Tag Archives: Paddy Wilson

26th June – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Deaths in the Troubles, Major events in The Troubles, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

26th June

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Friday 26 June 1970

Five People Killed in Premature Explosion

Thomas McCool

Two young girls, aged 9 years and 4 years, died in a premature explosion at their home in the Creggan area of Derry.

Their father, a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), had been making an incendiary device, presumably for use against the British Army. The explosion killed two other members of the IRA.

The girls were the first females to die in ‘the Troubles’.

Bernadette Devlin, Member of Parliament (MP), was arrested and jailed for six months for riotous behaviour during the ‘Battle of the Bogside’.

battle05 of bogside

See Battle of Bogside

There was rioting between the British Army and local residents in Derry following the news of the arrest. The riots spread to Belfast.

Monday 26 June 1972

Start of ‘Truce’

The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) began a “bi-lateral truce” as at midnight.

[The move was made as a prelude to secret talks with the British Government. The ceasefire ended on 9 July 1972.]

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) killed two British Army soldiers in separate attacks during the day.

Tuesday 26 June 1973

senator paddy wilson

Paddy Wilson (39), then a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Stormont Senator, and Irene Andrews (29), then his secretary, were found stabbed to death in a quarry on the Hightown Road, Belfast.

They had been killed by members of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) a covername for the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).

[John White was later convicted for his part in these killings. White was later to become a leading spokesman for the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) and was involved in the negotiations that led to the ‘Good Friday’ Peace Agreement on 10 April 1998.]

See Paddy Wilson and Irene Andrews killings

A civilian employed by the British Army was shot dead by the IRA as he left an Army base in Derry. A Catholic civilian died four days after been shot by the British Army in Derry.

Thursday 26 June 1980

Miriam Daly, a prominent member of the National H-Block / Armagh Committee, was shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries at her home in Andersontown, Belfast.

Thursday 26 June 1986

A constitution referendum on the issue of divorce was held in the Republic of Ireland.

[When the votes were counted the population had rejected the opportunity to introduce a restricted form of divorce by 63.5 per cent to 36.5 per cent. Many Unionists in Northern Ireland saw the result as confirming their view that the Republic was intolerant of Protestants.

Garret FitzGerald, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), said that the Republic had a long way to go to create “a society that would seem welcoming to, open to and attractive to people of the Northern Unionist tradtion.]

Wednesday 26 June 1991

Maguire Seven Freed The convictions of the group of people known as the ‘Maguire Seven’ were quashed by the Court of Appeal in London. The seven had been convicted of supplying the bombs that were used in Guildford and Woolwich.

[This was the latest in a series of high profile cases of miscarriage of justice involving Irish people living in England.]

Saturday 26 June 1993

John Major, then British Prime Minister, began a two-day visit to Northern Ireland. Major called for a resumption of political talks between the constitutional parties.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) moved to prevent an Orange Order parade close to the peace line in the Springfield area of Belfast. The action led to rioting.

Brian McCallum (26), a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), was mortally wounded when a grenade he was handling exploded prematurely. Eighteen other people were injured.

[McCallum died on 29 June 1993.]

Monday 26 June 1995

The High Court in Belfast awarded compensation to the mother of Karen Reilly (16) who was shot dead by a British soldier on 30 September 1990.

lee glegg

[The amount of the compensation was not disclosed. Reilly had been shot dead by Lee Clegg, a paratrooper with the British Army, during a ‘joyriding’ incident. Clegg was released from prison on 3 July 1995.]

See Lee Clegg

Wednesday 26 June 1996

David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), admitted bringing pressure to bear on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) over the events on the Garvaghy Road in 1995.

Trimble had pressed for prosecutions against the leaders of the Garvaghy Road residents who had opposed the 1995 Drumcree Orange march. Prosecutions were dismissed. Veronica Guerin, an investigative journalist in Dublin, was shot dead near to Dublin.

Thursday 26 June 1997

The Fianna Fáil (FF) party appointed Ray Burke as Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs. It was also announced that David Andrews (FF) would be Minister for Defence and Liz O’Donnell (Progressive Democrats) would be Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs, and that both these ministers would assist Burke at Stormont.

[These appointments were part of the cabinet announced by Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), following the general election in the Republic of Ireland on 6 June 1997.]

Friday 26 June 1998

As counting got under way in the Northern Ireland Assembly election the relatively poor early showing of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) resulted in the bitter divisions within the party becoming public.

Jeffrey Donaldson, then UUP Member of Parliament (MP), who opposed the Good Friday Agreement accused his party colleague, Ken Maginnis, in a televised debate of:

“presiding over an electoral disaster”.

Maginnis replied by accusing Donaldson of “gloating over the difficulties that he and others like him” had created for the party.

