Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
29th September
Wednesday 29 September 1971
Two Protestant civilians, Alexander Andrews (60) and Ernest Bates (38), were killed in an explosion at the Four Step Inn on the Shankill Road in Belfast, no group claimed responsibility but it was believed to be the responsibility of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).
Monday 29 September 1975
Seven people were injured in an Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb attack in Oxford Street, London.
Saturday 29 September 1979
Pope’s Visit to Ireland Pope John Paul II visited Drogheda, County Louth, Republic of Ireland. The Pope spoke to an estimated crowd of 250,000 people and appealed for an end to violence in Northern Ireland, “On my knees I beg of you to turn away from the paths of violence and to return to the ways of peace”.
Tuesday 29 September 1981
At the British Labour party’s annual conference a motion was passed committing the party to ‘campaign actively’ for a United Ireland by consent. [ 1981 Hunger Strike.]
Monday 29 September 1986
Amnesty International called for a full judicial inquiry into disputed killings in Northern Ireland.
Wednesday 29 September 1993
In a speech, Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, asserted the right of “self-determination of the people living in Northern Ireland”. Mayhew also stated that Sinn Féin (SF) could only join political talks when Irish Republican Army (IRA) violence had ended “for real”.
Sunday 29 September 1996
A 250 pound car bomb made of home-made explosives was abandoned in Belfast. Security forces used a controlled explosion to make the bomb safe. The Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) later claimed responsibility for the bomb.
Monday 29 September 1997
Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and Robert McCartney, then leader of the United Kingdom Unionist Party (UKUP), addressed a rally in the Ulster Hall, Belfast, which was in protest at the multi-party talks at Stormont. Approximately 1,000 people attended the rally called “Ulster’s Crisis – Where Now David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), later attacked the “relentless negativity of a minority of Unionists”.
Wednesday 29 September 1999
Both David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and Martin McGuinness, the Vice-President of Sinn Féin (SF), held separate meetings with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, during the Labour Party annual conference. Trimble was reported as having said that he would be prepared to share power with Sinn Féin if the Irish Republican Army (IRA) undertook to decommission its weapons within days of the establishment of the proposed Executive.
29 September 2000
Patrick Quinn (32), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead while in The Depot Bar in Magherafelt, County Derry.
[Republican paramilitaries were believed to have been responsible for the shooting but no group claimed responsibility.]
Saturday 29 September 2001
Sinn Féin (SF) held its Ard Fheis (annual conference) at the RDS in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Richard Egan, then United States Ambassador to Ireland, attended part of the proceedings to listen to the presidential address by Gerry Adams. Adams warned that the political institutions established by the Good Friday Agreement would collapse unless Unionists lifted their threats to exclude SF from the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Adams also said, in response to the attacks in America on 11 September 2001, that “terrorism is ethically indefensible”. However he drew a distinction between terrorists and freedom-fighters:
“We will not be part of any effort to criminalise or to deem as terrorists those men and women who fought when they considered they had no other choice …”.
John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced the names of the nine independent members who will join the new Northern Ireland Policing Board. The ten political members had already been nominated by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Sinn Féin (SF) had refused to nominate members to the board.
The nine independent members were named as: Desmond Rea (Prof.) chairman, Denis Bradley vice-chairman, Viscount Brookeborough, Brian Dougherty, Barry Gilligan, Tom Kelly, Pauline McCabe, Rosaleen Moore, and Suneil Sharma.
Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles
Today is the anniversary of the follow people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland
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.
11 People lost their lives on the 29th September between 1971 – 2000
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29 September 1971
Alexander Andrews, (60)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: not known (nk)
Killed in bomb attack on Four Step Inn, Shankill Road, Belfast.
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29 September 1971
Ernest Bates, (38)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: not known (nk)
Killed in bomb attack on Four Step Inn, Shankill Road, Belfast.
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29 September 1972
Thomas Paisley, (49)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Milkman, shot during armed robbery at farmhouse, Straid Road, Ballynure, near Ballyclare, County Antrim.
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29 September 1972
James Quigley, (18)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot during attempted sniper attack on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Albert Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.
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29 September 1972
Ian Burt, (18) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Albert Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.
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29 September 1974
Gerard McWilliams, (23)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Found stabbed to death in entry off Lecale Street, Donegall Road, Belfast.
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29 September 1978
Joseph Skelly, (74)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot from passing car, while driving through the centre of Newry, County Down. Former RUC member in car with him was intended target.
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29 September 1981
Mark Stockman, (20)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Off duty. Shot shortly after leaving his workplace, Mackie’s factory, Springfield Road, Belfast.
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29 September 1984
Brian Stack, (47) nfNIRI
Status: Irish Prison Officer (IPO),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Employed at Portlaoise Prison. Died 18 months after being shot shortly after leaving the National Stadium, while walking along South Circular Road, Dublin. He was injured on 25 March 1983.
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29 September 1991
Kevin McGovern, (19)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)
Shot by undercover Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) member, while walking along, Westland Road South, Cookstown, County Tyrone.
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29 September 2000
Patrick Quinn, (32)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Shot while in The Depot Bar, Union Street, Magherafelt, County Derry.
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Belfast Child 