 1972.

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23 October 1972


 Andrew Murray, (24)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Stabbed to death at his workplace, Michael Naan’s farm, Aghnahinch, near Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh. His body found on 24 October 1972.

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23 October 1974
 Michael Simpson,   (21) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died three weeks after being shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Racecourse Road, Shantallow, Derry.

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23 October 1975


 Peter McKearney,  (63)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his home, Listamlet, near Moy, County Tyrone.

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23 October 1975


 Jane McKearney,   (58)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at her home, Listamlet, near Moy, County Tyrone.

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23 October 1975
 Gordon Hamilton-Fairley,   (45) nfNIB
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Passerby. Killed when bomb attached to the car of Conservative MP Hugh Fraser exploded prematurely, Campden Hill Square, Kensington, London.

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23 October 1990
 William Aitken,   (53)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Taxi driver. Shot when he left off passenger at Royal Victoria Hospital, Falls Road, Belfast.

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The Shankill Bombing

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The Bomber

23 October 1993


 Thomas Begley,   (23)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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The Innocent Victims

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23 October 1993

4
John Frizzell, (63)


 John Frizzell,  (63)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

_45418618_sharon226

Sharon McBride, (29)


 Sharon McBride,  (29)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

NWS_20131023_NEW_006_29372561_I4

Michael Morrison, (27)


 Michael Morrison,  (27)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

6

Evelyn Baird, (27)


 Evelyn Baird,  (27)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

2

Michelle Baird, (7)


 Michelle Baird,  (7)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

11

Leanne Murray, (13)


 Leanne Murray,   (13)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

3

George Williamson, (63)


 George Williamson,   (63)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

10

Gillian Williamson, (49)


 Gillian Williamson,   (49)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

5

Wilma McKee, (38)


 Wilma McKee,  (38)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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The Shankill Bomb – Never Forgotten

Deaths in the Troubles, Major events in The Troubles, , , , , , , , ,

The Shankill Bomb

23rd  October 1993

Irish News - Shankill.jpg

The Shankill Road bombing was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 23 October 1993 and is one of the most notorious incidents of the Troubles in Northern Ireland

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Shankill Bombing

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Tomorrow marks the 27  anniversary of the Shankill Bomb and as usual my thoughts are with the innocent victims of this brutal attack and their families who have been sentence to a lifetime of grief and bereavement .

The pain of losing someone loved never really goes away , it just becomes more bearable as time crawls on  and we find comfort in memories that  we relive a thousands time a year.

The Shankill Bomb was one of the pivotal moments of my “journey” through the  Troubles and coming from the Shankill community I felt the grief in a personal way . I had known many of the victims and had been in the same class as Michael (Minnie) Morrison  throughout  secondary school and I knew Evelyn his girlfriend from living in Glencairn.

And everyone a wasted life

But the Shankill bombing had a profound effect on me and although I was living in London at the time , my heart was firmly in Belfast , as my community came to terms with this savage attack.

When the first reports of the bomb started coming in I felt an overwhelming sense of dread and as I watched the news unfold my first instinct was to worry about my  family  back in Belfast.Many who lived and shopped on the Shankill rd daily. I immediately  made contact with them and thankfully they were all safe and well , although a few of them had been in the vicinity of the explosion and had helped in the recuse effort immediately  after the bomb.

I had also known  the brother of the bomber Begley , although he was in no way a friend or acquaintance.

In the mid eighties I had enrolled in a YTP and this was based off the Crumlin Road in Belfast and Catholic’s were also attending the programme. Strange though it may seem this was my first time in close proximity to my catholic counterpart’s ( apart from rioting) and to be honest the two sides didn’t really mix , they done their thing and we done ours.

But it was a learning curve for me and I was able to see the “enemy” up close for the first time. But deep down as I grew older and wiser I came to the realization they really weren’t that different from us, apart from their political and religious identities.

There was a guy called Begley from Ardoyne on the same programme and my memory of him was that  he was smelly, dirty  and looked unwashed. When the name and picture of the Shankill bomber was first released I immediately made the connection , as he was the spitting image of his brother and he also looked dirty and unwashed.

Karma always collects  its debts!

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shankill-bomb-collage

The Innocent Victims

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The Shankill Bomb

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20th anniversary of the Shankill Bomb we talk to the victims’ families

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The Shankill Road bombing was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 23 October 1993 and is one of the most notorious incidents of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The IRA intended to assassinate the leaders of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), who were to be meeting in a room above Frizzell’s fish shop on Shankill Road, Belfast. Two IRA members were to enter the shop disguised as deliverymen, then force the customers out at gunpoint and plant a time bomb with a short fuse. However, when the IRA members entered the shop with the bomb, it exploded prematurely. One of the IRA members was killed along with a UDA member and eight Protestant civilians.[1] More than fifty people were wounded. Unbeknownst to the IRA, the meeting had been rescheduled.

The Ulster loyalist Shankill Road had been the location of other bomb and gun attacks, including the Balmoral Furniture Company bombing in 1971 and Bayardo Bar attack in 1975, but the 1993 bombing had the highest casualties and resulted in a wave of revenge attacks by loyalists. In the week that followed, loyalists killed 14 civilians, almost all of them Irish Catholics. The deadliest attack took place in Greysteel, where UDA members opened fire in a pub frequented by Catholics, killing eight civilians and wounding 13.

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The  Shankill Bomb

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The Innocent Victims

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23 October 1993

4
John Frizzell, (63)


 John Frizzell,  (63)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

_45418618_sharon226
Sharon McBride, (29)


 Sharon McBride,  (29)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

NWS_20131023_NEW_006_29372561_I4
Michael Morrison, (27)


 Michael Morrison,  (27)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

6
Evelyn Baird, (27)


 Evelyn Baird,  (27)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

2
Michelle Baird, (7)


 Michelle Baird,  (7)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

11
Leanne Murray, (13)


 Leanne Murray,   (13)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

3
George Williamson, (63)


 George Williamson,   (63)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

10
Gillian Williamson, (49)


 Gillian Williamson,   (49)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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23 October 1993

5
Wilma McKee, (38)


 Wilma McKee,  (38)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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The Bomber

23 October 1993

Begley, Thomas (23)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by bomb which exploded prematurely in shop, during attack on the upstairs Ulster Defence Association (UDA) office, Shankill Road, Belfast.