Both nationalist parties, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Sinn Féin (SF), were pleased with a strong first preference showing

Monday 26 June 2000

IRA Arms Inspected

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a statement to say that it had opened some of its arms dumps to be viewed by the independent weapons inspectors. Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari, then independent weapons inspectors, held a meeting with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, in Downing Street and confirmed that the inspection had taken place.

 

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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.

18 People lost their lives on the 26th   June between 1970 – 1993

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26 June 1970


 Thomas McCool  (40)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature explosion of incendiary device at his home, Dunree Gardens, Creggan, Derry.

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26 June 1970
 Bernadette McCool   (9)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature explosion of incendiary device at her home, Dunree Gardens, Creggan, Derry.

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26 June 1970
 Carol Ann McCool  (4)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature explosion of incendiary device at her home, Dunree Gardens, Creggan, Derry.

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26 June 1970


 Joseph Coyle   (40)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature explosion of incendiary device at the McCool household, Dunree Gardens, Creggan, Derry

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26 June 1970


 Thomas Carlin  (55)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Injured in premature explosion of incendiary device at the McCool household, Dunree Gardens, Creggan, Derry. He died 8 July 1970.

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26 June 1972


 David Houston   (22)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot attempting to stop bomb attack on The Stables Bar, Water Street, Newry, County Down.

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26 June 1972
 James Meredith   (20)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Abercorn Road, Derry.

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26 June 1972


 Malcolm Banks   (30)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) mobile patrol, junction of Seaforde Street and Comber Street, Short Strand, Belfast.

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26 June 1972
 John Black  (32)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Died five weeks after being shot at barricade during street disturbances, Douglas Street, off Beersbridge Road, Belfast.

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26 June 1973


 Paddy Wilson  (39)

Catholic
Status: Civilian Political Activist (CivPA),

Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Stormont Senator and Councillor. Together with his secretary, found stabbed to death in quarry, Hightown Road, near Belfast, County Antrim.

See Paddy Wilson and Irene Andrews killings

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26 June 1973


 Irene Andrews  (29)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Together with Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Stormont Senator and Councillor, Paddy Wilson, found stabbed to death in quarry, Hightown Road, near Belfast, County Antrim.

See Paddy Wilson and Irene Andrews killings

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26 June 1973
 Noorbaz Khan  (45)

nfNI
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Civilian employed by British Army (BA). Shot shortly after driving out of Bligh’s Lane British Army (BA) base, Creggan, Derry.

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26 June 1973


 Robert McGuinness  (22)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Died four days after being shot while walking along Brandywell Avenue, Derry

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26 June 1976
 Daniel Mackin  (20)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Found stabbed to death, Brookvale Street, off Cliftonville Road, Belfast.

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26 June 1980


 Miriam Daly  (45)

Catholic
Status: Civilian Political Activist (CivPA),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) member. Found shot at her home, Andersonstown Road, Andersonstown, Belfast.

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26 June 1981
 Vincent Robinson   (29)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Found shot, Divis Flats, Belfast. Alleged informer.

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26 June 1987


 John Tracey  (46)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while renovating house, Surrey Street, off Lisburn Road, Belfast.

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26 June 1993
 John Randall  (19)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper, while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, crossing field, near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.

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Senator Paddy Wilson and Irene Andrews

Deaths in the Troubles, Major events in The Troubles, , ,

Paddy Wilson and Irene Andrews killings

 

The killings of Paddy Wilson and Irene Andrews took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland on the night of 25/26 June 1973. The victims, Roman Catholic Senator Paddy Wilson and his Protestant friend, Irene Andrews, were hacked and repeatedly stabbed to death by members of the “Ulster Freedom Fighters” (UFF).

 

John White

 

This was a cover name for the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a then-legal Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation. John White, the UFF’s commander, who used the pseudonym “Captain Black”, was convicted of the sectarian double murder in 1978 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

White, however maintained that the UFF’s second-in-command Davy Payne helped him lead the assassination squad and played a major part in the attack. Although questioned by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after the killings, Payne admitted nothing and was never charged.

— Disclaimer –

The views and opinions expressed in this post/documentaries  are soley intended to educate and provide background information to those interested in the Troubles of Northern Ireland. They in no way reflect my own opinions and I take no responsibility for any inaccuracies or factual errors.

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SDLP logo

 

Wilson was one of the founders and General Secretary of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Irene Andrews was noted in Belfast as a popular ballroom dancer.

Their mutilated bodies were found lying in pools of blood on either side of Wilson’s car, which was parked in a quarry off the Hightown Road near Cavehill. Wilson had been hacked and stabbed 30 times and his throat cut from ear to ear. Andrews had received 20 knife wounds. The killings were described by the judge at White’s trial as “a frenzied attack, a psychotic outburst”.

