Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
27th April
————————————————-
Saturday 27 April 1968
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) held a rally to protest at the banning of a Republican Easter parade.
Sunday 27 April 1975
Three Catholic civilians were shot dead by the Protestant Action Force (PAF), which was a covername used by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), during an attack on a social club, Bleary, near Lurgan, County Down.
Wednesday 27 April 1983
Fianna Fáil (FF), then in opposition in the Dáil, managed to have an anti-abortion amendment to the Irish constitution carried by 87 votes to 13.
[The amendment was the subject of a referendum on 8 September 1983.]
Thursday 27 April 1989
Bob Cooper was appointed to head the new Fair Employment Commission (FEC). The Northern Ireland Office refused to provide compensation to Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), for injuries received when he was shot and wounded by Loyalist gunmen in 1984.
Friday 27 April 1990
The convictions of the ‘Winchester Three’ were overturned by the Court of Appeal in England. The three people had been sentenced for conspiring to murder Tom King, a former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Upon their release the three people were arrested and deported from Britain under the Prevention of Terrorism legislation.
Monday 27 April 1992
There was an announcement at the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (AIIC) that there would be a three-month suspension of its meetings to allow the political talks (later known as the Brooke / Mayhew talks) to recommence.
Differences however emerged between the British and Irish governments with Sir Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and David Andrews, then Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs, publicly disagreeing as to whether, amongst other things, the Government of Ireland Act was open for discussion
Tuesday 27 April 1993
James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), stated that he would not enter new political talks while the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) was in talks with Sinn Féin (SF).
Wednesday 27 April 1994
Gerald Evans (43), a Protestant civilian, was shot dead by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) at his shop, Northcott Shopping Centre, Ballyclare Road, Glengormley, near Belfast.
Paul Thompson (25), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), while he sat in a stationary taxi, outside house, Springfield Park, Ballymurphy, Belfast.
Thursday 27 April 1995
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) warned that Loyalist paramilitaries had moved into the drugs trade. [Loyalist leaders warned their members about drug dealing on 11 May 1995.]
Sunday 27 April 1997
Robert Hamill, a Catholic civilian, was severely beaten in a sectarian attack by a gang of up to 30 loyalists in the centre of Portadown, County Armagh.
[Hamill died from head injuries on 8 May 1997.]
Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers were present close to the scene of the attack in a police vehicle some 30 meters away and were accused by witnesses and Hamill’s family of not intervening to save him.
[The Independent Commission for Police Complaints later began an investigation into the incident.]
A teenager from Lurgan was shot and injured by a plastic bullet which was fired by the British Army.
The RUC prevented an Orange march from walking through the Nationalist lower Ormeau Road area of Belfast. The Orangemen staged a protest for several hours at the police line.
Bertie Ahern, then leader of Fianna Fáil (FF), criticised John Bruton, the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), for his handling of the peace process.
Monday 27 April 1998
Sinn Féin (SF) representatives travelled to London to attend a meeting with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, in Downing Street. Afterwards Gerry Adams, then President of SF, described the meeting as “constructive” and said that his party would “keep moving forward” in the search for peace in Northern Ireland.
Tuesday 27 April 1999
Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, travelled to Dublin to sign a new British-Irish agreement which dealt with the issue of the recovery of the bodies of the ‘disappeared’. The agreement established a three-member commission to receive information about the burial sites of the victims of paramilitary killings.
———————————————
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.
10 People lost their lives on the 27th April between 1973– 1994
———————————————–
27 April 1973
Anthony Goodfellow (26)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA), K
illed by: Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA)
Shot by sniper while at British Army (BA) Vehicle Check Point (VCP), Westway, Creggan, Derry.
———————————————–
27 April 1975
Joseph Toman (45)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Shot during gun attack on social club, Bleary, near Lurgan, County Down.
———————————————–
27 April 1975
John Feeney (45)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Shot during gun attack on social club, Bleary, near Lurgan, County Down.
———————————————–
27 April 1975
Brendan O’Hara (40)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Shot during gun attack on social club, Bleary, near Lurgan, County Down
———————————————–
27 April 1976
Mathew Campbell (22)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Died three days after being injured in bomb attack on Ulster Bar, Warrenpoint, County Down.
———————————————–
27 April 1981
Gary Martin (28)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Killed by booby trap bomb hidden in abandoned lorry, junction of Shaw’s Road and Glen Road, Andersonstown, Belfast.
———————————————–
27 April 1982
Leslie Hamilton (37)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while delivering bread to Long’s Supermarket, Lisnagelvin, Derry.
———————————————–
27 April 1990
Kenneth Graham (46)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb attached to his car outside his home, Newry Road, Kilkeel, County Down. Contractor to British Army (BA) / Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC
———————————————–
27 April 1994
Gerard Evans (43)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Shot, at his shop, Northcott Shopping Centre, Ballyclare Road, Glengormley, near Belfast, County Antrim.
———————————————–
27 April 1994
Paul Thompson (25)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Shot, while sitting in stationary taxi, outside house, Springfield Park, Ballymurphy, Belfast.
———————————————–
Belfast Child 