Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
20th April
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Sunday 20 April 1969Loyalist Bombs
There was an explosion at Silent Valley reservoir in County Down cutting off water supplies to Belfast. There was a second explosion at an electricity pylon at Kilmore, County Armagh.
[It was later established that the bombs were planted by Loyalists who were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV). Following these, and earlier attacks on other
Wednesday 20 April 1977
Two Catholic civilians were killed when the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) carried out a bomb attack on the funeral of an Irish Republican Army (IRA) member in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.
Monday 20 April 1981
Three Irish TDs (Teachta Dáil; Members of the Irish Parliament) together with Owen Carron, then Bobby Sands’ election agent, paid a visit to the Maze Prison. Following a meeting with Sands the TDs called for urgent talks with the British government. [Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister, announced on 21 April 1981 that the British government would not meet the TDs.]
Tuesday 20 April 1982
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out a series of attacks in Northern Ireland. Wilbert Kennedy (36) and Noel McCulloch (32), both Protestant civilians, were killed in a bomb blast at the Diamond, Magherafelt, County Derry. An inadequate warning had been given. A further 12 people were injured in the attacks. Bombs exploded in Armagh, Ballymena, Belfast, Bessbroke, Derry, and Magherafelt, and caused an estimated £1 million pounds in damage.
Wednesday 20 April 1983
There was a Northern Ireland Assembly by-election in Armagh. The by-election occurred because Seamus Mallon, then Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), was removed from his seat because he had been a member of the Irish senate at the time of the election.
The SDLP had called on voters to boycott the election and the turnout was 34.1 per cent. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) candidate, Jim Speers, won the by-election beating the only challenger, Tom French, the Workers’ Party (WP) candidate.
Saturday 20 April 1985
Four senior Irish Republican Army (IRA) members were believed to have been expelled from the organisation.
Tuesday 20 April 1993
James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), presented a set of proposals entitled ‘Blueprint for Stability’ to John Major, then British Prime Minister, while on a visit to London.
Wednesday 20 April 1994
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) killed Gregory Pollock (23), a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer, and wounded two other officers, in an attack on a RUC mobile patrol in Derry.
Pollock was killed when a horizontal mortar bomb struck the vehicle he was travelling in on Spencer Road, Waterside, Derry.
Saturday 20 April 1996
It was believed that John Major, then British Prime Minister, and Bill Clinton, then President of the United States of America (USA), discussed the ‘Peace Process’ at a summit in Moscow. A Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) report showed that poverty in Northern Ireland continued to be the highest in the United Kingdom (UK).
Sunday 20 April 1997
David Ervine, then a spokesperson for the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), said that dissident Loyalists from the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) had carried out the attack on the Mountpottinger Baptist Tabernacle in east Belfast.
Initially Catholics were blamed by Sammy Wilson, then a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillor. Ervine said the attack on the Protestant church was an attempt by the LVF to stir up sectarian tension.
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), addressed the SF Ard Fheis in Monaghan and said that a vote for SF was a vote for peace. He also called for an electoral pact with the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in areas where a split Nationalist vote would allow a Unionist candidate to win the seat.
[The SDLP later rejected his appeal for a pact.]
Monday 20 April 1998
Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said that his party aimed to secure a 40 per cent ‘no’ vote in the forthcoming referendum on the Good Friday Agreement. [The actual ‘no’ vote was 28.88%.]
Tuesday 20 April 1999
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) released figures that showed that the annual cost of running the Northern Ireland Assembly was £10.7 million. The US Congress called for the ending of the financing of joint initiatives by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) because of allegations of intimidation and harassment of lawyers by the RUC.
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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.
8 People lost their lives on the 20th April between 1972– 1994
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20 April 1972 Gerard Donnelly, (22)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Taxi driver. Found shot, Harrybrook Street, off Crumlin Road, Belfast.
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20 April 1974 James Corbett, (20)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Found shot by the side of Upper Springfield Road, Hannahstown, Belfast. Alleged informer.
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20 April 1977
Sean Campbell, (19)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Killed in car bomb attack on funeral of Irish Republican Army (IRA) member Trevor McKibben, Etna Drive, Ardoyne, Belfast.
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20 April 1977
John McBride, (18)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Killed in car bomb attack on funeral of Irish Republican Army (IRA) member Trevor McKibben, Etna Drive, Ardoyne, Belfast.
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20 April 1982
Noel McCulloch, (32)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in car bomb explosion, The Diamond, Magherafelt, County Derry. Inadequate warning given.
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20 April 1982
Wilbert Kennedy, (36)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in car bomb explosion, The Diamond, Magherafelt, County Derry. Inadequate warning given.
