Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
15th November
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Saturday 15 November 1975
During a disturbance involving members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) at the Park Bar in Tiger’s Bay, Belfast, a Protestant civilian was shot dead. The fracas was part of an ongoing feud between the UDA and the UVF. A Catholic civilian died almost one year after being injured in a Loyalist bomb attack in Crossmaglen.
Friday 15 November 1985
Anglo-Irish Agreement Signed Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister, and Garret FitzGerald, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) at Hillsborough, County Down, on behalf of the two governments. The first part of the document stated:
“The two Governments (a) affirm that any change in the status of Northern Ireland would only come about with the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland.”
The Agreement established the Inter-Governmental Conference that for the first time gave the Irish government a consultative role in matters related to security, legal affairs, politics, and cross-border co-operation. The Agreement also stated that the two governments would support any future wish by the people of Northern Ireland to enter into a united Ireland.
Many Nationalists saw this as an important development. Unionists were outraged at the Agreement and began a long campaign to have the AIA removed.
[The AIA was only superseded when the Good Friday Agreement was implemented on 2 December 1999.]
Loyalist paramilitaries also reacted and the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) declared all members of the Anglo-Irish Conference and Secretariat to be ‘legitimate targets’.
Ian Gow, then British Treasury Minister, resigned in protest at the signing of the Agreement.
Saturday 15 November 1986
Unionist Rally Against AIA Unionists and Loyalists held a large demonstration in front of Belfast City Hall to protest against the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) on the first anniversary of the signing of the Agreement. Following the demonstration some shops in the centre of the city were damaged when Loyalists clashed with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).
Thursday 15 November 1990
Gerry Adams, then leader of Sinn Féin (SF), made a response to Peter Brooke’s speech of the 9 November 1990.
Tuesday 15 November 1988
Protests organised by Unionists against the Anglo-Irish Agreement were less well supported than previous years.
Wednesday 15 November 1989
Unionist protests against the Anglo-Irish Agreement drew very little support.
Friday 15 November 1991
Two Irish Republican Army (IRA) members were killed when the bomb they were carrying exploded prematurely in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England.
Sunday 15 November 1992
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) attempted to plant a large bomb, estimated at 1,000 pounds, at Canary Wharf in London but were prevented by security men.
Monday 15 November 1993
The Belfast Telegraph (a Northern Ireland newspaper) carried a report that Sinn Féin (SF) had held face-to-face meetings with senior British Government officials and exchanged documents about how to end IRA violence. One source described the talks as ‘protracted’ but that they were ended by June. SF refused to deny the claims, but the British Government flatly rejected them.
[Confirmation of the secret talks broke in the United Kingdom (UK) media on 28 November 1993.]
John Major, then British Prime Minister, made a keynote speech on Northern Ireland to an audience at the Guildhall in London. He said that the opportunity for peace in Northern Ireland was better than at any time for many years
Wednesday 15 November 1995
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), speaking in Washington called for a Bosnia style peace talks on the future of Northern Ireland.
Saturday 15 November 1997
Sinn Féin (SF) held a meeting in Cullyhanna, south Armagh. Francie Molloy, then a member of SF’s talks team, told the meeting that if the Stormont negotiations were to collapse then “we simply go back to what we know best”.
[Many people took this to be a reference to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) ending its ceasefire and the comments sparked controversy.]
John Hume, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), addressed the party’s annual conference and said that “equality of allegiance” was the key to political progress. He said that he wanted agreement with Unionists and “their allegiance as well as ours” was required for a solution to the problems of Northern Ireland.
Monday 15 November 1999
George Mitchell, then chairman of the Review of the Agreement, issued a statement which indicated that a formula to overcome the decommissioning and devolution impasse had almost been achieved. John de Chastelain, then head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD), issued a report which called upon “the paramilitary organisations to respond positively by appointing authorised representatives” to deal with the issue of decommissioning.
A man was shot in the leg in a paramilitary ‘punishment’ attack in the Mount Vernon area of north Belfast. Loyalist paramilitaries were responsible for the attack. A pipe bomb was thrown by Loyalists at the home of a Catholic family in north Belfast. Hillhall Presbyterian church hall in Lisburn, County Down, was destroyed in an arson attack.
An appeal case on behalf of Lee Clegg, then a soldier in the Parachute Regiment, began in Belfast.
The appeal was against his four year sentence for attempting to wound Martin Peake on 30 September 1990. On 11 March 1999 Clegg won his retrial for the murder of Karen Reilly in the same incident. [Clegg had been released from prison in 1995.] The National Development Plan for the Republic of Ireland was launched at Dublin Castle by Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), who said it was “an investment on a scale never seen before in our history”. More than half of the allocated £40.6 billion was to be invested in infrastructure, including roads, public transport, housing, water and sewerage, with the largest single allocation (£6 billion) going towards social and affordable housing.
Wednesday 15 November 2000
Ten homes had to be evacuated after a pipe-bomb was discovered outside a house in Glendun Close in Portrush, County Antrim, following a telephone warning. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) said they had not established a motive for the attack but added they did not believe it was sectarian. British Army (BA) explosives experts defused the device.
Thursday 15 November 2001
Six people were arrested in London and Liverpool, England, under the Terrorism Act. The arrests were believed to be in connection with recent bomb attacks in England by the “real” Irish Republican Army (rIRA).
[Following the arrests police began a search of a disused farm in Tingley village, West Ardsley, near Leeds. A seventh person was arrested on Sunday 18 November 2001.]
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh paid a one-day visit to Northern Ireland. The Queen visited the Waterside area of Derry (her last visit to the city was in 1953), Hillsborough Castle, Lisburn, and Banbridge.
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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.
11 People lost their lives on the 15th November between 1972 – 1992
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15 November 1972
George Doherty, (32)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot at his home, Sintonville Avenue, Strandtown, Belfast.
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15 November 1973
Michael McVerry, (23)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)
Shot during gun attack on Keady British Army (BA) / Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, County Armagh.
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15 November 1974
Anthony Simmons, (19)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Fountain Street, Strabane, County Tyrone.
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15 November 1975
Thomas Haddock, (51)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot during fracas in Park Bar, Lawther Street, Tiger’s Bay, Belfast. Ulster Defence Association (UDA) / Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) feud.
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15 November 1976
George Lutton, (41)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on Ulster Defence Regiment foot patrol, Church Place, Lurgan, County Armagh.
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15 November 1981
Thomas McNulty, (18)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot from passing motorcycle while standing in Thompson Street, Short Strand, Belfast
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15 November 1985
David Hanson, (24)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on joint British Army (BA) / Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) foot patrol, Blaney Road, near Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
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15 November 1989
Robert Glover, (37)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb attached to his car which exploded while travelling along road, Killymaddy, near Ballygawley, County Tyrone. Contractor to British Army (BA) / Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).
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15 November 1991
Francis Ryan, (25)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature explosion while carrying bomb along St Peter’s Street, St. Albans, Herts. England.
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15 November 1991
Patricia Black, (18)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature explosion while carrying bomb along St Peter’s Street, St. Albans, Herts. England.
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15 November 1992
Alan Corbett, (25)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper,while at Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Vehicle Check Point (VCP), Belcoo, County Fermanagh.
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