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Background

During the early 1990s, loyalist paramilitaries drastically increased their attacks on the Irish Catholic and Irish nationalist community and – for the first time since the beginning of the Troubles – were responsible for more deaths than republicans.[2][3] The UDA’s West Belfast brigade, and its commander Johnny Adair, played a key role in this. Adair had become the group’s commander in 1990.

The UDA’s Shankill headquarters was above Frizzell’s fish shop on the Shankill Road.[4][5] The UDA’s Inner Council and West Belfast brigade regularly met there on Saturdays.[4][6][7] Peter Taylor says it was also the office of the Loyalist Prisoners’ Association (LPA), and on Saturday mornings was normally crowded, as that was when money was given to prisoners’ families.[8] According to Henry McDonald and Jim Cusack, the IRA had the building under surveillance for some time.[4] They say that the IRA decided to strike when one of their scouts spotted Adair entering the building on the morning of Saturday 23 October 1993.[4] Later, in a secretly-recorded conversation with police, Adair confirmed that he had been in the building that morning.[5]

The bombing

The IRA’s Belfast Brigade launched an operation to assassinate the UDA’s top commanders, whom it believed were at the meeting.[4][5] The plan was for two IRA members to enter the shop with a time bomb, force out the customers at gunpoint and flee before it exploded; killing those at the meeting.[4] As they believed the meeting was being held in the room above the shop, the bomb was designed to send the blast upwards. IRA members maintained that they would have warned the customers as the bomb was primed.[9] It had an eleven-second fuse, and the IRA explained that this would have allowed just enough time to clear the downstairs shop but not enough for those upstairs to escape.[6][7]

The operation would be carried out by Thomas Begley and Seán Kelly, two relatively young IRA members from Ardoyne. They drove from Ardoyne to the Shankill in a hijacked blue Ford Escort, which they parked on Berlin Street, around the corner from Frizzell’s. Dressed as deliverymen, they entered the shop with the five-pound bomb in a holdall.[5] It was shortly after 1PM on a Saturday afternoon and the area was crowded with mostly women and children.[10] Whilst Kelly waited at the door, Begley made his way through the customers towards the counter, where the bomb detonated prematurely.[9] Forensic evidence showed that Begley had been holding the bomb over the refrigerated serving counter when it exploded.[11] Begley was blown to pieces and nine other people[9]—including the owner John Frizzell, his daughter Sharon McBride, 13-year-old Leanne Murray and UDA member Michael Morrison—were killed in the blast. His common-law wife Evelyn Baird and seven-year-old daughter Michelle were also killed as was another couple, George and Gillian Williamson, and Wilma McKee.[12] The force of the blast caused the old building to collapse into a pile of rubble. The upper floor came down upon those inside the shop, crushing many of the survivors under the rubble, where they remained until rescued some hours later by volunteers and emergency services. About 57 people were injured.[6] At the scene during the rescue operation were several senior loyalists, including Adair and Billy McQuiston. The latter had been in a pub on the nearest corner when the bomb went off.[2][8] Among those rescued from the rubble was the badly-wounded Seán Kelly.[4]

Unknown to the IRA, the UDA meeting had ended early[7][5] and those attending it had left the building before the bomb exploded.[5][4] McDonald and Cusack claim that Adair and his men had stopped using the room for important meetings, allegedly because a sympathiser within the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) told Adair that the police had it bugged.[4]

Aftermath

Scene of the bombing, as of 2011

There was great anger and outrage in the Shankill in the wake of the bombing. Billy McQuiston told journalist Peter Taylor that “anybody on the Shankill Road that day, from a Boy Scout to a granny, if you’d given them a gun they would have gone out and retaliated”.[8] Many Protestants saw the bombing as an indiscriminate attack on them.[6] Adair believed that the bomb was meant for him.[6] Two days after the bombing, as Adair was driving away from his house, he stopped and told a police officer “I’m away to plan a mass murder”.[13] In the week following the bombing, the UDA and UVF launched a wave of “revenge attacks”, killing 14 civilians.[12] The UDA shot a Catholic delivery driver in Belfast after luring him to a bogus call just a few hours after the bombing. He died on 25 October.[14] On 26 October, the UDA shot dead another two Catholic civilians and wounded five in an indiscriminate attack at a Council Depot on Kennedy Way, Belfast.[12] On 30 October, UDA members entered a pub in Greysteel frequented by Catholics and again opened-fire indiscriminately. Eight civilians (six Catholics and two Protestants) were killed and 13 were wounded. This became known as the Greysteel massacre. The UDA claimed it was a direct retaliation for the Shankill Road bombing.[2] Michael Stone and another UDA member said that Adair also vowed to launch simultaneous attacks on Catholics attending mass in Belfast. The day after the attack (Sunday), the security forces were sent to guard all Catholic churches in Belfast. A UDA member said that a carload of gunmen were sent to attack Holy Family Catholic Church on the Limestone Road, but called off the attack due to the high security.[6] Adair denied the claims.[6] The UVF shot dead a Catholic man in Newtownabbey and two Catholic brothers in Bleary.[12]

At Begley’s wake, a British soldier fired upon a group of mourners standing outside Begley’s home. The soldier fired twenty shots from a passing Land Rover. Among those wounded was republican activist Eddie Copeland, who needed extensive surgery. The court heard that the soldiers had been shown a photograph of Copeland before being sent on patrol. The soldier who fired the shots, Trooper Andrew Clarke, was jailed for ten years for attempted murder.[15][16] Begley was given a well-attended republican funeral in west Belfast.[17][18] Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Féin, used “unusually strong language” in condemning the bombing, saying it was wrong and could not be excused. However, he was criticised for being a pall-bearer at Begley’s funeral.[10][19] David McKittrick and Eamonn Mallie wrote that if Adams had shunned the funeral it would have been “the end of him as a republican leader”. They explain that it would have severely damaged his credibility within the republican movement and made it difficult for him to secure an IRA ceasefire.[20] Others, such as Taoiseach Albert Reynolds and RUC Chief Constable Hugh Annesley, agreed with this view.[21]

Seán Kelly, the surviving IRA member, was badly wounded in the blast, having lost his left eye and unable to move his left arm.[9] Upon his release from hospital, however, he was arrested and convicted of nine counts of murder, each with a corresponding life sentence. In July 2000, he was released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.[9] In an interview shortly after his release, he said he had never intended to kill innocent people and regrets what happened.[9]

Relatives of those killed in the Shankill Road bombing adopted different positions during the 20th anniversary commemorative events in 2013.

