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29th April – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Deaths in the Troubles, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

29th April

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Thursday 29 April 1976

An off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) and a Protestant civilian died as a result of an Irish Republican Army (IRA) attack near Dungannon, County Tyrone.

Friday 29 April 1977

Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), warned in a statement that if the British authorities failed to alter its policies then loyalists might have to consider taking over the administration of Northern Ireland. He also called for people to consider a rent, rates and Value Added Tax (VAT) strike.

A meeting was held in Harland and Wolff shipyard at which a large majority of workers voted not to support the planned UUAC strike.

In addition workers at the Ballylumford power station made it clear that they would only support the stoppage if it obtained clear support across all sectors of Northern Ireland industry.

Following a request by Roy Mason, then Secretary of State, it was announced that extra British soldiers would be sent to Northern Ireland to maintain law and order in anticipation of the UUAC strike taking place.

[1,200 soldiers arrived on 1 May 1977.]

It was reported that approximately 200 Ulster Defence Association (UDA) men from Scotland along with 50 more from Liverpool had arrived in Belfast to support the strike planned by the UUAC.

Monday 29 April 1991

CLMC Ceasefire

The ceasefire announced on 17 April 1991 by the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) began at midnight.

 The ceasefire was ended by the CLMC on 4 July 1991

Wednesday 29 April 1992

Political Talks Recommenced The political talks (later known as the Brooke / Mayhew talks) recommenced at Stormont with the four main political parties making opening statements.

Saturday 29 April 1995

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) closed an illegal drinking den in the Shankill Road area of Belfast. Following the closure four vehicles were set on fire.

Monday 29 April 1996

Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs), made a proposal that the issue of decommissioning should become a ‘fourth strand’ in the proposed all-party talks.

Tuesday 29 April 1997

Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) prisoners caused a riot and staged a protest on top of the roofs of blocks H1 and H2 in the Maze Prison.

There were protesting at the tighter security rules that were approved on 28 April 1997. The Loyalist prisoners said that the new rules should only apply to Republican prisoners.

John Major, then British Prime Minister, in an article in the Irish Times said that “some decommissioning would have to take place during talks” but he indicated that Sinn Féin (SF) could enter the talks when there was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire.

Wednesday 29 April 1998

Further allegations were made that there had been collusion between the security forces and Loyalists in the killing of Pat Finucane on 12 February 1989. Sir Kenneth Bloomfield, then Northern Ireland Victims Commissioner, published his report, We Will Remember Them, on the victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

See Pat Finucane

The European Parliament welcomed a joint presentation on Northern Ireland from Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and David Andrews, then Irish Foreign Minister.

4The MEPs then listened in silence as Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), declared that: “Ulster people will not be bullied and will not be bribed”.

Thursday 29 April 1999

A survey on behalf of the Parades Commission showed that of those questioned 82 per cent wanted the Orange Order to engage in talks with the Commission about the issue of contentious parades.

Saturday 29 April 2000

Patrick Neville (31), a civilian from the Republic of Ireland, was found shot dead on a stairway in a block of flats near to his home in Inchicore, Dublin. It was believed that the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) was responsible for his killing.

[His death was linked to the killing of Patrick Campbell on 10 October 1999.]

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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.

 11  People lost their lives on the 29th  April   between 1972– 2000

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29 April 1972

Rosaleen Gavin,   (8)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot during sniper attack on British Army (BA) base, Oldpark Road, Belfast.

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29 April 1973


 Graham Cox,  (19)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) mobile patrol, New Lodge Road, Belfast.

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29 April 1976
 Edmund Stewart   (31)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while visiting a friend’s farm, Dunamony, near Dungannon, County Tyrone

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29 April 1976
 Stanley Arthurs   (43)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot, together with off duty Ulster Defence Regiment member, at his farm, Dunamony, near Dungannon, County Tyrone. He died 3 May 1976

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29 April 1977
 Eric Shiells   (49)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot outside his home, Northland Row, Dungannon, County Tyrone.

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29 April 1979
 Samuel Gibson   (52)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot by sniper while driving to work, Edendork, near Coalisland, County Tyrone

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29 April 1980
 George Kerr   (44)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot at his home, Chadolly Street, off Newtownards Road, Belfast.

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29 April 1984


 Thomas McGeary   (48)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Killed by booby trap bomb attached to his car, while driving along Old Moy Road, Drumarn, near Armagh.

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29 April 1992


 Conor Maguire   (22)

Catholic
Status: Irish People’s Liberation Organisation (IPLO),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his workplace, Ligoniel Improvements Association, Conneywarren Lane, Ligoniel, Belfast.

