Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
17th January
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Sunday 17 January 1971
At an Ard Fheis (party conference) in Dublin the Official Sinn Féin ended the 65 year abstentionist policy and agreed that any elected representative could take their seat at the Dáil, Stormont or Westminster parliaments. It was this issue that caused the split between the Official and Provisional movement in Republicanism.
Monday 17 January 1972
Seven men who were being held as internees escaped from the prison ship HMS Maidstone in Belfast Lough.
Thursday 17 January 1974
Hugh Logue, then a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Assemblyman, gave a speech at Trinity College Dublin in which he said that the Council of Ireland was “the vehicle that would trundle Unionists into a united Ireland”.
[ Sunningdale; Ulster Workers’ Council Strike. ]
Friday 17 January 1975
The Irish Republican Army’s (IRA) ceasefire came to an end. Merlyn Rees, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said that he would not be influenced by arguments supported by the bomb and the bullet.
[Public Records 1975 – Released 1 January 2006: Document entitled ‘Terms for Bi-lateral Truce’ which appears to be a list of 12 terms required by the IRA before a bi-lateral truce would be entered into with the British government. The date of the document is uncertain but may have been delivered to the British government sometime between 17 January 1975 and 10 February 1975.]
Saturday 17 January 1976
Two Catholic civilians, Sarah O’Dwyer (47) and James Reid (47), were killed in a bomb attack on Sheridan’s Bar, New Lodge Road, Belfast. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries. Seamus O’Brien (25), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who alleged that he had been an informer. Mark Ashford (19), a British soldier, was shot dead by the IRA at Great James’ Street, Derry.
Thursday 17 January 1980
Three people were killed and two injured when a bomb, being planted by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), exploded prematurely on a train at Dunmurray, near Belfast. One of those who died was a member of the IRA and the other two people were civilians. James Kilfedder, then Member of Parliament (MP) for North Down, launched a new political party called the Ulster Progressive Unionist Party (UPUP).
[The UPUP later changed its name to the Ulster Popular Unionist Party; UPUP.]
Tuesday 17 January 1989
Douglas Hogg, then a British Home Office Minister, made a number of comments to the effect that he was critical of a “number of solicitors in Northern Ireland who are unduly sympathetic to the cause of the IRA”.
[On 12 February 1989 Patrick Finucane, a Belfast solicitor who had represented a number of Republicans, was shot dead by Loyalists.]
Three Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) councillors in North Down joined the ‘Model Conservative Association’.
Thursday 17 January 1991
Peter Brooke, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, met with representatives of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) at Westminster. The SDLP objected to aspects of the arrangements for proposed talks on the future of Northern Ireland. Specifically the SDLP criticised the fact that Brooke would determine the point in the talks at which representatives of the government in the Republic of Ireland would be invited to attend.
Friday 17 January 1992 Teebane Bombing
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded a bomb killing eight Protestant civilians who had been travelling in a minibus past Teebane crossroads between Cookstown and Omagh, County Tyrone. The men had been working at a military base in County Tyrone and were travelling home when the attack occurred. Peter Brooke, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, appeared on the Late Late Show on Radio Telefis Éireann (RTE) and was persuaded to sing ‘My Darling Clementine’. [Unionists accused Brooke of gross insensitivity in agreeing to sing on the show following the Teebane bombing. Brooke later revealed that he had offered his resignation over the matter.]
Monday 17 January 1994
Sinn Féin (SF) issued a document, ‘Setting the Record Straight’, which contracted British government accounts of contacts between SF and representatives of the government. [The British government was later to retract its account of the meetings.(?)]
Wednesday 17 January 1996
The British and Irish Governments met with Sinn Féin (SF) at Stormont. The meeting was for preparatory talks. Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs), again said that all-party talks would begin by the end of February 1996
A British television news programme, Channel 4 News, carried a report which presented evidence that soldiers, other than those of the Parachute Regiment, had opened fire on those taking part in the civil rights march on ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Derry on 30 January 1972. It was suggested that members of the Royal Anglian Regiment could have been responsible for the deaths of three of the 14 victims. Relatives of the victims renewed their call for a fresh inquiry into the events of ‘Bloody Sunday’.