See Greysteel

See Shankill Bomb

22nd October – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Deaths in the Troubles, , , , , , ,

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

 22nd October

Tuesday 22 October 1974

Members of Parliament (MPs) who were part of the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) elected James Molyneaux as their leader. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out a bomb attack on the Brooks club, in St James’s Square in London. Although the bomb was thrown into an empty dining room, two members of the kitchen staff were severly injured in the blast.

Wednesday 22 October 1975

gilford four cropped

‘Guildford Four’ Patrick Armstrong, Gerard Conlon, Paul Hill, and Carole Richardson (who became known as the ‘Guildford Four’) were found guilty at the Old Bailey in London of causing explosions in London in October 1974. The four were sentenced to life imprisonment.

[Following an appeal the four were released on 19 October 1989. The court of appeal decided that the ‘confessions’ had been fabricated by the police.]

Thursday 22 October 1981

The European Court ruled against the British government on the grounds that it was discriminating against homosexuals by treating homosexuality as a crime in Northern Ireland.

Monday 22 October 1984

The European Commission on Human Rights decided that the use of plastic bullets by security forces in Northern Ireland was justified in riot situations.

Friday 22 October 1993

While addressing the House of Commons at Westminster, John Hume, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), said that he thought the Hume-Adams Initiative was the best chance of achieving peace that he had seen in 20 years. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued threats against the staff of five firms that were undertaking building work on behalf of the security forces.

Tuesday 22 October 1996

The Irish News (a Belfast based newspaper) published details of an opinion poll  One result showed that 94 per cent of all respondents, and 70 per cent of Sinn Féin (SF) supporters, wanted an immediate Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire.

Friday 22 October 1999

Some journalists were shown identity cards that were alleged to have been taken from two British soldiers who had been “arrested” by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the Short Strand area of east Belfast. Republicans claimed that the soldiers had been involved with a group of Loyalists in throwing stones at Nationalist residents of Short Strand. It was said that the two soldiers had been questioned by the IRA before being released.

Two men were shot in the legs in a paramilitary ‘punishment’ shooting in Strabane, County Tyrone. The IRA were believed to have been responsible for the attack. Following their arrest on 20 October 1999, seven men were charged with firearms offences and in the case of three other men files were forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Republic of Ireland. Political talks that formed part of the Mitchell Review of the Agreement continued late at Stormont, Belfast.

Monday 22 October 2001

Adams Asks IRA to Decommission At around 1.00am (0100BST) rioting resumed in the Limestone Road and Halliday’s Road area of north Belfast. Petrol bombs and fireworks were thrown at the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, gave a speech in Belfast in which he said that the British government would not be “grudging or ungenerous” in the event of decommissioning of weapons by paramilitary groups. Later in the day Reid met a number of political leaders to discuss the issue of decommissioning.

Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), held separate meetings with John Reid and David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). Adams later made what he described as a significant speech at 5.00pm (1700BST). In his speech he said: “Martin McGuinness and I have also held discussions with the IRA and we have put to the IRA the view that if it could make a ground-breaking move on the arms issue that this could save the peace process from collapse and transform the situation.”

[The IRA responded on Tuesday 23 October 2001.]

The announcement was welcomed by Nationalists, the Irish government, the British Government, and the American administration. Those Unionists who had supported the Good Friday Agreement also welcomed the announcement. Adams also confirmed that one of the three men arrested in Columbia, South America, on 13 August 2001, was SF’s representative in Cuba. Adams said that Niall Connolly, who had lived in Cuba for a number of years, had been asked to represent SF in Cuba by a senior member of the party. However, Adams said that the “decision was taken without the knowledge or authorisation of the international department or any other party structure including the party chairperson or myself”.

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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles

Today is the anniversary of the death of the following  people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
― Thomas Campbell

To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live  forever

– To  the Paramilitaries  –

There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.

  4  People lost their lives on the 22nd October  between 1972 – 1982

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22 October 1972


 John Bell,   (21)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot at his farm, Derrydoon, near Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh.

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22 October 1973
 Ronald Fletcher,  (46)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Killed during bomb attack on Wilson’s Bar, Upper Newtownards Road, Ballyhackamore, Belfast.

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22 October 1974
 Dominic Donnelly, (48)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Killed by booby trap bomb hidden in radio, at Eastwood’s Bookmakers, Marquis Street, Belfast.

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22 October 1982


 Thomas Cochrane,   (54)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Abducted while travelling to work, Glennane, near Markethill, County Armagh. Found shot Lislea, near Camlough, County Armagh, on 29 October 1982.

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ISIS Getting a taste of their own medicine – compilation

Islamic Extremists

ISIS Getting a taste of their own medicine

Whilst I am a pacifist at heart the crimes and outrageous actions of IS & other Islamic Extremist  has shocked and sickened me to the core and like many people I feel a sense of frustration that mostly their crimes seems to go unpunished.

Therefore  I have put together this  short  compilation of these disgusting animals getting a taste of their own medicine.

Some of the clips  did arouse an element of sympathy within me, briefly , but then I remembered Alan Henning , James Foley , David Haines and all those other innocent , good people that  these scum killed and all thoughts of sympathy disappeared.

Some of these video contain scenes that may upset some people –  you have been warned!

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Syrian army beating terrorist that killed Christians

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ISIS spy caught by Iraq army..not a great interrogation

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ISIS crying becuase Iraqi Special Forces beat’em up

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Shia special forces capture 10 ISIS Terrorists

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Mystery sniper kills three ISIS leaders in Libya in ten days

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YPG sniper kill 50 Isis

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The Moment an ISIS Fighter is Shot Dead by Syria Army

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The moment of death of Islamist commander Saifullah al Shishani by mortar shrapnel

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Khansaa Brigade – ISIS ‘female ” Police “

Islamic Extremists, , , , , , , , ,

Khansaa Brigade

The Al-Khansaa Brigade, also spelled Al-Khanssaa Brigade, is an all-women police or religious enforcement unit of the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), operating in its de facto capital of Raqqa and Mosul.[1] Formed in early 2014 and apparently named after Al-Khansa, a female Arabic poet from the earliest days of Islam, it is unclear how widespread and sustained the group is.