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29 April 1994
 Michael Brown   (23)

nfNI
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
From County Leitrim. Found shot, by the side of Omeath Road, near Newry, County Down. Alleged informer

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29 April 2000
 Patrick Neville   (31)

nfNIRI
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Found shot on stairway in block of flats, near to his home, St. Michael’s estate, Inchicore, Dublin. (His death was linked to the killing of Patrick Campbell on 10 October 1999.)

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Source: CAIN Web Service

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18th January – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Deaths in the Troubles, , , , , , ,

 

 

 

 

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

18th January

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Monday 18 January 1971

James Chichester-Clark, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, attended a meeting in London with Reginald Maudling, then British Home Secretary.

Tuesday 18 January 1972

Brian Faulkner, then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, banned all parades and marches in Northern Ireland until the end of the year. [ Bloody Sunday; Internment; Law Order. ]

Wednesday 18 January 1978

European Court Decision on Treatment of Internees

The European Court of Human Rights made its ruling on the case of alleged ill-treatment of internees during 1971. The case had been initially referred to the European Commission by the Irish government on 10 March 1976. On 2 September 1976 the European Commission on Human Rights decided that Britain had to answer a case of ill-treatment of internees and referred the matter to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Commission found that the interrogation techniques did involve a breach of the Convention on Human Rights because they not only involved inhuman and degrading treatment but also torture. The European Court of Human Rights however decided that the Commission was wrong to use the word ‘torture’ but did agree that the internees had been subjected to ‘inhuman and degrading treatment’.

Tuesday 18 January 1983

Peter Barry, then Irish Foreign Minister, began a fact-finding visit to Belfast.

Wednesday 18 January 1984

James Prior, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced a public inquiry into the scandal at the Kincora Boy’s Home in Belfast.

Tuesday 18 January 1994

Sinn Féin (SF) launched a ‘peace commission’ which was set up to hear opinions on the future of the region.

 The first session was held in Derry on 27 January 1994.

Saturday 18 January 1997

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) fired two ‘horizontal type mortars’ at a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Landrover patrol in Downpatrick, County Down. There were no injuries.

An attempted mortar attack in Derry was foiled by the security forces in Derry.

John Hume, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), confirmed that he would be the SDLP candidate for Foyle (in Derry) at the next general election.

[There had been suggestions that he might stand aside in favour of one of his colleagues. Hume at this time was both a Member of Parliament (MP) and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).]

Sunday 18 January 1998

Fergal (Rick) McCusker (28), a Catholic man, was abducted and shot dead by the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) at around 1.15 am in Maghera, County Derry.

McCusker was walking home after having been out drinking with friends. His body was discovered behind the premises of a youth club. McCusker had recently returned to Northern Ireland having worked for a while in the United States of America. He was the fourth Catholic to be killed since 27 December 1997.

Jean Kennedy Smith

 

 

Jean Kennedy Smith, then United States of America (USA) Ambassador to Ireland, came under attack from Ray Seitz, formerly US Ambassador to Britain (1991 to 1994), who branded her “an ardent IRA apologist”. Seitz made the claims in a recently published book of memoirs. Reacting to the claims, the White House said President Clinton had every confidence in Kennedy Smith.

Monday 18 January 1999

The Northern Ireland Assembly debated the proposed structures of government and the arrangements for the North-South bodies. Peter Weir, then Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), voted against his own party line on the issue of the new structures for government.

[Weir was a member of the pressure group ‘Union First’ and opposed to the Good Friday Agreement. He was deprived of the UUP whip on 19 January 1999.] Representatives of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition (GRRC) had a meeting with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, at Downing Street, London. Blair called for renewed efforts to find a compromise to the Drumcree issue. Brice Dickson, then a Professor at the University of Ulster, was appointed as the head of the new Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC). [Some people complained of a lack of Unionist representation on the Commission.]

Friday 18 January 2002

Anti-Sectarian Rallies

Rallies were held across Northern Ireland at 1.00pm (1300GMT) to protest against Loyalist paramilitary death threats to postal workers and school staff and to call for an end to all paramilitary activity. The rallies took place in Belfast, Cookstown, Derry, Enniskillen, Newry, Omagh, and Strabane, and were attended by an estimated 25,000 people. Representatives of all major trade unions as well as ordinary men and women took part in the demonstrations.

Part of a resolution read out at the rallies stated: “we call on all those engaged in acts of sectarianism or paramilitary activity to stop”.

[The rallies were organised following the killing by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) of Catholic postman Daniel McColgan (20) on Saturday 12 January 2002.]

