Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
22nd January
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Saturday 22 January 1972
An anti-internment march was held at Magilligan strand, County Derry, with several thousand people taking part. As the march neared the internment camp it was stopped by members of the Green Jackets and the Parachute Regiment of the British Army, who used barbed wire to close off the beach.
When it appeared that the marchers were going to go around the wire, the army then fired rubber bullets and CS gas at close range into the crowd. A number of witnesses claimed that the paratroopers (who had been bused from Belfast to police the march) severely beat protesters and had to be physically restrained by their own officers.
John Hume accused the soldiers of “beating, brutalising and terrorising the demonstrators”. There was also an anti-internment parade in Armagh, County Armagh.
Tuesday 22 January 1974
Eighteen Loyalist protestors were forcefully removed from the front benches of the Assembly. It took eight Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers to carry Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), to steps outside the Assembly building.
Harry West succeeded Brian Faulkner as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).
Thursday 22 January 1976
Two members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were killed by a booby-trap bomb in Donegall Pass RUC base, Belfast. No group claimed responsibility.
A Catholic civilian was shot dead by Loyalists in Belfast.
A member of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was shot dead by the IRA near Portglenone, County Derry.
In a case of mistaken identity, a Protestant civilian was shot dead by Loyalists in Belfast.
The IRA shot dead a man alleged to have been an informer in County Tyrone.
Saturday 22 January 1977
Two people were found shot dead in a burning car in the Shankill area of Belfast; they had been killed by Loyalist paramilitaries.
Wednesday 22 January 1992
See Brian Nelson
Nelson Pleaded Guilty Brian Nelson, who had operated as a British Army agent and a Ulster Defence Association (UDA) intelligence officer, pleaded guilty to five charges of conspiracy to murder and 14 charges of possessing information useful to terrorists. [Nelson was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. His decision to plead guilty meant that the security services did not have to justify their actions in court.]
Friday 22 January 1993
Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, travelled to Dublin for informal talks with Dick Spring, the Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs). Mayhew agreed to informal discussions with the Irish government in advance of any new political talks in Northern Ireland.
Sunday 22 January 1995
Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs), said that the issue of the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons should not be allowed to become an obstacle to all-party talks.
Thursday 22 January 1998
RUC Blame UDA / UFF For Killings Chris McMahon (29), a Catholic civilian, was shot and seriously wounded at the bakery where he worked in Newtownabbey, near Belfast. McMahon was shot at around 6.00pm in a random attack by a Loyalist paramilitary group.
Ronnie Flanagan, then Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), stated that the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) were involved in the recent killings of three Catholics. This despite the fact that the UFF was supposed to be on ceasefire.
The UFF is a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). David Adams, then a spokesman for the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), denied that the UFF were behind the recent killings. There were calls for the UDP to be expelled from the multi-party talks.
See UDA Page
The funeral of Larry Brennan took place in Belfast.
The funeral of Jim Guiney, who was a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), took place in Lisburn, County Down. Further evidence of the Republic of Ireland’s growing modern technological base was confirmed when Dell Computer announced plans to create 3,000 new jobs in Limerick, County Limerick and Bray, County Wicklow, over the next three years in an £180m. expansion plan.
Friday 22 January 1999
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) announced that seven security bases along the County Fermanagh border would be closed.
Lindsay Robb, then a Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) prisoner and former member of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) team that engaged in talks leading to the Good Friday Agreement, was the first LVF prisoner to be given early release.
Tuesday 22 January 2002
Two packages, each containing a single bullet, which were addressed to representatives of Nationalist resident groups were intercepted by postal workers at Mallusk, County Antrim.
Breandan Mac Cionnaith,
The parcels were addressed to Gerard Rice, then representative of the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community in Belfast, and Breandan Mac Cionnaith, then representative of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition in Portadown, County Armagh. Both men were prominent in protests against Loyal Order parades in their areas.
A suspected pipe-bomb was found outside the home of Alex Maskey (SF), then Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). The device was later declared an “elaborate hoax”.
Colm Murphy (49) was found guilty at the Special Criminal Court (three judges sitting without a jury) in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, of conspiracy to cause an explosion. He was the first person to be convicted in relation to the Omagh Bombing on 15 August 1998. Murphy was originally from south Armagh but had a home in County Louth, Republic of Ireland.
[Murphy was sentenced on Friday 25 January 2002 to 14 years in prison.]
See Omagh Bombing
It was announced that the British Army’s Ebrington Barracks in Derry would close, as would a watchtower near the border in south Armagh. Although the Army stated that troop numbers would not be reduced it was announced that 500 soldiers based at Ebrington would return to England where they would be put on stand-by.
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), travelled to Downing Street, London, for a meeting with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister. Trimble warned that the peace process was in danger of being undermined. He claimed that the government had “bent the rules” to allow Sinn Féin (SF) Members of Parliament (MPs) office facilities at Westminster.
Trimble also advised Blair against amnesties for Irish Republican Army (IRA) members who were ‘on the run’.
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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.
9 People lost their lives on the 22nd January between 1976– 1990
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22 January 1976
Niall O’Neill, (27)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot at his home, Thirlmere Gardens, off Cavehill Road, Belfast.
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22 January 1976
John Arrell, (32)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while driving his firm’s minibus home from work, Claudy, near Portglenone, County Derry.
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22 January 1976
John Morrow, (36)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot during gun attack on his firm’s van, while travelling along Ballyutoag Road, Ligoniel, Belfast. Assumed to be a Catholic.
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22 January 1976
Kieran McCann, (20)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at his workplace, Eglish, near Dungannon, County Tyrone. Alleged informer.
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22 January 1976
George Bell, (54)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: not known (nk)
Killed by booby trap bomb hidden in abandoned shotgun which exploded in Donegall Pass Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, Belfast.
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22 January 1976
Neville Cummings, (37)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: not known (nk)
Killed by booby trap bomb hidden in abandoned shotgun which exploded in Donegall Pass Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, Belfast.
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22 January 1977
Thomas Boston, (45)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Found shot in burning car, Downing Street, Shankill, Belfast.
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22 January 1977
John Lowther, (43)
nfNI
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Originally from County Mayo. Found shot in burning car, Downing Street, Shankill, Belfast.
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22 January 1990
Derek Monteith, (35)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot at his home, Kilburn Park, Armagh.
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Belfast Child 