An ISIL official, Abu Ahmad, said in 2014, “We have established the brigade to raise awareness of our religion among women, and to punish women who do not abide by the law.”[2] The outfit has also been called ISIL’s ‘moral police’

ISIS ‘female Gestapo’ leading campaign of terror against own sex – and 60 are British

Al Khansaa brigade rule by terror

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Daesh Defectors – 3 women leave al-Khansaa brigade

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Islamic State’s ‘female Gestapo’ is conducting a sickening campaign of terror against their own sex.

The special brigade – set up to enforce the terror group’s strict Islamic views – bite and whip any woman who steps out of line and force girls to become sex slaves.

As many as 60 British women are thought to be members of the brigade, which operate in ISIS’ self-proclaimed capital Raqqa, in Syria.

The city is ruled by fear, with torture, stoning and crucifixions common.. All women are prohibited from going outside or travelling without a male relative.

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What It’s Like To Be A Woman In Islamic State

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ISIS imposes a strict dress code demanding all females from puberty upwards wear two gowns to hide their body shape, black gloves to cover their hands, and three veils so their faces cannot be seen, even in direct sunlight.

Women have been publicly buried alive in sand for breaking the code.

One former Syrian schoolteacher trapped in the city opened up to Channel 4 in a documentary, Escape From ISIS, to be aired next week.

She said: “We have no freedom. We cannot go out on the balcony or look through the window. They will arrest a woman if she wears perfume or raises her voice. A woman’s voice cannot be heard.”

The teacher told of her horrifying capture by the city’s ruthless all-women police unit, the Al-Khansa brigade.

“They said my eyes were visible through my veil. I was tortured. They lashed me. Now some of them punish women by biting. They give you the option between getting bitten or lashed.”

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ISIS: Women’s Role In The Islamic State |

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Brigade member: Aqsa Mahmood, 20, from Glasgow

British women in the brigade are thought to include Aqsa Mahmood, the 20-year-old Glaswegian woman who left her family to join ISIS last year.

They are paid up to £100 a month, a relative fortune.

Marriage: Many women who join ISIS become jihadi brides

One former Al-Khansa enforcer, a young Syrian woman called Umm Abaid, told the filmmakers how she had led a normal life until the arrival of ISIS and the imposition of Sharia law in Raqqa.

“I went to school, to coffee shops,” she said, “but slowly, slowly my husband [a Saudi Arabian IS fighter killed in a suicide bomb attack] convinced me about Islamic State and its ideas. I joined the brigade and was responsible for enforcing the clothing regulations.

“Anyone who broke the rules, we would lash. Then we would take her male guardian, her brother, father or husband, and lash him, too.”

The brigade even stops buses to check women passengers.

If one is found breaking the code, all the passengers are forced to get off and the bus is refused permission to proceed. The driver can be lashed because he let the woman on board.

Some of the Al-Khansa members operate undercover, posing as housewives and mingling in the crowds to listen for any dissent.

 

They also run brothels where kidnapped girls are expected to satisfy fighters returning from battle.

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ISIS Sex Slave Operation

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Those who have escaped the brothels say they have slept with 100 different fighters in a few weeks.

Emily Dyer, a research fellow with the Henry Jackson Society, spends hours tracking social media messages sent to the West by jihadi brides.

She says many Muslim British women see joining ISIS as an “attractive option” but once they arrive in Syria the reality of their situation is wholly different from the propaganda they are fed.

Under ISIS prohibitions, single women live in all-female safe houses called maqqars. If they are married, they must be only mothers or housewives unless selected to be IS ‘enforcers’ or fighters.

A girl tracked by Emily on Twitter said: “I’m fed up. They make me do the washing up.”

Another said: “I’ve done nothing except hand out clothes and food. I help clean weapons and transport dead bodies from the front. It’s beginning to get really hard.’

One complained: ‘My iPod doesn’t work any more. I have to come back [to the West

Women in maqqars are forbidden access to mobile phones or the internet.. They are then prepared to become jihadi brides, even if they are young teenagers.

But girls who marry one fighter, have found they are expected to spend a week with their new ‘spouse’ before they are ‘divorced’ by an Islamic cleric and married to another fighter for a week.

Yet more Muslim girls and women from Europe, and notably the UK, arrive in Raqqa each month to join ISIS.

It’s just one of the reasons politicians view the threat from ISIS so seriously

21st October – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Deaths in the Troubles, , , , , , , , , ,

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

 21st October

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Tuesday 21 October 1969

Thomas McDowell (45), a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), died from injuries he received when a bomb he was planting exploded prematurely at a power station near Ballyshannon, County Donegal, on 19 October 1969.

Wednesday 21 October 1970

Bernadette Devlin was released from prison having served four months of her six month sentence for riotous behaviour.

Monday 21 October 1974

Two Catholic civilians, Michael Loughran (18) and Edward Morgan (27), were shot dead by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) at the junction of Falls Road and Northumberland Street in Belfast.

Billy Hutchinson

See below for more details on Billy Hutchinson

[Billy Hutchinson was later convicted for his part in these killings. Hutchinson was to become a leading spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party and helped negotiate the ‘Good Friday’ Peace Agreement on 10 April 1998.]

A member of the Territorial Army (TA) was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Belfast. John Hume, then deputy leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), said that his party had lost confidence in Merlyn Rees, then Secretary of Sate for Northern Ireland.

Tuesday 21 October 1975

Gardaí surrounded a house in Monasterevin, County Kildare, where Tiede Herrema, then a Dutch industrialist, was being held hostage. A siege began which was to last until 6 November 1975.

Monday 21 October 1991

A programme in the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) series Panorama laid the blame for the failure of the recent political talks (later known as the Brooke / Mayhew talks) at the feet of Unionists.

Wednesday 21 October 1992

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded a bomb, estimated at 200 pounds, in the main street of Bangor, County Down. The bomb caused extensive damage to property in the area.

Thursday 21 October 1993

John Gibson (51), a Protestant civilian, was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Glengormley near Belfast. Gibson was believed to have been targeted because he was doing building work for the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).

  1. Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informed the House of Commons that bilateral talks were taking place with the political parties.

Friday 21 October 1994

John Major, then British Prime Minister, speaking in Belfast said that he was making a “working assumption” that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) intended its ceasefire to be permanent. He also announced that exclusion orders on Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF) and Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of SF, would be lifted, all border roads would be reopened, and that exploratory talks between the British Government and SF would begin before Christmas. Major also promised to review the role of the British Army in Northern Ireland. [Major was on a two-day visit to Northern Ireland.]

