Tag Archives: James Finlay

21st September – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

21st September

Thursday 21 September 1972

A member of the UDR and his wife were killed in an IRA attack near Derrylin, County Fermanagh.

Thursday 21 September 1978

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out a bomb attack on Eglinton airfield, County Derry. The terminal building, two aircraft hangers, and four planes were destroyed in the attack.

Monday 21 September 1981

Michael James Devine

James Devine, then an Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoner, joined the hunger strike. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) was openly critical of the hunger strike.

Saturday 21 September 1991

Loyalist prisoners started a fire in the dining-hall of Crumlin Road Jail, Belfast. Peter Brooke, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, left Northern Ireland to begin a five-day visit to the United States of America (USA).

Monday 21 – Wednesday 23 September 1992

James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), led a delegation from the UUP to talks in Dublin Castle, Dublin, with the Irish Government. The talks were based on Strand Two and the topics discussed included constitutional matters, security co-operation, channels of communication between the two states, and identity and allegiance. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) did not attend the talks in Dublin.

[These were the first formal discussions by Unionists in Dublin since 1922.]

Tuesday 21 September 1993

The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), placed bombs at the homes of four Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) councillors. No one was injured in the attacks. Senior members of the SDLP expressed support for the ‘Hume-Adams’ talks.

Thursday 21 September 1995

It was revealed that the total amount of compensation paid by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) for ‘Troubles’ related incidents (to the end of March 1995) was £1.12 billion.

Sunday 21 September 1997

[Frank Steele, formerly a member of MI6, claimed that various British governments had been in contact with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) since the first contact was established on 7 July 1972.]

Monday 21 September 1998

Members of the Garda Síochána (the Irish police) and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) detained 12 men as part of their investigation into the Omagh bombing. Six were arrested in south Armagh, six in north Louth, Republic of Ireland. Jeffrey Donaldson, then a Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of Parliament (MP) and a critic of the Agreement, said that David Trimble, then First Minister designate, had mentioned in several private meetings the possibility of his resignation over the issue of decommissioning. Trimble said that he had never made such a threat.

Tuesday 21 September 1999

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) met a Sinn Féin (SF) delegation at Stormont. The meeting was part of the Mitchell Review of the Good Friday Agreement.

Thursday 21 September 2000

South Antrim By-election

A 71 year old Protestant woman in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, escaped injury after she handled a pipe-bomb that had been put through her letterbox. A similar device was put through the letterbox of a house in north Belfast.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) won the Westminster by-election in South Antrim taking the seat from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). The area had previously been the second safest UUP seat. Willie McCrea (Rev.), who was a strong opponent of the Good Friday Agreement, won the seat by 822 votes to beat David Burnside the UUP candidate who was also an opponent of the Agreement.

[Commentators speculated that UUP supporters who were in favour of the Agreement had stayed at home and decided not to vote in the election.]

Friday 21 September 2001

Assembly Suspended For 1 Day John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced that he was suspending the Northern Ireland Assembly at midnight.

[The suspension lasted just 24 hours. The effect of the suspension was to allow another period of six weeks (until 3 November 2001) in which the political parties would have an opportunity to come to agreement and elect a First Minister and Deputy First Minister.]

The Irish Times (a Republic of Ireland newspaper) published the results of an opinion poll conducted on a sample of 1,000 people in Northern Ireland. Of those questioned 85 per cent said they thought the Irish Republican Army (IRA) should “now begin the process of putting its weapons beyond use”. While 64 per cent of the sample indicated that they had voted in favour of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 only 52 per cent said they would vote in favour of it now.

[The survey was conducted conducted last Saturday and Monday on behalf of the Irish Times and Prime Time by MRBI Ltd.]

Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), said that Nationalist recruits to the new Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) would be “accorded the same treatment as the RUC” [Royal Ulster Constabulary].

[Unionists claimed that the comments implied a threat to Catholic recuits; this was denied by SF.]

It was reported that the number of Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers claiming compensation for trauma had risen to over 3,000.


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.

3 People lost their lives on the 21st   September  between 1971 – 1972

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21 September 1971
James Finlay,   (31)

Protestant
Status: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Died eight days after being injured in premature bomb explosion at house, Bann Street, Lower Oldpark, Belfast. Explosion occurred on 13 September 1971.

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21 September 1972


Thomas Bullock,   (53)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot together with his wife at their home, Aghalane, near Derrylin, County Fermanagh

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21 September 1972
Emily Bullock,   (50)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot together with her husband, an Ulster Defence Regiment member, at their home, Aghalane, near Derrylin, County Fermanagh.

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13th September – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

13th September

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

Monday 13 September 1971

Two Loyalists, James Finlay (31) and John Thompson (21), were mortally injured when the bomb they were preparing exploded prematurely in a house in Bann Street, Belfast. Finlay died on 21 September 1971, and Thompson died on 12 October 1971.

