Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

12th   September

Sunday 12 September 1971

A statement on Internment, violence and the ill-treatment of detainees was released by the William Conway, then Catholic Cardinal of Ireland, and six Bishops. In a statement Cardinal Conway asked, ‘Who wanted to bomb one million Protestants into a United Ireland?’

Thursday 12 September 1974

Demonstrations were held in Belfast by Loyalists and Republicans in support of prisoners who were protesting about parole and food.

Monday 12 September 1977

Roy Mason, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, marked the end of his first year in the region by stating that ‘the myth of British withdrawal from Northern Ireland’ was now dead.

Tuesday 12 September 1989

Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister, paid a visit to Northern Ireland and described the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) as a group of “very, very, very brave men”. In Dublin Sinn Féin (SF) announced the launch of the Irish National Congress.

Saturday 12 September 1992

A confidential discussion paper was leaked from the political talks (later known as the Brooke / Mayhew talks). It was claimed that the paper had been prepared by Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in an attempt to overcome a perceived lack of channels of communication between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

[The paper was heavily criticised by Unionists and was later withdrawn when James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), threatened to leave the talks. In particular Unionists were angered by certain phrases that had been used such as ‘an agreed Ireland’ as well as ‘powers to be exercised through North/South channels’. There were further leaks on 20 September 1992.]

Sunday 12 September 1993

Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, gave a speech to the British Irish Association. Mayhew called for flexibility on the part of the political parties. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) published a policy document entitled ‘Breaking the Log-Jam’.

Monday 12 September 1994

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) planted a 1.5kg bomb on the Belfast to Dublin train. Only the detonator exploded and two people were injured. on 20 September 1992.

Tuesday 12 September 1995

Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, held his first formal talks with representatives of the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) and representatives of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), said he would not attend the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in Dublin. Trimble held a meeting with Peter Robinson, then deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and Robert McCartney, then leader of the United Kingdom Unionist Party (UKUP), to discuss proposals for Unionist unity.

Thursday 12 September 1996

Mary Robinson, then President of the Republic of Ireland, had a number of engagements in Belfast. There were protests at one of the venues, a women’s centre on the Donegal Road, and the centre was later badly damaged in an arson attack. Michael Whelan (35), a Catholic man, was discovered beaten to death in the lower Ormeau area of Belfast. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) later said the motive for the killing was sectarian.

Friday 12 September 1997

Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, issued a statement calling on David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), to remain in the multi-party talks at Stormont. Mary Robinson formally resigned as President of the Republic of Ireland. She took up a new position as High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations.

Sunday 12 September 1999

Ronnie Flanagan, then Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), speaking on ‘Sunday With Adam Boulton’ on Sky News, said the threat from dissident Republicans was growing. Groups such as the ‘real IRA’ were regrouping and posed a threat, especially in border areas, he said. There was a sectarian attack by loyalists on the home of Danny O’Connor, then Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MLA. A group of loyalists had gathered outside his home shouting threats and causing damage to his car. It was the third sectarian attack on his home in three months.

Tuesday 12 September 2000

British army bomb disposal experts defused a pipe-bomb thrown through the window of a house in the upper Shankill on Sunday night. The house on the Ballygomartin Road was unoccupied when the device and a petrol bomb were thrown through the living room window at around 11.00pm.

A pipe-bomb was thrown at the home of a Loyalist politician during an outbreak of violence on the Loyalist Shankill Road area of Belfast. Billy Hutchinson, Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) Assemblyman, was at the scene of the attack when a device was thrown at his home in the Shankill area. Hutchinson’s wife and father-in-law had to be moved from the house and other nearby homes were evacuated.

Wednesday 12 September 2001

There was a bomb attack at 12.30am (0030BST) on an Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) patrol in Derry. Three RUC officers were investigating a burning car at a building site when a bomb exploded at the side of the road. The officers were treated for shock.

[The attack was thought to have been carried out by dissident Republican paramilitaries.]

The Loyalist protest at the Holy Cross Girls’ Primary School followed the pattern of Monday and Tuesday. However, before going to the school the children and parents held a a prayer service and a minute’s silence for the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States of America (USA) on 11 September 2001.

Richard Haass, then a United States special envoy, had a series of meetings with political leaders in Northern Ireland. Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), announced that Friday would be a national day of mourning for the victims of the terrorist attacks in the USA.

Ronnie Flanagan, then Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), announced that the target of 50:50 recruitment of Catholics and Protestants to the new Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) was being achieved. New policing legislation following recommendations in the Patten Report had laid down 50:50 recruitment rule. During the first phase of the application process 8000 people had applied for jobs of whom 550 were deemed qualified and a minimum of 260, possibly as many as 300, would be offered places on the trainee program.

[The first recruits to the PSNI will begin their training in the period between 14 October and 4 November 2001. They are expected to be on duty by the spring of 2002.]

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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles

Today is the anniversary of the follow  people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland

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.

 4 People lost their lives on the 12th September  between 1975 – 1986

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12 September 1975
John Snoddy,  (32)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP)
Shot at his home, Milltown Avenue, Derriaghy, near Belfast.

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12 September 1979

Gabriel Wiggans,   (56)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his home, Springfield Road, Belfast.

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12 September 1981

Alan Clarke,  (20)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while walking along Hall Street, Maghera, County Derry.

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12 September 1986
Kenneth Robinson,   (30)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb, attached to his Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) member father’s car outside their home, Clonmakane Court, Caw, Derry.

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This is simply the story of a boy trying to grow up, survive, thrive, have fun & discover himself against a backdrop of events that might best be described as ‘explosive’, captivating & shocking the world for thirty long years.

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— Belfast Child (@bfchild66) July 23, 2020