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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.

6 People   lost their lives on the 18th January  between  1972 – 1998

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18 January 1972
 Sydney Agnew,  (40)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at his home, The Mount, off Albertbridge Road, Belfast. Witness to the hijacking of a bus.

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18 January 1973


 Francis Liggett,   (25)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot during attempted armed robbery at Royal Victoria Hospital, Falls Road, Belfast

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18 January 1980


 Graham Cox,   (35)

Protestant
Status: Prison Officer (PO),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while driving home from Magilligan Prison, Limavady Road, Stradreagh, near Derry.

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18 January 1983


 John Olphert,  (39)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty reservist. Shot at his supermarket, Nelson Drive, Caw, Derry.

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18 January 1989


 Ian Catney,  (27)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his workplace, his mother’s shop, Smithfield, Belfast.

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18 January 1998


 Fergal McCusker,   (28)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF)
Found shot, behind youth centre, off Tircane Road, Maghera, County Derry 

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17th October – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Deaths in the Troubles, , , , , , , , ,

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

 17th October

Sunday 17 October 1971

A British soldier was killed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Belfast. Another soldier died two days after he was mortally wounded.

A Catholic man was shot dead by the British Army in Belfast. It was estimated that approximately 16,000 households were withholding rent and rates for council houses as part of the campaign of civil disobedience organised by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The campaign was in protest against Internment and had begun on 15 August 1971.

Tuesday 17 October 1972

The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) opened fire on the British Army in several areas of Belfast.

Saturday 17 October 1981

Stewart Pringle

Stewart Pringle, then Commandant-General of the Royal Marines, was badly injured when the Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded a bomb under his car.

Tuesday 17 October 1995

Anthony Lake, then United States National Security Adviser, held a meeting with Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and Michael Ancram, then Political Development Minister at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO). Patrica Campbell, then a Catholic member of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) who had been a former assistant to James Molyneaux, lodged an employment discrimination case with the Fair Employment Commission (FEC) against the UUP.

Thursday 17 October 1996

David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), met with John Major, then British Prime Minister, at Downing Street, London.

Friday 17 October 1997

Parades Commission Announced Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, gave a speech at the Jordanstown campus of the University of Ulster during which she outlined the remit of the Parades Commission. Despite early speculation it was announced that the new commission would not cover other expressions of cultural identity such as Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) sporting activities. Resident groups and the Loyal Orders criticised various aspects of the Parades Commission in particular the membership of the commission and its powers.

David Ervine, then a spokesperson for the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), and Garry McMichael, then spokesperson for the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), began a speaking tour of the United States of America (USA).

Sunday 17 October 1999

A number of homes were evacuated in the Cliftondene Crescent area of north Belfast as part of a security alert. A pipe-bomb was later found and made safe. Lord Grey of Naunton died aged 89. He had been the last British Governor of Northern Ireland and had served in the post from 1968 until direct rule was imposed on 30 March 1972.

Wednesday 17 October 2001

Loyalist paramilitaries exploded a bomb close to where parents and children were returning from the Holy Cross Girls’ Primary School on the Ardoyne Road, north Belfast. The bomb had been placed at the rear of a house on Alliance Avenue and it exploded at 3.10pm (15.10BST) causing extensive damage to the house. No one was injured but the householder, and a number of parents and children, were described as being in “shock”.

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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.

8 People lost their lives on the 17th  October  between 1971– 1988

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17 October 1971


 Graham Cox,   (35) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died two days after being shot by sniper while travelling in British Army (BA) Armoured Personnel Carrier, Oldpark Road, Belfast.

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17 October 1971


 George Hamilton,  (21) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Glenalina Park, Ballymurphy, Belfast.

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17 October 1971


 David Thompson,  (38)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot as he stood at the corner of Seaforde Street and Sheriff Street, Short Strand, Belfast.

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17 October 1972
 Eleanor Cooke,   (32)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot during street disturbances near to her home, Bracken Street, Shankill, Belfast.

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17 October 1972
 John Todd, (23)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Also off duty Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) member. Shot during street disturbances, Wilton Street, Shankill, Belfast.

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17 October 1975


 John Greer,  (30)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Taxi driver. Shot when he arrived at house to pick up passenger, Cavehill Road, Belfast. Assumed to be a Catholic.

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17 October 1976
 Bernard McCarron,  (45)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Found shot and badly beaten, Richmond Street, Shankill, Belfast

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17 October 1988
 Norman McKeown,   (39)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb attached to his car outside his home, Dunleady Park, Dundonald, Belfast. His employer contractor to Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).

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