Paddy Wilson and Irene Andrews killings
Paddy wilson and irene andrews.jpg

Victims Irene Andrews and Senator Paddy Wilson
Location Quarry off the Hightown Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date 25/26 June 1973
Attack type
 Stabbing
Deaths 2 civilians
Perpetrator Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF

The double killings

On the evening of 25 June 1973, Stormont Senator Paddy Wilson (39), a Roman Catholic native of Belfast’s Sailortown, and General Secretary and founder of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), had been drinking at the Old Vic Lounge inside McGlade’s Bar, a fashionable pub located in Donegall Street, Belfast city centre.

He was in the company of a Protestant friend, Irene Andrews (29), who worked as a clerk in the Department of Education and was one of Belfast’s most popular ballroom dancers who had been a member of Northern Ireland’s “Come Dancing” team.

According to Peter McKenna, a journalist for the Irish Independent who had been socialising with Wilson, Andrews and others on the night, an inebriated Andrews had spent much of the night making passes at Wilson but he had rejected her advances and had asked for McKenna to make an “urgent” phone call to the pub calling him away in an attempt to separate himself from Andrews. The ruse was not successful, however, and Wilson and Andrews left the pub together.

He offered her a lift back to her home on the Crumlin Road and they drove away from the pub at about 11:30pm in Wilson’s red mini. The couple never arrived at their destination.

At 1:30am, the loyalist Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), using their codename “Captain Black”, called the Belfast News Letter advising them that:

” tonight we have got Senator Paddy Wilson and a lady friend. Their bodies are lying in the Hightown Road.”

The UFF had been founded that same year by John White, who employed the pseudonym “Captain Black”. The UFF was a cover name to claim attacks carried out by the then-legal Ulster Defence Association to avoid the latter’s proscription by the British Government. “Captain Black” furthermore claimed that the killings were in retaliation for the shooting death of a mentally-retarded Protestant teenager the previous summer by the Provisional IRA.

The mutilated bodies of Wilson and Andrews were discovered by the security forces at 4am. They were lying in pools of blood on either side of Wilson’s Mini at a quarry off the Hightown Road near Cavehill as described by the UFF caller.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army had proceeded carefully to the quarry in case the bodies had been booby-trapped. Wilson had been stabbed to death 30 times and his throat sliced from ear-to-ear. There was evidence that he had put up a struggle before he was killed.

Andrews had received 20 knife wounds. A UFF Brigade Staff member described the killings to a journalist as ritualistic ,  in addition to the multiple stabbings, Irene Andrews also had her breasts hacked off.

Oldpark Wards.png

The killings took place at the quarry and it was suggested by police that Wilson’s Mini had been stopped on the road leading to Ballysillan and they were forced at gunpoint to drive out to the quarry.

According to Martin Dillon forensic evidence indicated that Wilson had been dragged from the car and pinned to the ground where he was stabbed and Andrews was killed afterwards. Dillon speculated that the killers had made Andrews watch Wilson being killed.

Liam Cosgrave crop.png

There was widespread shock and condemnation throughout the North in the wake of the killings. Politicians, including Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave and SDLP leader Gerry Fitt, personally offered their condolences to the Wilson and Andrews’ families, whilst Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley blamed the IRA.

According to Peter Taylor, there had never been a crime so brutal carried out in Northern Ireland before.

Author Dervla Murphy in her travel book, A Place Apart (based on her experiences in Northern Ireland), stated that nine months before the double killing, a loyalist community newspaper had published allegations regarding a possible relationship between a prominent member of the SDLP and a young Protestant woman from Belfast’s Crumlin Road.

Conviction

UFF leader and self-styled “Captain Black” John White confessed to the killings during a police interrogation for other offences at the Castlereagh Holding Centre in 1976. He was convicted of the murders in 1978 and given two life sentences.

The trial judge described the killings as “a frenzied attack, a psychotic outburtst”. White maintained that the UFF’s second-in-command (and later North Belfast UDA brigadier) Davy Payne, also known as “The Psychopath”, was part of the assassination squad and played a leading role in the killings. Historian Ian S. Wood confirmed Payne’s central involvement in the double killing.

Although Payne had been questioned by the RUC after the killings, he admitted nothing and never faced any charges. It was alleged that whenever Payne wished to frighten or intimidate others he would shout:

“Do you know who I am? I’m Davy Payne. They say I killed Paddy Wilson”.

 

Following White’s release from the Maze Prison in 1992, he joined the Ulster Democratic Party. A prominent figure in the Northern Ireland Peace Process, in 1996 he comprised part of a four-man loyalist delegation to 10 Downing Street where he met British Prime Minister John Major.

Railway Road bomb 1973.jpeg

Later when asked why he had perpetrated the killings, White claimed that they were carried out to strike fear into the Catholic community after the IRA’s 1973 Coleraine bombings. Regarding Irene Andrews, White replied:

“We didn’t know she was a Protestant, we just thought she was a Catholic to be honest”.