Monday 13 September 1976

Following the resignation of Brian Faulkner the Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (UPNI) elected Anne Dickson as its new leader.

[Dickson became the first woman to lead a political party in Ireland.]

Tuesday 14 September 1976

‘Blanket Protest’ Began

Kieran Nugent was the first prisoner to be sentenced under the new prison regime introduced on 1 March 1976 which meant that he would not receive special category status. Nugent was sent to the new ‘H-Blocks’ of the Maze Prison where he refused to wear prison clothes choosing instead to wrap a blanket around himself.

[This marked the beginning of the ‘Blanket Protest’. This protest was to culminate in the hunger strikes of 1981 when 10 Republican prisoners died. Eventually many of the elements of special category status such as, no uniforms, free association and no prison work, were conceded to paramilitary prisoners.]

Sunday 13 September 1981

Humphrey Atkins, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, was appointed as deputy Foreign Secretary. James Prior was appointed by the British government to take over the post of Secretary of State. [ 1981 Hunger Strike.]

Tuesday 13 September 1983

James Prior, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, defended the use of evidence supplied by ‘supergrasses’.

Friday 14 September 1990

There was a meeting of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (AIIC) in Dublin.

Friday 13 September 1991

The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), planted two bombs planted in Catholic areas. The devices were defused by the British Army. The Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (AIIC) held a meeting at Stormont in Belfast.

Tuesday 13 September 1994

There were sectarian clashes outside Crumlin Road Courthouse, Belfast, which were connected to a case being heard at the time. Later in the evening there was serious rioting in Loyalist areas of Belfast. Shots were fired, and petrol bombs were thrown, at the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).

Friday 13 September 1996

British Government Ministers were reportedly warned that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were ready to launch a renewed bombing campaign in Britain.

Saturday 13 September 1997

The Executive Council of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) held a meeting to decide its position on entering the resumed multi-party talks on 15 September 1997. However the meeting did not arrive at a decision and the matter was postponed to a further meeting on the morning of 15 September 1997. Loyalists held a parade on the Shankill Road with 70 bands taking part. Four members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) appeared during the parade and posed with weapons before slipping away into the crowd.

Monday 13 September 1999

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) executive set up a committee to devise an alternative to the Patten proposals for policing in Northern Ireland. David Trimble, then leader of the UUP, dismissed threats to his leadership and said his party would continue to be involved in the Mitchell Review of the Good Friday Agreement. A survey of public opinion in Northern Ireland found that of those questioned 69 per cent of Catholics approved of the proposals in the Patten report while 65 per cent of Protestants disapproved. The survey was conducted by Ulster Marketing Surveys.

Thursday 13 September 2001

The British Army had to deal with a pipe-bomb that had been discovered found at Carrowdore near Newtownards, County Down. Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers discovered a gun, ammunition, a telescopic sight, and bomb-making parts in a hedge on the Knockagh Road in Monkstown, County Antrim.

The Loyalist protest at the Holy Cross Girls’ Primary School followed the pattern of earlier in the week. The Northern Ireland Assembly met to discuss the motion: “This Assembly condemns the shocking and inhuman acts of terrorism carried out in the United States of America on Tuesday and, on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland, extends its sympathy to the government and people of America and all who have suffered so grievously.” The motion was a joint one submitted by Reg Empey (Sir), then Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Minster of Development and Enterprise, and Seamus Mallon, then Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) deputy First Minister.

Empey and Mallon described the attacks as “shocking and inhuman acts”. The motion was passed unanimously. However, during the debate Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), led his party members out of the chamber when Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), rose to speak. Iain Duncan Smith was elected leader of the Conservative Party. Quentin Davies of the Conservative Party was appointed the new shadow spokesman for Northern Ireland.


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.

  7 People lost their lives on the 13th September  between 1972 – 1993

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13 September 1972


Patrick Doyle,  (19)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Son of publican. Shot in Divis Castle Bar, Springfield Road, Belfast.

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13 September 1972


Robert Warnock,  (18)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)
Shot by off duty Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) member during attempted armed robbery at Hillfoot Bar, Glen Road, Castlereagh, Belfast.

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13 September 1975


Leo Norney,  (17)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot while walking along Shepherd’s Path, near Turf Lodge, Belfast.

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13 September 1977
Robin Smyrl,  (26)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while driving to his workplace, Gortin, County Tyrone.

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13 September 1978
Williams Crawford,  (17)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Died five days after being shot, during gun attack on Lawnbrook Social Club, Centurion Street, Shankill, Belfast. Intention to scare the patrons, after earlier fracas at the social club.

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13 September 1991


Kevin Flood,  (31)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot from passing car while standing outside his home, Ligoniel Road, Ligoniel, Belfast.

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13 September 1993
Vernon Bailie,  (41)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Red Hand Commando (RHC)
Shot outside his girlfriend’s home, Johnston Park, Carrowdore, near Newtownards, County Down


See: 14th September

Main source CAIN Web Service

Major Events in the Troubles