Wednesday 17 January 2001
A pipe-bomb was thrown at a Catholic-owned public house in Antrim at about 8.30pm. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) said that they were treating the attack as sectarian. Police said that a man wearing a hooded top attempted to throw the device through a window. It failed to explode, and was taken away for examination. No-one was injured. In Ballymoney, County Antrim, a Catholic family targeted in a pipe-bomb attack have said they believed the motive was sectarian. The pipe-bomb was discovered in the garden of their house after a telephoned warning. Both attacks were carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.
Thursday 17 January 2002
A man (19) was shot in the leg in a paramilitary ‘punishment’ attack in the Drumreagh area of Rostrevor, County Down, at approximately 6.30pm (1830GMT). Two men broke into a house and shot the man once. A teenage girl (15) was hit on the head with a baton during the attack. A shotgun was used in an attack on a house in Ballygowan, County Down, at approximately 11.00pm (2300GMT). There were no injuries.
Richard Haass, then a special advisor to the US President, held another round of talks with political representatives during his second day in Belfast. He met representatives of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and held talks with Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF). Haass said that he and Adams had “agreed to disagree” on the issue of policing. An early day motion was signed by 37 Members of Parliament (MPs) representing all the main political parties asking the government to ensure that Sinn Féin (SF) members sign the parliamentary code of conduct and register of members’ interests. Under current rules those MPs who do not take their seats do not have to declare business interests or sign up to the MP’s code of conduct.
A woman (35) was arrested in north London at approximately 8.30am (0830GMT) by British police officers. She was held under the Terrorism Act (2000).
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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 17th January between 1974 – 1993
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17 January 1974
Robert Jameson, (22)
Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while returning home from work, near his home, Trillick, County Tyrone
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17 January 1974
Daniel Hughes, (73)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot during gun attack on Boyle’s Bar, Cappagh, County Tyrone.
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17 January 1976
Mark Ashford, (19)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while at British Army (BA) pedestrian check point, Great James’ Street, Derry
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17 January 1976
Seamus O’Brien, (25)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Found shot at junction of Glen Road and Glenside Road, Andersonstown, Belfast. Alleged informer.
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17 January 1976
Sarah O’Dwyer, (47)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Killed in bomb attack on Sheridan’s Bar, New Lodge Road, Belfast.
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17 January 1976
James Reid, (47)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Killed in bomb attack on Sheridan’s Bar, New Lodge Road, Belfast.
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17 January 1980
Mark Cochrane, (17)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature bomb explosion while travelling on train between Lisburn and Belfast, County Antrim
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17 January 1980
Abayoni Olorunda, (35)
nfNI
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Originally from Nigeria. Died in premature bomb explosion while travelling on train between Lisburn and Belfast, County Antrim.
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17 January 1980
Kevin Delaney, (26)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Died in premature bomb explosion while travelling on train between Lisburn and Belfast, County Antrim.
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17 January 1992
David Harkness, (23)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on firm’s van, returning home from Lisanelly British Army (BA) base, Omagh, at Teebane Crossroads, near Cookstown, County Tyrone.
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17 January 1992
Gary Bleeks, (25)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on firm’s van, returning home from Lisanelly British Army (BA) base, Omagh, at Teebane Crossroads, near Cookstown, County Tyrone.
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17 January 1992
Robert Dunseath, (25)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on firm’s van, returning home from Lisanelly British Army (BA) base, Omagh, at Teebane Crossroads, near Cookstown, County Tyrone.
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17 January 1992
John McConnell (38)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on firm’s van, returning home from Lisanelly British Army (BA) base, Omagh, at Teebane Crossroads, near Cookstown, County Tyrone.
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17 January 1992
James Caldwell, (37)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on firm’s van, returning home from Lisanelly British Army (BA) base, Omagh, at Teebane Crossroads, near Cookstown, County Tyrone.
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17 January 1992
Nigel McKee, (22)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on firm’s van, returning home from Lisanelly British Army (BA) base, Omagh, at Teebane Crossroads, near Cookstown, County Tyrone.
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17 January 1992
Robert Irons, (61)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on firm’s van, returning home from Lisanelly British Army (BA) base, Omagh, at Teebane Crossroads, near Cookstown, County Tyrone.
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17 January 1992
Gilchrist Oswald (44)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Injured in land mine attack on firm’s van, returning home from Lisanelly British Army (BA) base, Omagh, at Teebane Crossroads, near Cookstown, County Tyrone. He died 21 January 1992
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17 January 1993
Sharon McKenna, (27)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ), Killed by:
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot while visiting friend’s home, Shore Road, Mount Vernon, Belfast.
Belfast Child 