Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
21st January
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Tuesday 21 January 1975
There was a series of bomb explosions in Belfast in attacks carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
Two members of the IRA were killed when a bomb they were transporting by car exploded in Victoria Street, Belfast.
Wednesday 21 January 1976
Government figures showed that 25,000 houses had been damaged in violence related to the conflict.
Gerry Fitt, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), told Members of Parliament (MPs) that some Tenant’s Associations in Belfast were under the control of various paramilitary groups.
Monday 21 January 1980
Anne Maguire was found dead in what was believed to be a case of suicide. Anne Maguire was the mother of the three children who were killed in an incident on 10 August 1976 which led to the formation of the Peace People.
Wednesday 21 January 1981
Norman Stronge (86), a former speaker of the Stormont parliament, and James Stronge (48), his son, were shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in an attack on their mansion, Tynan Abbey, near Middletown, County Armagh
Thursday 21 January 1982
Owen Carron and Danny Morrison, then both members of Sinn Féin (SF), were arrested when they tried to illegally enter the United States of America (USA) from Canada. Both men were later deported back to Canada.
James Prior, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, held a meeting with John DeLorean, then head of the DeLorean Motor Company, to discuss the financial problems that the company was going through.
[Wednesday 21 January 1987
The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) announced that it would disband in its present form.
Wednesday 21 February 1990
Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and William McCrea, then DUP Member of Parliament (MP), hand in a ‘Hands off the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR)’ petition to Downing Street.
Thursday 21 January 1993
John Major, then British Prime Minister, wrote a letter to John Hume, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), in which he rejected calls for a new inquest into the events of Bloody Sunday.
Wednesday 21 January 1998
Benedict (Ben) Hughes (55), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) in Utility Street, south Belfast. Hughes was shot as he left his place of work in Sandy Row a Protestant part of Belfast. Hughes was married with three children. No group claimed responsibility for the shooting.
[On 22 January 1998, Ronnie Flanagan, then Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), announced that the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) were responsible for the killing of Benedict Hughes. The UFF is a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). The UFF at the time was on a self-proclaimed ceasefire.]
John McFarland, a Catholic civilian, was shot and injured by a Loyalist paramilitary group in Belfast. McFarland was in his taxi at the time and was able to drive himself to hospital. Steven Paul, a Protestant man, was shot and injured by an unidentified Loyalist paramilitary group. Paul was shot in his home in Belvoir Park estate, Belfast.
The funeral of Fergal (Rick) McCusker took place near Maghera, County Derry. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a statement that rejected the ‘Propositions of Heads of Agreement’ document as being pro-Unionist.
Thursday 21 January 1999
Billy Hutchinson, then a spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), said that if the Good Friday Agreement failed and was replaced by a new Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) then Loyalist paramilitaries could target tourists in the Republic of Ireland.
William Hague, then leader of the Conservative Party, called on the government to halt the release of paramilitary prisoners until such time as decommissioning had begun.
Monday 21 January 2002
The four Sinn Féin (SF) Members of Parliament (MPs) travelled to Westminster, London, to take their offices at the House of Commons. Previously SF had been banned from using parliamentary facilities; the ban was lifted in December 2001. The four MPs still refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Queen and said they would not be taking their seats in the debating chamber.
Allowances and office expenses for the four MPs are expected to total over £400.000. Prior to going to Westminster the four MPs had a meeting at Downing Street with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, about the security response to Loyalist violence in Northern Ireland. Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), claimed that there had been collusion between the security services and Loyalist paramilitary groups. He also claimed that the British government had failed to deal adequately with recent Loyalist violence.
A man who had served 13 years in prison for murder had his appeal upheld by the Court of Appeal in Belfast. Thomas Green, a Protestant from the Ballysillan area of north Belfast, was convicted of the sectarian murder of John O’Neill, a Catholic, in 1985. Green lost an earlier appeal and was then freed in 1999 under the Good Friday Agreement. Green’s latest appeal was based on medical evidence which indicated that he may have been unaware of what he was doing when he signed the confession.
The Northern Ireland Assembly debated a motion tabled by Monica McWilliams, then member of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (NIWC), and supported by the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI). The motion called on the British government to provide security documents on the Loyalist bombings in Dublin and Monaghan (on 17 May 1974) to the Commission of Inquiry taking place in the Republic of Ireland.
See Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The NIWC had been approached by the organisation Justice For the Forgotten seeking aid to secure the documents given an alleged slow response by the British government. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) opposed the motion but it was passed in a vote. [33 people were killed in the bombs in Dublin and Monaghan. A letter dated 26 February 2002 was sent by John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, to the Commission of Inquiry.] John Hume, former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), gave evidence to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry.
Hume was asked why he had not supported the anti-Internment march on 30 January 2002.
[Two shots were fired from a shotgun into the ceiling of a public house in Quay Street in Ardglass, County Down. The attack was carried out by a man wearing a balaclava. The motive for the incident was unclear.]
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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 21st January between 1972 – 1998
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21 January 1972
Philip Stentiford, (18)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Derrynoose, near Keady, County Armagh.
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21 January 1974
John Haughey, (32)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by remote controlled bomb, hidden in electricity distribution box, detonated when British Army (BA) foot patrol passed Lone Moor Road, Creggan, Derry
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21 January 1975
John Kelly, (26)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in premature bomb explosion while travelling in car along Victoria Street, Belfast.
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21 January 1975
John Stone, (23)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in premature bomb explosion while travelling in car along Victoria Street, Belfast
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21 January 1977
Michael McHugh, (35)
Catholic
Status: Civilian Political Activist (CivPA),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Former Sinn Fein (SF) member. Shot in the laneway of his home, Corgary, near Castlederg, County Tyrone.
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21 January 1977
James McColgan, (54)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Nightwatchman. Died from inhaling fumes during fire caused by incendiary bomb, Castle Street, Belfast.
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21 January 1981
Norman Stronge, (86)
Protestant
Status: Civilian Political Activist (CivPA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) member, and former Speaker at Stormont. Shot together with his son at their mansion, Tynan Abbey, near Middletown, County Armagh.
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21 January 1981
James Stronge, (48)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot together with his father, the former Speaker at Stormont, at their mansion, Tynan Abbey, near Middletown, County Armagh.
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21 January 1991
Cullen Stephenson, (63)
Protestant
Status: ex-Royal Ulster Constabulary (xRUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot outside his home, Church Street, Brookeborough, County Fermanagh.
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21 January 1993
Samuel Rock, (30)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Shot at his home, Rosewood Street, Lower Oldpark, Belfast.
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21 January 1998
Benedict Hughes, (55)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Shot outside his workplace, Utility Street, off Donegall Road, Sandy Row, Belfast.
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Belfast Child 