Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
5th June
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Tuesday 5 June 1973
At the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) Lord Windlesham was replaced by Lord Belstead as the government spokesman on Northern Ireland.
David Howell became Minister of State at Stormont.
Thursday 5 June 1975
Brendan McNamee (22), then a member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), was shot dead by members of the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) in the continuing feud between the OIRA and the INLA.
Saturday 5 June 1976
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) carried out a gun attack on the Chlorane Bar, Gresham Street, Belfast, and killed three Protestant civilians and two Catholic civilians.
In a separate bomb attack on the International Bar, Portaferry, County Down, the UVF killed a Catholic civilian.
Republican paramilitaries carried out a bomb attack on the Times Bar, York Road, Belfast, killing two Protestant civilians.
Colm Mulgrew
A member of Sinn Féin (SF) was shot dead by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a covername for the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), at Camberwell Terrace, Belfast.
Monday 5 June 1978
Roy Mason, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, asked Amnesty International to delay publication of a report it had written into alleged ill-treatment of detainees at Castlereagh detention centre.
[The report was published on 13 June 1978.]
Tuesday 5 June 1984
George Seawright, then a Belfast councillor and Loyalist, told a meeting of the Belfast Education and Library Board that Catholics and their priests should be incinerated.
[The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) later withdrew the ‘Whip’ from Seawright because of the comments.]
See George Seawright
Tuesday 5 June 1984
Three Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers were acquitted of the murder of Eugene Toman (21) in 1982. Toman was a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) at the time but was unarmed when shot at an RUC vehicle check point.
Two other IRA members were shot dead in the same incident.
The judge, Lord Justice Gibson, said that the RUC officers should be commended “for their courage and determination in bringing the three deceased men to justice, in this case to the final court of justice.” [Many Nationalists found the judge’s remarks offensive.]
Thursday 5 June 1986
Stalker Removed From Inquiry
John Stalker, then Deputy Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester Police, was removed from the investigation into the alleged ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy of the security forces in Northern Ireland.
Colin Sampson, then Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, took over the investigation.
[Stalker was suspended from duty on 30 June 1986. Allegations were made about Stalker’s association with ‘known criminals’ but he was cleared of these allegations and reinstated on 22 August 1986.]
Tuesday 5 July 1988
Patrick Ryan, a Catholic priest from the Republic of Ireland, was arrested in Brussels. He was accused of providing support for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) .
Wednesday 5 June 1991
The main political parties in Northern Ireland agreed to the start of the main political talks (later known as the Brooke / Mayhew talks) on 17 June 1991.
Wednesday 5 June 1996
Following three days of talks the British and Irish Governments agreed ground rules for all-party talks.
The three members of the International Body on Arms Decommissioning, George Mitchell, John de Chastelain, and Harri Holkeri, were to chair various strands of the proposed talks. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a statement that a new ceasefire was “remote in the extreme”.
Friday 5 June 1998
The British government published the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Bill.
Saturday 5 June 1999
Woman Killed by Loyalist Paramilitaries
Elizabeth O’Neill (59) was killed when Loyalist paramilitaries carried out a pipe-bomb attack on her home in the Corcrain estate in Portadown, County Armagh.
Mrs O’Neill was a Protestant who was married to a Catholic. The bomb was thrown through the window of the O’Neill home and it is believed that Mrs O’Neill was killed as she tried to carry it out of the house.
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), cancelled a planned trip to Israel because of the killing and described it as an attempt to derail efforts to resolve the Drumcree parade crisis.
[‘Mixed-marriage’ (or ‘cross-community’ / ‘mixed religion’) couples had been targeted by paramilitaries since the beginning of the conflict. On 8 June 1999 the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) denied responsibility for the pipe-bomb attack.]
A blast bomb exploded in another Catholic home in Westland Road, Portadown. A woman was inside with her 10-month-old baby and sister, aged 17. No one is injured.
A pipe-bomb was made safe after it was discovered at a house in the Catholic Short Strand area of east Belfast. Several families were evacuated from their homes in Twinbrook, west Belfast while the Army dealt with two pipe-bombs.
According to residents in the Acacia Avenue flats the devices had been lying for several hours in an area where children play before being discovered just before lunchtime.
Pipe-bombs were thrown at Catholic homes in Castlewellan, County Down and in East Belfast.
All the attacks were carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.
Proximity talks between the Orange Order and representatives of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition (GRRC) stalled as the Orange Order representatives accused Frank Blair, then of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), of “complete bias”.
Monday 5 June 2000
The Northern Ireland Assembly met for the first time since it was suspended on 12 February 2000.
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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.
15 People lost their lives on the 5th June between 1973 – 1999
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05 June 1973
David Purvis (22)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot from passing car while on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) foot patrol, Belmore Street, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.
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05 June 1973
Terence Herdman (17)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Found shot by the side of Old Monaghan Road, near Clogher, County Tyrone. Alleged informer.
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05 June 1974
Frederick Dicks (21)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Irish Street, Dungannon, County Tyrone.
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05 June 1975
Brendan McNamee (22)
Catholic
Status: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA),
Killed by: Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA)
Shot outside mobile chip van, Stewartstown Road, Suffolk, Belfast. Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) / Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) feud.
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05 June 1976
Colm Mulgrew (26)
Catholic
Status: Civilian Political Activist (CivPA),
Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Sinn Fein (SF) member. Shot at his home, Camberwell Terrace, off Antrim Road, Belfast.
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05 June 1976
Edward McMurray (41)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Killed in bomb attack on Times Bar, York Road, Belfast.
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05 June 1976
Robert Groves (45)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Killed in bomb attack on Times Bar, York Road, Belfast.
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05 June 1976
James Coyle (50)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot during gun attack on Chlorane Bar, Gresham Street, Belfast.
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05 June 1976
Edward Farrell (45)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot during gun attack on Chlorane Bar, Gresham Street, Belfast.
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05 June 1976
Daniel McNeill (47)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot during gun attack on Chlorane Bar, Gresham Street, Belfast.
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05 June 1976
Samuel Corr (53)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot during gun attack on Chlorane Bar, Gresham Street, Belfast.
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05 June 1976
John Martin (59)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot during gun attack on Chlorane Bar, Gresham Street, Belfast. He died 23 June 1976
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05 June 1976
Christopher Byers (24)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Killed in bomb attack on International Bar, Portaferry, County Down.
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05 June 1981
Ronald Graham (39)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while delivering coal, Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh.
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05 June 1999
Elizabeth O’Neill (59)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF)
Killed during bomb attack on her home, Corcrain Drive, Portadown, County Armagh. Married to a Catholic
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Belfast Child 