Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
28th March
Tuesday 28 March 1972
Two people were killed in a bomb attack on the RUC station in Limavady, County Derry.
On the second day of the Ulster Vanguard strike a rally was organised at Stormont, Belfast, attended by an estimated 100,000 people.
The last sitting of the Northern Ireland parliament at Stormont took place.
Wednesday 28 March 1973
A ship (the ‘Claudia’) was intercepted off the Waterford coast in the Republic of Ireland. It was found to contain 5 tonnes of weapons which were on route to the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
Wednesday 28 March 1979
Labour Government Lost Vote of Confidence
The Labour government is defeated in a vote of confidence by 311 to 310 votes. The votes of Northern Ireland Members of Parliament (MPs) were decisive in bringing down the government. Eight Unionists voted against the government, two Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MPs voted with the government, and Gerry Fitt, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and Frank Maguire, an independent Nationalist MP, both abstained.
[Fitt had decided to withdraw his support from the Labour government over its failure to act on all the recommendations of the Bennett Report. Maguire who had a policy of abstention from Westminster did in fact travel to the House of Commons on this occasion. He later commented, “you could say I came over to London to abstain in person”. The loss of the vote of confidence was to trigger a general election on 3 May 1979 which would return a Conservative government with Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister.]
Saturday 28 March 1981
Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), addressed a rally, estimated at 30,000 people, at Stormont to protest against the on-going talks between the British and Irish governments.
Thursday 28 March 1991
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) under the cover of ( Protestant Action Force (PAF) ) carried out a gun attack on a mobile shop in Craigavon, County Armagh, and killed three Catholic civilians.
Eileen Duffy & Katrina Rennie
Two of the people killed were teenage girls.
Sunday 28 March 1993
John Hume, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), suggested that the two governments might impose a blueprint for a political settlement in Northern Ireland backed by a referendum.
The Sunday Telegraph (a British newspaper) published details of a poll of the opinions of a sample of people living in England on the Northern Ireland issue. Of those questioned 56 per cent said that they no longer wanted the region to remain in the United Kingdom (UK).
Tuesday 28 March 1995
Sinn Féin (SF) travelled to Dublin for a meeting with John Bruton, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), and Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs).
[The discussions were on the issue of the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.]
Sunday 28 March 1999
In an article in The Observer (a London based newspaper) Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, and Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), appealed for the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
John Taylor, then Deputy Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), said that David Trimble, then leader of UUP, might have to resign as First Minister if the d’Hondt mechanism was triggered to allocate positions on the Executive. A young couple who had suffered severe burns in the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998 were married in the town.
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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.
9 People lost their lives on the 28th March between 1972– 1991
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28 March 1972
Joseph Forsyth (57)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in van bomb explosion outside Limavady Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, County Derry. Driving past at the time of the attack.
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28 March 1972
Robert McMichael, (27)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in van bomb explosion outside Limavady Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, County Derry. Driving past at the time of the attack.
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28 March 1974
James Macklin, (28)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died seven days after being shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) mobile patrol, Antrim Road, Belfast.
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28 March 1977
Hester McMullan, (63)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at her home, Crosskeys, near Toome, County Antrim. Her off-duty RUC son was the intended target.
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28 March 1982
Norman Duddy, (45)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot shortly after leaving church, Patrick Street, off Strand Road, Derry.
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28 March 1990
George Starrett, (58)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot at his home, Newry Road, Armagh.
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28 March 1991
Eileen Duffy, (19)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Shot during gun attack on mobile shop, Drumbeg South, Craigavon, County Armagh
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28 March 1991
Katrina Rennie, (16)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Shot during gun attack on mobile shop, Drumbeg South, Craigavon, County Armagh
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28 March 1991
Brian Frizzell, (29)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Shot during gun attack on mobile shop, Drumbeg South, Craigavon,County Armagh.
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Belfast Child 