Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
29th March
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Sunday 29 March 1970
There were serious disturbances in Derry following a march to commemoration the Easter Rising.
The British Army later established a cordon around parts of the Bogside.
Friday 29 March 1974
Two Catholic civilians were killed in a bomb attack on Conway’s public house, Greencastle, near Belfast. The bomb was planted by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).
Tuesday 29 March 1977
There were reports that the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) was boycotting the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC).
Thursday 29 March 1979
Political Developments, Segregation
See Segregation in Northern Ireland
Sunday 29 March 1981
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) decided to withdraw the nomination of Austin Currie from the forthcoming by-election in Fermanagh / South Tyrone.
Thursday 29 March 1984
During the trial of John Robinson, a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer, for the killing of Seamus Grew, a member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), on 12 December 1982, Robinson said he had been ordered to lie about events leading up to the shooting.
He claimed that senior RUC officers had told him what to say and gave the reason as protecting Special Branch officers and an RUC informer in the Republic of Ireland.
[Robinson was later acquitted of the killing.]
on the situation in Northern Ireland which was drawn up on behalf of the Political Affairs Committee, was passed by the European Parliament by124 votes to 3. The report called for a power-sharing administration in Northern Ireland together with an integrated economic plan. The preparation of the report had been opposed by Unionists and the British government.
Tuesday 29 March 1994
The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), launched a rocket and gun attack on a Sinn Féin (SF) office on the Falls Road, west Belfast.
A report published by the Fair Employment Commission (FEC) suggested that Catholic under-representation in the workplace was 5 per cent compared to 7 per cent in 1990.
Wednesday 29 March 1995
Michael Ancram, then Political Development Minister at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), held a second meeting with representatives of the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) and the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP).
Friday 29 March 1996
The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in Dublin was suspended until a new Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire has been established.
Saturday 29 March 1997
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) left a large bomb, estimated at 1,000 lbs, close to a British Army base at Ballykinlar, County Down. The bomb was defused by the army.
An Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer was shot in the leg at Forkhill, County Armagh.
Republican paramilitaries carried out two separate ‘punishment’ attacks in west Belfast. In one of the attacks a man was shot in the leg, in the other a teenager was beaten. Loyalist paramilitaries carried out two separate ‘punishment’ shooting attacks in Belfast.
A man was shot in the leg near the Ormeau Road, while a second man was shot in both hands near the Shore Road. An IRA underground firing range was discovered in the Republic of Ireland near Scotstown, County Monaghan.
Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Labour Party spokesperson on Northern Ireland, said in a radio interview that an IRA ceasefire could allow Sinn Féin (SF) to enter the multi-party Stormont talks on 3 June 1997.
Sunday 29 March 1998
A Catholic family were forced to leave their home in the Greymount area of north Belfast following a petrol-bomb attack by Loyalists in the early hours of the morning. The house was badly damaged in the attack. The family were the subject of a prolonged campaign of sectarian intimidation.
The Sunday Telegraph (a British newspaper) published a report in which it claimed that a clandestine British Army unit called Force Research Unit (FRU) had links to Loyalist paramilitary groups. Although allegations about a similar unit known as Future Reaction Force (FRF) were made in 1992 (Dillon, 1992 ‘Stone Cold’) the report claimed that the unit was still operating in Northern Ireland.
[Reports about the FRU were linked to Brian Nelson who was an intelligence officer for the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) but who was at the same time working for British Army intelligence.
Nelson was given intelligence reports on Republicans which he passed on to the UDA who made plans to carry out assassinations. At the time of the Stevens inquiry (which began on 14 September 1989) the security forces stated that they acted to prevent over 200 assassinations.
See Brian Nelson
However the Sunday Telegraphy claimed a number of the assassinations went ahead although the security forces had knowledge of what was planned. It was believed that as many as 15 murders could have been prevented. Sinn Féin (SF) called for a independent judicial inquiry into the latest allegations.]
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), travelled to Chequers for a private meeting with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, about the final phase of the multi-party talks at Stormont. After years of controversy, the Irish Christian Brothers published a formal apology to all those in its care who had been mistreated. It invited all such people to seek help.
Monday 29 March 1999
Talks at Hillsborough
Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, and Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), met at Hillsborough Castle for the opening round of meetings on decommissioning of paramilitary weapons. Loyalist paramilitaries carried out a bomb attack on the home of James McCarry, then a Sinn Féin (SF) councillor on Moyle District Council; no one was injured in the attack.
There were clashes between Republicans and Loyalists outside the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, where the Orange Order was holding a ‘cultural evening’.
The IRA announced it had identified the location of the bodies of nine people killed by the organisation between 1972 and 1981 and buried in secret.
The British and Irish governments said they were willing to facilitate the exhumation of the remains of the ‘missing’ by ensuring that any new evidence uncovered would not be used in subsequent criminal proceedings.
See The Disappeared
The Parades Commission announced that the planned Apprentice Boys of Derry (ABD) parade would be re-routed away from the lower Ormeau Road area of Belfast. Colin Part, then Deputy Chief Constable for Norfolk, was appointed to take over control of the investigation into the killing of Rosemary Nelson.
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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.
7 People lost their lives on the 29th March between 1972– 1992
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29 March 1972
Bernard Calladene, (39)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb in abandoned car, Wellington Street, Belfast
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29 March 1972
Ruby Johnston, (35)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: not known (nk)
Died seven weeks after being badly burned during petrol bomb attack on bus, Ring Road, Armagh.
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29 March 1973
Michael Marr, (33)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Andersonstown Park West, Andersonstown, Belfast.
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29 March 1974
James Mitchell, (38)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Killed in bomb attack on Conway’s Bar, Shore Road, Greencastle, Belfast.
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29 March 1974
Joseph Donnelly, (24)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Killed in bomb attack on Conway’s Bar, Shore Road, Greencastle, Belfast.
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29 March 1985
John Bell, (34)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty reservist. Shot at his workplace, garage, Church Square, Rathfriland, County Down.
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29 March 1992
Terence McConville, (43)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his home, Bann Street, Portadown, County Armagh.
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Belfast Child 