Saturday 21 October 1995

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) met for its annual conference. David Trimble, then leader of the UUP, outlined a plan to end the right of the Orange Order to directly appoint delegates to the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC). Statistics produced by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) showed that since the ceasefires Catholics comprised 16.5 per cent of new appointments to the police.

Wednesday 21 October 1998

Adam Ingram, then Security Minister at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), stated in the House of Commons that there had been 54 people killed as a result of the conflict in the period 1 January 1998 to 16 October 1998. 38 of the deaths were the responsibility of Republican paramilitaries and 16 by Loyalist paramilitaries.

Thursday 21 October 1999

Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), made a statement on recent political talks at a lunch time meeting in New York, USA. Adams told the audience that he thought the review would probably end in failure.

Sunday 21 October 2001

There were sectarian clashes in a number of interface areas of north Belfast. During disturbances in the Limestone Road and Halliday’s Road area a Protestant man (20s) was shot and injured by Republicans.

[The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) said it was not clear which organisation was responsible for the shooting.]

Later in the day two young Catholic girls were injured when Loyalists threw a blast-bomb into the Limestone Road, of north Belfast. One of the girls, aged 8, received shrapnel wounds and the other girl aged 11 suffered from extensive shock and both were taken to hospital. The bomb had been thrown over the rooftops of a row of terraced houses at approximately 8.30pm (2030BST). John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, described those responsible for the attack as: “quite simply, scum”.

Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), confirmed on Radio Telefis Éireann (RTE) that he had been in contact with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on the issue of arms decommissioning. He said: “If the IRA is persuaded to make some move on this issue, it will because it wants to rescue the process. The decision has to be theirs”.

[On Monday 22 October 2001 Adams publically called on the IRA to make: “a ground-breaking move on the arms issue”, which it did on 23 October 2001.]

Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of Sinn Féin (SF), travelled to Washington, USA, for meetings with senior members of the American government and also members of the Irish-American community.

[There was continuing media speculation over the weekend that the IRA was considering a significant act of weapons decommissioning; the speculation proved to be correct.]

———————————————————————————

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 21st October  between 1969 – 1993

————————————————————–

21 October 1969
 Thomas McDowell,   (45)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Died two days after being injured in premature bomb explosion at hydroelectric power station near Ballyshannon, County Donegal.

————————————————————–

21 October 1972


 Gordon Harron,   (32)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Died four days after being shot after stopping car on Shore Road, by Mount Vernon, Belfast.

————————————————————–

21 October 1974


 Michael Loughran,   (18)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot from passing car, at the junction of Falls Road and Northumberland Street, Belfast.

————————————————————–

21 October 1974


 Edward Morgan,  (27)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot from passing car, at the junction of Falls Road and Northumberland Street, Belfast

————————————————————–

21 October 1974


 Malcolm Gibson,  (28)

Protestant
Status: British Army Territorial Army (TA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Found shot in derelict house, shortly after being abducted while driving laundry van, Velsheda Park, Ardoyne, Belfast.

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21 October 1981


 Julian Connolly,   (49)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot outside his home at the Zoological Gardens, Antrim Road, Bellevue, Belfast.

————————————————————–

21 October 1993


 John Gibson,  (51)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot outside his home, Carnvue Park, Glengormley, near Belfast, County Antrim. Contractor to British Army (BA) / Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).

————————————————————–

————————————————————————————————————————————

Billy Hutchinson

Billy “Hutchie” Hutchinson (born 1955) is the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party in Northern Ireland. He was elected to Belfast City Council in the 1997 elections and to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998. He lost his assembly seat in 2003 and his council seat in 2005. Before this he had been a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was a founder of their youth wing, the Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV).

UVF activity

A native of the Shankill Road, Belfast, Hutchinson took part in a series of riots in the area, during which Shankill dwellers clashed with residents of the neighbouring nationalist Unity Flats area. Members of the UVF fired shots at Unity Flats and it was around this time Hutchinson became a member of the organisation, describing his part in the rioting as “my initiation” into the UVF.[1] A strong supporter of Linfield F.C., Hutchinson would often lead his fellow Shankill-based supporters in throwing stones and singing loyalist songs at the Unity Flats as they returned from the club’s Windsor Park home off the Lisburn Road. These young loyalists formed the basis of the reformed YCV, which Hutchinson played a leading role in re-establishing in the early 1970s.[2] Hutchinson was in charge of recruitment for this group in its early years, aided by Billy Spence.[3]

In October 1974 Hutchinson and a fellow YCV member, Thomas Winstone, drove up Northumberland Street (which links the Shankill to the neighbouring Falls Road, Belfast, a republican area) at 7:30 in the morning. They came upon two Catholic men, Michael Loughran and Edward Morgan, walking to work and shot and killed them both. Both men were arrested soon afterwards and were both charged with murder to which they pleaded guilty, receiving life sentences. Hutchinson had been the driver of the car whilst Winstone was the shooter. Both men were aged nineteen at the time of their attack.[4]

In prison

Sent to prison in Long Kesh in 1975, Hutchinson, like many other young UVF inmates, came under the influence of Gusty Spence, a founder of the modern UVF who had begun a conversion to political methods. Hutchinson had already known Spence as the two had spoken on a few occasions during 1972 when Spence, aided by his nephew Frankie Curry, had escaped from prison for a few months.[5] Hutchinson had served as Spence’s bodyguard briefly and had been in his company the day Spence was recaptured.[6] In the prison Hutchinson, along with the likes of David Ervine, Eddie Kinner, Billy Mitchell and William “Plum” Smith, was convinced by Spence that loyalism needed to develop a more political side to its agenda and Spence encouraged these younger members to become involved in this development.[7] In 1977 when Spence advocated a policy of dialogue with republicans, Hutchinson and Mitchell co-authored a letter to UVF members on the outside endorsing Spence’s call.[8] Whilst in prison Hutchinson took a degree in social sciences and a diploma in town planning.[4]

Spence resigned from the UVF in 1978 and, after a period of collective leadership by the “officers commanding” of each prison compound, Hutchinson succeeded him as leader of the UVF in Long Kesh. This arrangement did not last long, as the UVF prisoners had grown tired of the strict disciplinary regime initiated by Spence which Hutchinson attempted to continue.[9] However, before long the extreme lack of discipline that then ensued became too much for a number of senior figures to stand and as a consequence in 1984 Hutchinson took control again, holding the post until his release from prison in 1990.[10]

