Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
10th October
Friday 10 October 1969 Hunt Report Published
The Hunt Report was published. The Report recommended that: the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) should become an unarmed force; the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; the ‘B Specials’) should be disbanded; a new RUC Reserve should be set up; and a new locally recruited part-time force should be established under the control of the British Army (BA) [this force was to become the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR)]. Arthur Young was appointed as Chief Constable of the RUC at the request of Harold Wilson, then British Prime Minister. Young was appointed to oversee the reforms recommended in the Hunt Report. The publication of the report sparked serious rioting by loyalists in Belfast.
Tuesday 10 October 1972
Three members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) died in a premature explosion in a house in Balkan Street, Lower Falls, Belfast. A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Newry, County Down.
Tuesday 16 October 1973
Representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), met again at Stormont Castle, Belfast, for additional talks on the possibility of devolved government for Northern Ireland. The position of the parties on matters related to law and order were beginning to move closer to each other although there remained serious differences of opinion on specific issues.
Thursday 10 October 1974
General Election A general election was held across the United Kingdom (UK). The United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) won 10 of the 12 seats in Northern Ireland. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) held the seat in West Belfast and an independent Nationalist unseated Harry West, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), in Fermanagh / South Tyrone. Enoch Powell was returned for South Down. [See detailed results.]
Sunday 10 October 1976
Brian Stewart (13) died six days after being shot by a plastic bullet near his home in Norglen Road, Turf Lodge, Belfast. The shot was fired by a British solider. Rioting followed news of the boys death and representatives of the Peace People were attacked by some of the rioters. The Peace People organisation was also denounced by Republicans as being pro-British.
Monday 10 October 1977
Peace People Win Nobel Peace Prize Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan, who were both founding members of the Peace People, were awarded the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize.
[The Unionist dominated Belfast City Corporation refused to hold a civic reception in honour of the prize winners. The associated prize money of £80,000 was later to be the source of controversy within the Peace People.]
Saturday 10 October 1981
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out a bomb attack on a British Army (BA) bus close to Chelsea Barracks in London. The device was believed to be a romote controlled bomb hidden in a parked van, close to the junction of Ebury Bridge Road and St. Barnabas Street. The bomb was detonated when the bus carring the soldiers passed. Two British civilians were killed in the blast and 40 other people injured, including 23 soldiers.
Tuesday 10 October 1989
A vote was taken by the British Conservative Party conference to organise in Northern Ireland for the first time.
Thursday 10 October 1991
The Irish People’s Liberation Organisation (IPLO) shot dead a Protestant civilian during a gun attack on a public house on the Shankill Road in west Belfast. Hours later the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), shot dead a Catholic civilian near the Oldpark Road in west Belfast. [A further four Catholic civilians were killed by the UFF over the following six days.]
Sunday 10 October 1993
Martin Smyth (Rev.), then Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of Parliament (MP) and Grand Master of the Orange Lodge, gave an interview to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In the interview he stated that Sinn Féin (SF) could be included in political taks on what was best for “Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom” if they ended their support for the Irish Republican Army (IRA). [Smyth was criticised by some UUP members and other Unionists for this statement.]
The Sunday Independent (a Republic of Ireland newspaper) published the results of a poll of opinion in the Republic of Ireland. The result showed that, of those questioned, 72 per cent supported the talks that led to the Hume-Adams Initiative. Albert Reynolds, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), held a meeting in Dublin with Nelson Mandela, then leader of the African National Congress. Mandela gave his endorsement to the Hume-Adams Initiative.
Monday 10 October 1994
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) gave permission for Loyalist leaders to enter the Maze Prison to discuss with Loyalist prisoners the possibility of a ceasefire.
Friday 10 October 1997
The Scottish Office blocked the transfer of Jason Campbell from a Scottish prison to the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland.
[Campbell was serving a sentence for the murder of a Celtic football supporter in Glasgow in October 1995. The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) had originally requested the transfer but later withdrew its request following widespread criticism.]
Saturday 10 October 1998
Martin McGuinness, the Vice-President of Sinn Féin (SF), travelled to Dublin for a meeting with Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister). The meeting failed to provide any progress on the issue of decommissioning.