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20 April 1987
David Ead, (38)
Protestant Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) foot patrol, Central Promenade, Newcastle, County Down.
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20 April 1994
Gregory Pollock, (23)
Protestant Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed during horizontal mortar bomb attack on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol, Spencer Road, Waterside, Derry.
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Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
6th December
Monday 6 December 1971
A woman died trying to salvage property from the Salvation Army Citadel in Belfast when a wall fell on her. Earlier there had been a bomb which started a large fire in an ajoining building.
Brian Faulkner, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, met with Reginald Maudling, then British Home Secretary, in London.
Thursday 6 December 1973
William Craig, then leader of Vanguard, Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and Harry West, then leader of the grouping called the Ulster Unionist Assembly Party, held a joint rally in the Ulster Hall and formed the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) to try to oppose power-sharing and to bring down the power-sharing Executive.
The rally was attended by approximately 600 delegates from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) constituency associations.
Thursday 6 – Sunday 9 December 1973
Sunningdale Agreement The Civil Service Staff College at Sunningdale in England played host to a conference to try to resolve the remaining difficulties surrounding the setting up of the power-sharing Executive for Northern Ireland.
Sunningdale was the first occasion since 1925 that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), and the Northern Ireland government – in the form of the Northern Ireland Executive (designate) – had attended the same talks on the future of Northern Ireland.
Edward Heath, then British Prime Minister, and Liam Cosgrave, then Taoiseach, and senior ministers attended in addition to representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI). The participants discussed a number of matters but the main item of concern centred on the unresolved issue of the ‘Irish Dimension’ of any future government of Northern Ireland. Proposals surrounding this ‘Irish Dimension’ were finally to be agreed in the form of a proposed Council of Ireland. The elements of the proposed Council were that it would consist of a Council of Ministers and a Consultative Assembly.
The Council of Ministers was to be comprised of seven members from the Northern Ireland Executive and seven members of the Irish government. This Council would have executive and harmonising functions and a consultative role. The Consultative Assembly was to be made up of 30 members from the Northern Ireland Assembly and the same number from the Dáil. This Assembly was to have advisory and review functions.
Balcombe Street Siege British police chased a group of four Irish Republican Army (IRA) men through the West End of London. There was a car chase and an exchange of gunfire before the IRA members took over a council flat in Balcombe Street and held the married couple living in the flat hostage.
[This marked the beginning of a six-day siege during which time the IRA members demanded a plane to take them to the Republic of Ireland. The siege ended when the hostages were released unharmed and the IRA members surrendered to police.]
Two members of the IRA were killed when the land mine they were preparing exploded prematurely near Killeen, County Armagh.
Monday 6 December 1982
Droppin Well bombing
‘Droppin Well’ Bomb The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) exploded a bomb at the Droppin’ Well Bar and Disco in Ballykelly, County Derry, and killed 17 people (one of whom died ten days after the incident).
The dead included 11 British soldiers and 6 civilians. Approximately 30 people were also injured in the blast some of them seriously. The soldiers, mainly members of the Cheshire Regiment, regularly socialised in the pub which was close to the British Army base in Ballykelly.
[Tomás Ó Fiaich, then Catholic Primate of Ireland, called the killings “gruesome slaughter”.
Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister, said:
“This is one of the most horrifying crimes in Ulster’s tragic history. The slaughter of innocent people is the product of evil and depraved minds, and the act of callous and brutal men.”
Although the bomb was small, believed to be 5lbs or 10lbs of commercial (Frangex) explosives, it had been placed next to a support pillar in the bar and when it exploded the blast brought down the roof. Many of those killed and injured were crushed by fallen masonry. In June 1986 four people recieved life sentences for the attack and a fifth person received a ten year sentence.]
Two members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were shot dead by undercover British soldiers in the grounds of Gransha Hospital, Derry.
Friday 6 December 1985
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) took the decision to withdraw from the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Friday 6 December 1996
Another Catholic family was forced to leave the mainly Protestant Ballykeel Estate in Ballymena. This followed earlier expulsions on 4 December 1996. Two Catholic schools were also damaged in sectarian attacks in north Antrim.
Ken Maginness, Security Spokesman of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), claimed that the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was responsible for the sectarian tensions in the Ballymena area. Martin Smyth announced that he was retiring as Grand Master of the Orange Order.
Saturday 6 December 1997
The United Kingdom Unionist Party (UKUP) held its first annual conference in Bangor, County Down. The Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) held its annual conference in Dublin. The party rejected by 109 votes to 11 a motion from the Ard Chomhairle (executive) which called on the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) to engage in a ceasefire until the end of the multi-party talks at Stormont.
Monday 6 December 1999
In one of its first decisions the Northern Ireland Assembly voted to increase the salaries of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) by £9,000 to £38,036.