Hutchinson was also nominated by the UVF as their point of contact with John de Chastelain and the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning and he helped to ensure the eventual decommissioning of some UVF weapons in 2009.[11] This was despite the fact that Hutchinson had been a noted sceptic on the issue and had criticised David Trimble because of it, arguing that his insistence on republican decommissioning was in fact damaging the peace process.[12]

Progressive Unionist Party

Soon after his release from prison Hutchinson became active in the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) and began working towards the establishment of the Northern Ireland peace process. During the early 1990s Hutchinson and David Ervine became more familiar faces in the media, presenting loyalist political demands. Both men were influenced by the example of Sinn Féin, who had demonstrated that an articulate media presence could ensure that paramilitary groups’ demands might be heard.[13] Hutchinson and Ervine in particular became close personal friends as well as colleagues and also enjoyed a friendly rivalry with Hutchinson being a Linfield-supporting west Belfast man and Ervine from the east of the city and a Glentoran F.C. fan.[14] Along with Spence and Ervine, Hutchinson was a strong advocate of moves towards peace and he played a leading role in helping to convince UVF commanders to endorse the Combined Loyalist Military Command ceasefire in 1994.[15] Following the announcement of the ceasefire Hutchinson was part of a six-man delegation representing the PUP and the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) that toured the United States.[16]

Hutchinson became known as a strong supporter of the peace process, not least during an incident in Northwest Belfast in the summer of 1996. Protestants in the loyalist enclave of Torrens – a small area between the mainly nationalist Oldpark and Cliftonville roads – had been involved in a stand-off with Catholics in neighbouring Ardoyne and this had escalated when a number of Provisional IRA members entered Ardoyne to protect residents.[according to whom?] Members of the UVF then entered Torrens, having retrieved weapons (including an AK-47) from an arms dump, and a clash between the two groups looked imminent. When Hutchinson learned of this he entered Torrens and convinced the UVF members to put down their weapons, even standing in front of the AK-47 wielder to prevent him approaching Ardoyne. The weapon was removed and the UVF left the area with the incident defusing as a result.[17] He also spoke at an event in the nationalist Bogside area of Derry, during which he expressed support for the possibility of non-executive cross-border bodies before posing for pictures with local Sinn Féin activist Robin Perceval.[18]

Elections

Hutchinson was a candidate for the PUP in North Belfast in the 1996 election to the Northern Ireland Forum.[19] He was not elected although the PUP managed to win two seats in the interim body. He returned as North Belfast candidate for the 1998 election to the new Northern Ireland Assembly and was elected to this body. Hutchinson lost his seat in the 2003 election after the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin took an extra seat each.[20]

Hutchinson ran for the PUP in the 1997 local government election and was elected to Belfast City Council as a representative of the Oldpark District Electoral Area, topping the poll among unionist candidates in this area.[21] He retained the seat in 2001 but lost it in 2005 to Fred Cobain of the Ulster Unionist Party.[22]

2000 feud

In 2000 Hutchinson was caught up in a loyalist feud that broke out between the UVF and the West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). The roots of Hutchinson’s involvement lay three years earlier in the immediate aftermath of the killing of Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader Billy Wright by the Irish National Liberation Army. Wright had been close to the West Belfast UDA and as a result their leading hitman Stephen McKeag shot up a Catholic bar in the Cliftonville Road in retaliation. The UDA encouraged the LVF to claim the attack but when the claim was made Hutchinson refuted it and placed the blame on the UDA. He received a strong rebuke for this from the UDP’s John White, who accused Hutchinson of working with Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic and Labour Party against the UDA.[23] The war of words had ignited despite the fact that Hutchinson and White had enjoyed a close friendship in prison.[24]

After violent clashes between members of both groups on the Shankill Road the UVF shot and killed two men close to the UDA’s West Belfast leadership, Jackie Coulter and Bobby Mahood. The UDA Brigadier Johnny Adair was enraged by this development and, seeing Hutchinson being interviewed about the feud on television, phoned one of his deputies Jim Spence, who lived near Hutchinson, and allegedly told him to “go and shoot him right now”. Spence told Adair he would but delayed as he wanted to end the feud with as little bloodshed as possible whilst his phone had been tapped by RUC Special Branch who were able to warn Hutchinson. As a result, the attack did not occur.[25] 31 October of that same year Bertie Rice, a friend of Hutchinson and a voluntary worker at his constituency office, was shot and killed by members of the UDA’s North Belfast Brigade who were close to Adair.[26]

Subsequent activity

In October 2007 Hutchinson was arrested in connection with the August 2005 murder of Catholic teenager Thomas Devlin. A protest followed outside the police station in which he was being held although ultimately Hutchinson was released without charge. Hutchinson was at the time a community worker in the Mount Vernon estate on Belfast’s Shore Road, the area in which it was thought the killers were based.[27]

In July 2010 he attended a protest at an Asda store on the Shore Road, Belfast regarding the sacking of an employee. The employee was dismissed due to a complaint about him making a remark construed as promoting the loyalist song, The Sash. After an appeal the employee was reinstated.[28][29]

In March 2014, in an interview with the Belfast Newsletter, Hutchinson was quoted as saying that he had “no regrets” about his past in relation to the random murders of his two Catholic victims in 1974, claiming that he had helped to prevent a united Ireland by his actions.[30]

PUP leader

In October 2011 Billy Hutchinson was elected leader of the Progressive Unionist Party at the party’s annual conference in succession to Brian Ervine.[31] In this role Hutchinson took a leading role in the December 2012 campaign of protests and road blockades by loyalists following Belfast City Council passing a resolution to end the practice of flying the Union flag from Belfast City Hall all year round and instead to limit its use to certain designated days. Hutchinson suggested that the process by which the vote was held may not have been legal and on 15 December stated that he would make an announcement about a legal challenge in the “next few days”.[32]

In 2013 Hutchinson announced his intention to run in both forthcoming council and parliamentary elections. He claimed that he would focus his attentions on South Antrim.[33]

Beliefs

Hutchinson has often stressed the importance of the working class nature of loyalism and has argued in favour of socialism, although other socialists have criticised the exclusionary nature of his ideas, arguing that it does not constitute true socialism as it only applies to one community.[34] His declared support for socialism also came in for strong criticism from then UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade commander Billy Wright whose virulent opposition to left-wing politics helped to push him away from the mainstream UVF.[35] John “Grugg” Gregg, Brigadier of the UDA South East Antrim Brigade and, like Wright, a man with close links to far right groups in England, was also a strong critic of Hutchinson and accused him of thinking “like a republican”.[36] Hutchinson has conceded that some of his ideas were influenced by contact with Official IRA members with whom he studied in prison.[37]

Although brought up in the Protestant religion, Hutchinson is an atheist[38] and has never been a member of the Orange Order.[39]

2014 election

In the local election of May 2014 he was elected to Belfast City Council as a councilor for Court (District Electoral Area).

