Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
1st June
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Thursday 1 June 1978
David Cook, then a member of the Alliance Party (APNI), became the first non-Unionist Lord Mayor of Belfast. Cook secured this post because of a dispute between Unionist councillors.
[It was not until 1997 that a Catholic became Lord Mayor of Belfast.]
Roy Mason, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, held talks with Irish ministers in Dublin.
Tuesday 1 June 1982
Robert Richardson, then a Lieutenant-General, succeeded Richard Lawson as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the British Army in Northern Ireland.
Friday 1 June 1984
Reagan Visit to Ireland
Ronald Reagan, then President of the United States of America (USA), began a four-day visit to the Republic of Ireland.
Thursday 1 June 1989
Two men were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of two British Army corporals on 19 March 1988.
[This was the first in a number of trials connected with the killings.]
Friday 1 June 1990
Two British soldiers were killed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in separate incidents in England and Germany.
Monday 1 June 1992
A Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillor was elected Mayor in Derry with the backing of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
[The SDLP had a policy of rotating the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor between Nationalist and Unionist candidates.]
Tuesday 1 June 1993
Reg Empey, then a Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) councillor, was elected as Lord Mayor of Belfast. Hugh Smyth, then a Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) councillor, was elected as Deputy Lord Mayor.
Wednesday 1 June 1994
Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs), told the Daíl that the key to Sinn Féin (SF) joining political talks was a permanent cessation of violence.
He said there would also have to be verification of the handing over of weapons.
Thursday 1 June 1995
Alasdair McDonnell, then a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) councillor, was elected Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast. McDonnell was the first Nationalist councillor to hold this position.
[The first Nationalist councillor to be elected Lord Mayor was appointed on 2 June 1997.]
Sunday 1 June 1997
Gregory Taylor (41), an off-duty Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Constable, died following a beating he received from a Loyalist mob. Taylor was beaten and kicked to death outside a pub in Ballymoney, County Antrim, by a group of Loyalist bandsmen.
Taylor had been attacked after a row over the RUC’s position on a Apprentice Boys of Derry parade in Dunloy, County Antrim.
[It was later disclosed that Taylor had used his mobile phone to try to summon help, prior to the attack, from the local police station but no car was available to come to his aid. Initially eight men were charged with his murder including the son of an RUC officer, but a number of these were released when the case came to trial.
Two men were sentenced to life imprisonment but were later released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Two other men pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to four years imprisonment.]
Monday 1 June 1998
Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, delivered a speech on the results of the referendum. David Alderdice, then an Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) councillor in Belfast, was elected as Lord Mayor of Belfast.
In Derry the Nationalist controlled council elected a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Mayor and a Sinn Féin (SF) Deputy Mayor.
[For many years in Derry the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) had adopted the policy of rotating the position of Mayor between Nationalist and Unionist parties.]
Tuesday 1 June 1999
Marie Moor, then Sinn Féin (SF) councillor, was elected as deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast. This was the first SF member to attain this position.
Robert Stoker, then Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) councillor, was elected as Lord Mayor.
Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), appealed for further information on where the Irish Republican Army (IRA) had placed the bodies of the ‘disappeared’.
Ahern hoped any information would be passed to the Garda Síochána (the Irish police) and members of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR). He was replying to Mr Quinn, then Labour Party leader, who referred to the “extraordinary agony” which the families were going through.
See The Disappeared
Thursday 1 June 2000
There was an explosion in the early hours of the morning at Hammersmith Bridge in London. The explosion caused some damage to the bridge but no injuries. It was believed that the bomb attack was carried out by dissident republicans.
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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.
5 People lost their lives on the 1st June between 1975 – 1997
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01 June 1975
Margaret Kilfedder (61)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in bomb attack on her home, Garrison, County Fermanagh. House previously owned by Ulster Defence Regiment member.
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01 June 1985
Roy McAlpine (24)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot outside friend’s home, Annadale Flats, Ballynafeigh, Belfast. Internal Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) dispute.
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01 June 1990
Robert Davies (19)
nfNIB
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while sitting on bench at railway station, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England.
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01 June 1990
Michael Dillon-Lee (34)
nfNIE
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot outside his home, Dortmund, West Germany.
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01 June 1997
Gregory Taylor (41)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Off duty. Beaten to death, outside Kelly’s Bar, Church Street, Ballymoney, County Antrim.
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Belfast Child 