Wednesday 6 December 2000
Gary Moore (30), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead while renovating houses in Devenish Drive, Monkstown, Newtownabbey, County Antrim.
[Loyalist paramilitaries were responsible for the killing but it is not known which group carried out the shooting.]
Several families were evacuated from their homes in the Ballymoney area when a pipe-bomb was discovered on the windowsill of a house. The occupant of the house was not at home at the time of the incident.
Thursday 6 December 2001
A draft report by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) into the handling of prior warnings about the Omagh Bombing was leaked to the BBC in Northern Ireland.
[The final report was published on Wednesday 12 December 2001. The contents of the leaked report caused serious friction between Ronnie Flanagan, then Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), and Nuala O’Loan, then PONI. John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, criticised the leaking of the report and said media speculation was damaging. Ken Maginnis, formerly Ulster Unionist Party spokesman on security, said the Ombudsman had walked through “police interests and community interests like a suicide bomber”. Later Jimmy Spratt, then Chairman of the Police Federation, criticised Nuala O’Loan and called on her to resign. However, David Cook, formerly Chairman of the Northern Ireland Police Authority, said Mr Spratt should be the one to go.]
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), held a media briefing in Belfast at which he called on the British government to establish an International Public Judicial Inquiry into the killing of Pat Finucane, a Belfast solicitor killed on 12 February 1989.
The call followed the collapse of the case against William Stobie on 26 November 2001 and also the continuing alleged links between the British security forces and Loyalist paramilitaries. Colin Powell, then Secretary of State in the USA, designated as ‘terrorist’ three groups based in Northern Ireland by listing them in the Terrorist Exclusion List.
The groups were: the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA), the Orange Volunteers (OV), and the Red Hand Defenders (RHD). This designation has the effect of excluding members or supporters from the USA and will also prevent them from collecting funds in the country.
[However, in the middle of 2001 there was speculation that the RHD (and the OV) was being used as a covername (a pseudonym, or ‘flag of convenience’) by members of the LVF and the UDA / UFF under which these organisations could carry out attacks without taking the blame. If this is true then the RHD (and OV) is a non-existent organisation.]
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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.
25 People lost their lives on the 6th December between 1971 – 2000
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06 December 1971 Mary Thompson, (61)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Killed by wall collapsing onto her, shortly after bomb attack on building next door, Salvation Army Citadel, Dublin Road, Belfast.
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06 December 1972 Samuel White, (32)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Republican group (REP) Found shot, Lisbon Street, Short Strand, Belfast.
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06 December 1974 James Davidson, (64)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY) Died two days after being shot during robbery at his shop, Upper Glenfarne Street, Shankill, Belfast.
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06 December 1975
James Lochrie, (19)
Catholic Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Killed when land mine exploded prematurely, Kelly’s Road, Killeen, County Armagh
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06 December 1975
Sean Campbell, (20)
Catholic Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA), K
illed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA) Killed when land mine exploded prematurely, Kelly’s Road, Killeen, County Armagh.
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06 December 1982
Stephen Smith, (24)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Off duty. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982 Philip McDonough, (26)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Off duty. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982 Steven Bagshaw, (21)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Off duty. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry
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06 December 1982
Clinton Collins, (20)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Off duty. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982 David Murray, (18)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Off duty. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982 David Stitt, (27)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Off duty. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982 Shaw Williamson, (20)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Off duty. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982 Terence Adams, (20)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Off duty. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982 Neil Williams, (18)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Off duty. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry
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06 December 1982 Paul Delaney, (18)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Off duty. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982
David Salthouse, (23)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Off duty. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982
Ruth Dixon, (17)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982
Carol Watts, (25)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982 Angela Hoole, (19)
nfNI Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) English visitor. Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry
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06 December 1982 Patricia Cooke, (21)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Injured by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry. She died 16 December 1982.
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06 December 1982 Valerie McIntyre, (21)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1982
Alan Callaghan, (17)
Protestant Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) Killed by time bomb left in disco at Droppin Well Bar, Ballykelly, County Derry.
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06 December 1984
William Fleming, (19)
Catholic Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: British Army (BA) Shot by undercover British Army (BA) members while travelling on motorcycle in the grounds of Gransha Hospital, off Clooney Road, Derry.
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06 December 1984
Daniel Doherty, (23)
Catholic Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: British Army (BA) Shot by undercover British Army (BA) members, while travelling on motorcycle in the grounds of Gransha Hospital, off Clooney Road, Derry.
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06 December 2000
Gary Moore, (30)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY) Shot while renovating houses, Devenish Drive, Monkstown, Newtownabbey, County Antrim.
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Belfast Child 