Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
9th October
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Wednesday 9 October 1968
People’s Democracy Formed 2,000 students from the Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB) tried to march to Belfast City Hall to protest against ‘police brutality’ on the 5 October 1968 in Derry. The marched was blocked by a counter demonstration led by Ian Paisley. A three-hour sit-down demonstration followed the blocking of the march.
[Following the events of the day the People’s Democracy (PD) organisation was formed. PD became an important force in the civil rights movement and a number of those who were leading members in the organisation, for example Bernadette Devlin and Michael Farrell, became prominent political activists.]
The Derry Citizen’s Action Committee (DCAC) was formed from five protest organisations which had been active in the city. Ivan Cooper was the first chairman and John Hume the first vice-chairman of the DCAC.
[ Political Developments; Civil Rights Campaign; Derry March. ]
Thursday 9 October 1969
James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary, made a second visit to Northern Ireland between 9 and 10 October 1969. Following meetings between Callaghan and the Stormont government, plans for further reforms were agreed in a communiqué. The matters covered included: the establishment of a central housing authority; reforms to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in light of the Hunt Report; reforms to the legal system; and the issue of fair employment.
Saturday 9 October 1971
A woman was killed when Loyalist paramilitaries planted a bomb in a pub in Belfast.
Tuesday 9 October 1973
Representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), met again at Stormont Castle, Belfast for further talks. The parties announced that they had reached agreement on an economic and social programme.
Thursday 9 October 1975
A British soldier was killed in an Irish Republican Army (IRA) land mine attack near Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded a bomb outside the Green Park Underground Station in London and killed one person and injured 20 others.
Monday 9 October 1978
[ Ill-treatment of detainees by police; Law Order; Hunger Strike. ]
Tuesday 9 October 1990
A British Army undercover team shot dead two Irish Republican Army (IRA) members on a farm near Loughgall, County Armagh.
Wednesday 9 October 1991
The Conservative Party held its annual conference. Delegates praised the efforts of Peter Brooke, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, to find an agreement, and they also recognised the need for an ‘Irish dimension’ in any settlement. The conference also pledged support for Conservative candidates contesting elections in Northern Ireland.
Saturday 9 October 1993
John Taylor, then Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of Parliament (MP), called on Loyalist paramilitaries to end their campaign of violence.
Monday 9 October 1995
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), said that SF was committed to “the democratic and peaceful process”. He went on to state that: “It is self-evident that threats of any description from any quarter have no role in any such process.”
Wednesday 9 October 1996
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a statement stating that Diarmuid O’Neill (21), who was shot dead by British security personnel in London on 23 September 1996, was one of their volunteers.
Thursday 9 October 1997
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), spoke at a fringe meeting of the Conservative and said that he had “no expectation of an agreement between Unionists of any shape and Sinn Féin”. The meeting was organised by the group ‘Friends of the Union’. Andrew McKay, then Conservative spokesperson on Northern Ireland, also spoke at the meeting and said that if the Labour Party did not follow the policies established by John Major it might mean an end to the bipartisan approach to the region in the House of Commons.
Friday 9 October 1998
Members of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) opposed to the Good Friday Agreement set up the ‘Union First’ pressure group within the party.
Saturday 9 October 1999
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), defended the Good Friday Agreement and criticised anti-Agreement elements within the UUP at the part conference in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. Anti-agreement dissidents warned the conference against any compromise on Sinn Féin’s entry into the Executive without prior decommissioning. The conference unanimously passed a motion dismissing the Patten recommendations on the RUC as a threat to security.
Monday 9 October 2000
The BBC Panorama programme named four men living in the Republic of Ireland which it claimed were responsible for the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998 in which 29 people died.
Tuesday 9 October 2001
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), and Martin McGuinness, then Vice-President of SF, travelled to Downing Street, London, for a meetings with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister. The meeting was requested by SF to discuss the impass in the peace process. Following the meeting Adams said that the institutions (of government) would collapse if Unionists withdrew from the Executive.
The Loyalist protest continued outside the Holy Cross Girls’ Primary School in Ardoyne, north Belfast. Aidan Troy (Fr.), then chairman of the Board of Governors of the school, said that he was considering taking legal action to try to end the protest: “The weeks of suffering for these small girls were never justified. … This is no longer a legitimate protest; it is a form of child abuse.”
The cost of policing the Loyalist protest at the school was reported as having reached £1 million.
Mark Durkan (Social Democratic and Labour Party; SDLP), then Minister of Finance and Personnel, called on Republicans to save the peace process by beginning the process of decommissioning. There was speculation in some of the media that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) was considering a move on decommissioning. The British and Irish governments expressed doubt over the speculation.
A man (30s) was shot in both legs in a paramilitary ‘punishment’ attack in Castlewellan, County Down. He was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, where his condition was described as “serious but not life threatening”.
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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.
10 People lost their lives on the 9th October between 1971 – 1992
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09 October 1971
Winifred Maxwell, (45)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Killed in bomb attack on Fiddler’s House Bar, Durham Street, Belfast
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09 October 1975
Edward Gleeson, (28) nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on British Army (BA) Armoured Personnel Carrier, Lurgancullenboy, near Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
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09 October 1975
Graham Tuck, (23) nfNIB
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in bomb explosion outside Green Park Underground Station, London
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09 October 1976
Yvonne Dunlop, (26)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed during incendiary bomb attack on her shop, Alley Katz Boutique, Bridge Street, Ballymena, County Antrim.
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09 October 1976
Sean McCrystal, (41)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Found beaten to death and on fire, in entry between Bridge Street and Prospect Place, Ballymena, County Antrim.
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09 October 1987
Francisco Notarantonio, (66)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Former internee. Shot at his home, Whitecliff Parade, Ballymurphy, Belfast.
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09 October 1989
Thomas Gibson, (28)
Protestant
Status: British Army Territorial Army (TA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Also member of Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Shot while sitting in his stationary car, Bank Square, Kilrea, County Derry.
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09 October 1990
Desmond Grew, (37)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot by undercover British Army (BA) members, at derelict farmhouse, Lislasley Road, near Loughgall, County Armagh.
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09 October 1990
Martin McCaughey, (23)
Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),
Killed by: British Army (BA)
Shot by undercover British Army (BA) members, at derelict farmhouse, Lislasley Road, near Loughgall, County Armagh.
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09 October 1992
Michael Anderson, (37)
Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Red Hand Commando (RHC)
Shot at his workplace, a conservation project beside Connswater River, off Mersey Street, Belfast. Alleged informer.
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Belfast Child 