20th October – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Deaths in the Troubles, , , , , ,

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

20th October

———————–

Wednesday 20 October 1971

Edward Kennedy, then a Senator in the United States Congress, called for a withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland and all-party negotiations to establish a United Ireland.

Thursday 20 October 1977

Roy Jenkins, then the European Commission President, paid a visit to Belfast and confirmed the (then) European Community (EC) would open a Northern Ireland information office.

Wednesday 20 October 1982

Assembly Elections

Elections to the new 78 seat Northern Ireland Assembly took place across Northern Ireland. This was the first election in Northern Ireland since the beginning of ‘the Troubles’ to be contested by Sinn Féin (SF) which won 10.1 per cent of the first preference votes and secured 5 of the seats.

The Social Democratic and Labour Party’s (SDLP) performance was relatively poor and it obtained 18.8 per cent of the vote and 14 seats. Both the SDLP and SF had adopted a policy of abstentionism and therefore refused to take their seats. The largest vote went to the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP); 29.7 per cent and 26 seats. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) obtained 23.0 per cent and 21 seats. The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) obtained 9.3 per cent of the vote, which was less than SF, but got 10 seats, double that of SF.

[The emergence of SF as a political force in Northern Ireland was to cause almost panic in British establishment circles. Many commentators speculated that SF would replace the SDLP as the main voice of Nationalists in Northern Ireland. It was to counter the rise of SF that the British government went on to sign the Anglo-Irish Agreement on 15 November 1985.]

Tuesday 20 October 1987

Unionist councillors in Belfast City Council agreed to pay the fine imposed on 23 February 1987 for action taken as part of their protest against the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA).

Thursday 20 October 1988

Tom King, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced the introduction of legislation that had the effect of allowing a court to draw an inference from an accused person’s decision to remain silent when questioned by the police. The announcement caused controversy.

Tuesday 20 October 1992

Robert Irvine (43), then a member of the Royal Irish Regiment (RIR), was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) at his home in Rasharkin, County Antrim. Irvine was the first member of the newly formed RIR to be killed.

Wednesday 20 October 1993

John Alderdice, then leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), said that the Hume-Adams Initiative had cast a shadow over efforts to get political talks going again. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) published a report that advocated shared, or joint, authority as a political solution to the conflict.

Thursday 20 October 1994

Tim Smith, then a Northern Ireland Office (NIO) minister, resigned following a controversy surrounding payments to MPs by political lobbyists (‘payment for questions’). It was announced that Malcolm Moss would replace Smith at the NIO. The Labour Party announced that Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam would replace Kevin McNamara as the party’s spokesperson on Northern Ireland.

Monday 20 October 1997

There were disturbances during an inquest at the Coroners Court in Derry into the killing on 12 November 1990 of Alex Patterson (31), then a member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), by members of an undercover British Army unit.

[It was believed that the soldiers responsible were members of the Special Air Service (SAS).]

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were called to clear the court and the police used their batons during scuffles. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) walked out of the talks at Stormont, Belfast, in protest at the refusal of the Irish government to change Articles Two and Three of the Irish Constitution.

Tuesday 20 October 1998

Three members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) were given life sentences for the murder of Billy Wright, who had been the leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), in the Maze Prison on 27 December 1997. Robert Eames, then Church of Ireland Primate, called upon Portadown Orangemen to honour three pledges, relating to respecting the law and the church, before they would be welcomed at Sunday service in Drumcree in July 1999.

See Billy Wright

Wednesday 20 October 1999

Jack Lynch, a former Taoiseach, died at the age of 82 in Cork following a long illness. After an early career marked by distinction in hurling and Gaelic football, he later become known as “the real Taoiseach” in his native Cork, regardless of whether or not his party was in government. He joined Fianna Fáil (FF) in 1948 and led the party from 1966 through the early days of violence in Northern Ireland, the arms crisis and entry to the EEC in 1973. He resigned from politics in 1979.

[Described as a modest, self deprecating man of integrity and kindness, he was widely acclaimed as the most popular leader in the history of Fianna Fáil.]

Garda Síochána (the Irish police) arrested 10 men in Herbertstown, County Meath. The men were accused of being at a “real” Irish Republican Army (rIRA) training camp. Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), left the Mitchell Review talks in London to speak at a fund-raising event for SF.

Saturday 20 October 2001

A gunman fired two shots at two men in Mountcrescent, Downpatrick, County Down. The attack happened at approximately 9.30am (0930BST). There were no injuries. The gunman ran off and escaped in a waiting vehicle. There was rioting on the Ardoyne Road, north Belfast, at approximately 2.00pm (1400BST). A number of civilians and three Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers were injured during sectarian clashes.

———————————————————————————

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.

  3  People lost their lives on the 20th October  between 1989 – 1992

————————————————————–

————————————————————-

20 October 1989


 Michael Marshall,   (25)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot during gun attack on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) armoured patrol car, Belleek, near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.

————————————————————-

20 October 1990
 David Pollock,   (30)

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

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper, while driving his car along Melmount Road, Strabane, County Tyrone.

————————————————————-

20 October 1992


 Robert Irvine,  (43)

Protestant
Status: Royal Irish Regiment (RIR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot at his temporary home, Tamlaght Road, Rasharkin, County Antrim.

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19th October – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Deaths in the Troubles, Major events in The Troubles, , , , , , , , ,

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

19th October

———————————————

Saturday 19 October 1968

Derry Citizen’s Action Committee (DCAC; established on 9 October 1968) organised an illegal sit-down at Guildhall Square as part of large civil disobedience campaign. The event passed off peacefully.

Sunday 19 October 1969

Loyalist Bomb

Thomas McDowell (45), a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), was severely injured when a bomb he was planting exploded prematurely at a power station near Ballyshannon in County Donegal. [McDowell died from his injuries on 21 October 1969. McDowell was also a member of the Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV) a paramilitary style organisation formed by Ian Paisley (Holland, 1999: p23).