An Appeal court in the United States of America (USA) overturned a decision to extradite back to Northern Ireland three men who had escaped from the Maze prison. Billy Hutchinson, then a spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), said that the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Red Hand Commandos (RHC) were not ready to decommission their weapons even if the Irish Republican Army (IRA) did begin to had over arms.
Sunday 10 October 1999
Patrick Campbell (22), a member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and originally from Belfast, died after being badly beaten and stabbed on 6 October 1999 during clash between an INLA unit and a group of men in Ballymount industrial estate, Walkinstown, Dublin.
Wednesday 10 October 2001
Bryce Dickson, then Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, visited the scene of the Loyalist protest at the Holy Cross Girls’ Primary School in Ardoyne, north Belfast. Dickson was there to observe the nature of the protest. He spoke to some of the Loyalist protesters but was criticised by some of the parents of the children for not walking the route of the protest along with them.
Many of the protesters have begun to hide their identity and some were wearing ghoul masks (of characters in horror movies). Michael Tan (Dr), then a General Practicioner in Ardoyne, stated that some of the families were close to “breaking point” and parents and children were in need of professional psychological care. One of the Loyalist protesters displayed a threatening letter allegedly sent by a group called the Catholic Reaction Force. Jane Kennedy, then Security Minister at the NIO, said the existing security wall between the Loyalist and Nationalist areas of Ardoyne would be extended. However, she said there would be no gates across the route used by the Catholic parents and children.
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), addressed the annual conference of the Conservative Party in Blackpool, England. Trimble emphasised the strong continuing links between the two parties and also explained his decision to withdraw the UUP from the power-sharing Executive at the Assembly in Northern Ireland. He also criticised Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, for the handling of the peace process and for “slithering into appeasement” of the IRA.
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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.
17 People lost their lives on the 10th October between 1972– 1999
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10 October 1972
John Ruddy, (50)
Catholic
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot outside his home, Dromalane Park, Newry, County Down
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10 October 1972
Patrick Maguire, (24)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature bomb explosion in house, Balkan Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.
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10 October 1972
Joseph McKinney, (17)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature bomb explosion in house, Balkan Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.
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10 October 1972
John Donaghy, (19)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature bomb explosion in house, Balkan Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.
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10 October 1974
Albert Lutton, (30)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Shot at his friend’s house, Ballyfore Park, Ballyduff, Newtownabbey, County Antrim.
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10 October 1975
David Wray, (18) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Died two weeks after being shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Iniscarn Road, Creggan, Derry.
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10 October 1975
Ernest Dowds, (21)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot near his home while walking along Haywood Avenue, off Ormeau Road, Belfast.
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10 October 1975
Sean McNamee, (24)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA)
Shot during armed robbery at his factory, Macweld Engineering, Whiterock Industrial Estate, Belfast.
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10 October 1976
Brian Stewart, (13)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: British Army (BA)
Died six days after being hit by plastic bullet near his home, Norglen Road, Turf Lodge, Belfast.
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10 October 1980
James Hewitt, (48)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Killed by booby trap bomb attached to his car parked at cattle mart, Tandragee Road, Portadown, County Armagh.
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10 October 1981
Nora Field, (59) nfNIB
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by remote controlled bomb hidden in parked van which was detonated when British Army (BA) bus passed, near to Chelsea British Army (BA) base, Ebury Bridge Road, Chelsea, London.
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10 October 1981
John Breslin, (18) nfNIB
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by remote controlled bomb hidden in parked van which was detonated when British Army (BA) bus passed, near to Chelsea British Army (BA) base, Ebury Bridge Road, Chelsea, London.
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10 October 1983
Sean McShane, (39)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while in bookmaker’s shop, Monaghan Street, Newry, County Down. Off-duty Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) member intended target.
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10 October 1991
Harry Ward, (42)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),
Killed by: Irish People’s Liberation Organisation (IPLO)
Shot during gun attack on Diamond Jubilee Bar, Shankill Road, Belfast.
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10 October 1991
Huge Magee, (53)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Shot while driving his black taxi along Rosapenna Street, off Oldpark Road, Belfast.
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10 October 1992
James Douglas, (50)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while in Monico Bar, Lombard Street, Belfast.
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10 October 1992
James Douglas, (50)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while in Monico Bar, Lombard Street, Belfast.
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Belfast Child 