6th August
Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
Wednesday 6 August 1980
The British government announced an extra public spending package of £48 million for Northern Ireland to try to alleviate the high level of unemployment in the region which stood at 14.7 per cent.
This announcement came after a meeting between the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTUs) and Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister.
Wednesday 6 August 1997
Loyalist paramilitaries carried out a ‘punishment’ attack on an 18 year old man in Rathcoole, north Belfast.
A taxi driver was shot in the legs in a ‘punishment’ style attack in Grosvenor Road, Belfast.
The attack was alleged to have been carried out by the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA).
A hoax bomb was sent to the office of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) on the Shankill Road.
It was believed that Loyalist paramilitaries were responsible.
There was an arson attack on an Orange Order hall near Caledon, County Tyrone.
Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, held a meeting with Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), together with other SF representatives in Stormont.
Thursday 6 August 1998
Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said that she believed that the “war is over”. [This was said in response to Unionist demands that Sinn Féin (SF) and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) should state publicly that the conflict had ended.]
Thomas McMahon, who had been convicted of the murder of Lord Mountbatten and three other people in 1979, was released from jail in the Republic of Ireland.
The release drew criticism from Unionists in Northern Ireland.
Friday 6 August 1999
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a statement in which the organisation denied that it have been behind an attempt to smuggle arms from the USA into Ireland; the IRA “Army Council has not sanctioned any arms importation operation”.
In relation to the speculation around the killing of Charles Bennett on 30 July 1999 the IRA said “there had been no breaches of the IRA cessation”.
Monday 6 August 2001
The date set as the deadline for the political parties to give their response to the British and Irish governments’ Implementation Plan for the Good Friday Agreement.
A statement was issued by John de Chastelain (Gen.), then head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD), in which he announced that an Irish Republican Army (IRA) representative had proposed a method for putting weapons completely and verifiably beyond use.
De Chastelain told the British and Irish governments that the proposal met with the Commission’s remit in accordance with the governments’ scheme and regulations. De Chastelain said in the statement:
“Based on our discussions with the IRA representative, we believe that this proposal initiates a process that will put IRA arms completely and verifiably beyond use.”
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), declared the statement as a “hugely historical breakthrough”.
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) office board consisting of 14 members met on Monday evening to consider its response to the Implementation Plan (1 August 2001) and also the statement by the IICD.
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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.
1 Person lost their lives on the 6th August 1985
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06 August 1985
Charles English (21)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died when grenade exploded prematurely, during attack on British Army (BA) mobile patrol, William Street, Derry.
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Belfast Child 