Tuesday 19 October 1971

A group of five Northern Ireland Members of Parliament (MPs) began a 48 hour hunger strike against Internment. The protest took place near to 10 Downing Street in London. Among those taking part were John Hume, Austin Currie, and Bernadette Devlin.

Thursday 19 October 1972

William Craig, then leader of Ulster Vanguard, spoke a meeting of right-wing Members of Parliament (MPs) at Westminster. He said that he could mobilise 80,000 men to oppose the British government: “We are prepared to come out and shoot and kill. I am prepared to come out and shoot and kill. … I am prepared to kill, and those behind me will have my full support.”

Thursday 19 October 1978

 Hunger Strike.  Public Record Click to read [ proni on cain  

Monday 19 October 1981

Hunger Strike.  Public Record Click to read [ proni on cain

Tuesday 19 October 1982

The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) carried out a bomb attack on the headquarters of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in Glengall Street, Belfast. The building was badly damaged by the blast.

Friday 19 October 1984

A British soldier and a Protest civilian were shot dead in separate incidents.

Wednesday 19 October 1988

Broadcasting Ban The British government introduced broadcasting restrictions (‘broadcasting ban’) on those organisations proscribed in Northern Ireland and Britain. Douglas Hurd, then British Home Secretary, announced restrictions on the broadcasting of direct statements by members of specific proscribed organisations. The organisations affected were; Sinn Féin (SF), Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) and the Ulster Defense Association (UDA). The restrictions also applied to individuals who were canvassing support for the named organisations. [Media organisations eventually used a number of methods to try to overcome the effects of the ban. One approach was to employ actors to mimic the voices of those being interviewed.]

Thursday 19 October 1989

Guildford Four Released Three of the ‘Guildford Four’ were released by the Court of Appeal after they had spent 14 years in jail. Those released were Patrick Armstrong, Gerard Conlon, and Carole Richardson. Paul Hill was held in custody pending a hearing in another case but was released later. The court decided that the original confessions had been fabricated by the police. [John May was later appointed to head an inquiry into the circumstances of the Maguire family and the ‘Guildford Four’. However, no police officers were ever prosecuted for their part in the fabrication of confessions.]

Tuesday 19 October 1993

James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), held a meeting in London with John Major, then British Prime Minister, and repeated his party’s opposition to the Hume-Adams Initiative. Major told the House of Commons that he “knew nothing” of the details of the Hume-Adams Initiative. Michael Howard, then British Home Secretary, signed an ‘exclusion order’ which banned Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), from entering Britain. Adams had been invited by Tony Benn, then a Member of Parliament (MP), to address a meeting at Westminster, London.

Saturday 19 October 1996

The march by the Apprentice Boys of Derry around the city’s walls passed off without trouble. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) held its annual conference. In his address to the conference, David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), blamed the Drumcree crisis on the Anglo-Irish Secretariat.

Sunday 19 October 1997

A number of newspapers in the Republic of Ireland carried further leaked memos from an unknown civil servant in the Department of Foreign Affairs about Mary McAleese, then Fianna Fáil (FF) candidate for President of the Republic of Ireland. The Irish government announced that there would be a Garda Síochána (the Irish police) investigation into the leaks.

Monday 19 October 1998

Both David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and First Minister designate, and Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of Sinn Féin (SF), travelled to London for separate meetings with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister. Trimble told the Prime Minister that SF should not be given seats on the Executive without prior decommissioning of weapons. Both McGuinness and Trimble blamed the other for the impasse over decommissioning.

Tuesday 19 October 1999

A joint Garda Síochána (the Irish police) / Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) investigation uncovered a cross-Border money-laundering operation located in a bureau de change. Gardaí recovered more than £1 million in cash and as much as £100 million is believed to have been laundered from drug trafficking and other crimes over the last six years for gangs operating in Belfast and Dublin.

George Mitchell chaired talks that formed part of the review of the Good Friday Agreement in the US Ambassador’s residence of Winfield House in Regent’s Park, London. Peter Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, held talks in Dublin with David Andrews, then Minister for Foreign Affairs. Both men said they were “very optimistic” about the prospects for the outcome of the Mitchell Review of the Agreement.

Mark Fulton, then leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), began an action in the High Court, Belfast, to obtain a transfer from Maghaberry Prison to the Maze Prison. Fulton was serving a four year sentence for firearms offences.

See: Mark “Swinger” Fulton

Friday 19 October 2001

John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, travelled to Dublin for a meeting with Brian Cowen, then Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs. The two men discussed the decision of the Unionist ministers to withdraw from the Northern Ireland Executive. Both were heartened that the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) had stated its willingness to return to office if there was a start to the decommissioning of Irish Republican Army (IRA) weapons.

Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, and Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), are expected to hold a meeting to discuss the latest setbacks in the peace process. The two leaders are attending a European Union summit in Belgium. The High Court in Belfast rejected an attempt by James Cooper, then chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), to have the result of the election in the Fermanagh / South Tyrone seat on 7 June 2001 declared invalid. The judge in the case decided that the number of votes cast after the offical closing time of 10.00pm (22.00BST) would not have materially affected the outcome of the election. The case had been heard on 17 September 2001.

———————————————————————————

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 19th  October  between 1975 – 1984

————————————————————–

19 October 1975
 Billy Wright,  (34) nfNIRI
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA)
Died two weeks after being shot at his hairdresser’s shop, Cabra Road, Dublin.

————————————————————–

19 October 1977
 George Wilson,  (64)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at his home, Ainsworth Pass, Shankill, Belfast.

————————————————————–

19 October 1979
 James Robinson,   (20)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while driving milk van along Blackfort Road, near Fintona, County Tyrone.

————————————————————–

19 October 1981


 Stephen Hamilton,   (24)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)
Shot while travelling in stolen car at the junction of Ballygomartin Road and Woodvale Road, Belfast

————————————————————–

19 October 1984


 Fred Jackson,  (48)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot by undercover British Army (BA) member, during attempted ambush of Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit, Tamnamore, near Dungannon, County Tyrone.

————————————————————–

19 October 1984
 Timothy Utteridge,   (19) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA), foot patrol, Norglen Road, Turf Lodge, Belfast.

————————————————————– 

See: Mark “Swinger” Fulton