Chronology of the Northern Ireland Troubles

Considering that Northern Ireland has been ravaged by conflict for over thirty years, it would be simply impossible to include every single event that took place during that time. Listed are the most important incidents of The Troubles and subsequent peace process.

1960 - 1969

* 1967, February 1: Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association formed. [cite book |last=Bew |first=Paul |authorlink=Paul Bew, Baron Bew |coauthors=Gordon Gillespie |title=Northern Ireland : A Chronology of the Troubles, 1968-1993 |origyear=1993 |publisher= Gill & MacMillan |location= Dublin |isbn= 0-7171-2081-3 |pages=pp. 1 |chapter=1967 ]

* 1968, June 20: Squatters, including Stormont MP Austin Currie, are evicted from a house in Caledon, County Tyrone. ["Ibid pp. 2"]

* 1968, October 5: Clashes between NICRA and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in Derry, during civil rights marches putatively considered by many as the beginning of the Troubles.

* 1968, October 9: People's Democracy formed after demonstration in Belfast by students. "Derry Citizens' Action Committee" is formed from five existing protest groups in Derry, led by Ivan Cooper and John Hume.

* 1969, March 30 / April 20 & 25: Loyalist bombers targeted local amenities, including water and electricity. Northern Ireland receives Army reinforcements for the first time since the Second World War. ["Ibid pp. 14"] [cite book |last=Bardon |first=Jonathan |authorlink=Jonathan Bardon |title=A History of Ulster |origyear=1992 |origmonth=November |year=1992 |month=December |publisher=The Blackstaff Press |location=Dundonald, Belfast |isbn=0-85640-476-4 |pages=pp. 664 |chapter=The O'Neill Era, 1963-1972 ]

* 1969, April 17: Bernadette Devlin wins a by-election and becomes the youngest woman ever elected to Westminster.

* 1969, April 28: Terence O'Neill resigns as Prime Minister.

* 1969, July: 67 year old Francis McClusky was killed by an RUC officer. Many consider this the first death of the Troubles.

* 1969, August: Serious rioting erupted in Bogside, Derry on August 12-14. After two days of continuous rioting, British troops were deployed in Belfast and Derry. See Battle of the Bogside

* 1969, August, in response to events in Derry, rioting breaks out in Belfast and elsewhere from August 14-17. Seven people are killed and hundreds of homes are destroyed. The British Army is again sent in to restore order. See Northern Ireland riots of August 1969.

* 1969, October: 29 year old Victor Arbuckle, an officer with the RUC, was killed (Whilst on duty in the Loyalist area of the Shankill Road). He is believed to be the first RUC officer to die in the Troubles.

* 1969, December: A split formed in Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army, creating what was to become the Workers Party and Sinn Féin, and the Official IRA and Provisional IRA.

1970 - 1979

* 1970, 27 June: Provisional IRA and Loyalists fight major gun battle in Ardoyne and Short Strand in Belfast. Seven people were killed.

*1970 3-5 July: Falls Curfew, British Army imposed a three day curfew on the Lower Falls area. Five civilians are killed in gun battles between the Army and the Official IRA in the area. Another 60 civilians and 15 soldiers are shot and injured. 300 people are arrested and over 100 illegal weapons are seized by the Army.

* 1970, August: Leading Nationalist party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) was formed.

* 1971, February: Gunner Robert Curtis became the first British Soldier to die in the Troubles when he was shot by the IRA.

* 1971, March: Brian Faulkner became the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

* 1971, August: Internment was introduced in Northern Ireland.

* 1971, December: Fifteen people were killed in the McGurk's Bar bombing in a Belfast bar.

* 1972, January: Bloody Sunday - Thirteen people die during a civil rights march in Londonderry.

* 1972, February: Funerals of eleven of those killed on Bloody Sunday. Prayer services held across Ireland. In Dublin, over 30,000 marched to the British Embassy, carrying thirteen replica coffins and black flags. They attacked the Embassy with stones and bottles, then petrol bombs. The building was eventually burnt to the ground.
**Seven people were killed by an IRA bomb at Aldershot Barracks, England. It was thought to be in retaliation for Bloody Sunday. Six of those killed were female ancillary workers. The seventh was a Roman Catholic priest.

* 1972, March: Stormont Government was dissolved. Direct rule from Westminster was introduced.

* 1972, May: The Official IRA announced a ceasefire. This marked the end of OIRA’s military campaign. The Provisional IRA continued its campaign right up until 1997.

* 1972, July: Bloody Friday - nine people were killed and one hundred thirty seriously injured when the IRA exploded twenty-two bombs in Belfast in the space of seventy-five minutes.

* 1972, December: Two people were killed and one hundred twenty-seven injured by two Loyalist car bombs in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

* 1973, June: Northern Ireland Assembly elections took place.
* 1973, December 3rd: The Sunningdale Agreement was signed
* 1974, February: Twelve people were killed by an IRA bomb planted on a coach carrying British soldiers and their families. It exploded on the M62 Motorway.
* 1974, May: Beginning of Ulster Workers Council strike.
** Ulster Volunteer Force planted four bombs (three in Dublin, one in Monaghan) in the Republic of Ireland. They killed thirty-three people and an unborn child.
**The Northern Ireland Assembly collapsed. As a result, direct rule was re-introduced.

* 1974, October: Five people were killed by an IRA bomb in the Horse and Groom pub in Guildford, Surrey, England.

* 1974, November: Twenty-one people were killed by IRA bombs in pubs in Birmingham, England.

* 1974, December: IRA announced a Christmas ceasefire. Prior to ceasefire, they carried out a bomb attack on the home of former Prime Minister Edward Heath. Mr Heath was not in the building at the time and no one was injured.

* 1975, July: Three members of the Miami Showband massacre were shot and killed by the UVF following a concert in County Down.

* 1975, October: The UVF killed twelve people in a series of attacks across Northern Ireland.

* 1975, December: End of internment.
**The Red Hand Commandos, a group associated with the UVF, killed five people in a bomb attack in Dundalk, Co. Louth, Republic of Ireland.

* 1976, January: Ten Protestant civilians were killed by the Republican Action Force (believed to be a cover name for the IRA).

* 1976, March: End of Special Category Status for prisoners convicted of terrorist crimes.

* 1976, July: 54 year old Christopher Ewart Biggs, the British Ambassador to Ireland, and his secretary Judith Cook, 25, were killed by a bomb planted in Mr. Biggs’ car in Dublin.

* 1976, August: Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams formed the Peace People, a group of Catholics and Protestants, who joined forces on the streets of Northern Ireland to call for peace.

* 1976, September: Blanket protests began in the Maze prison, in protest at the end of special category status. The term ‘blanket protest’ comes from the protesters refusal to wear prison uniforms, instead wrapping blankets around themselves.

* 1977, October: Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams received the Nobel Peace Prize.

* 1978, February: Twelve people were killed by an IRA bomb at the La Mon Restaurant near Belfast.

* 1979, February: Eleven loyalists known as the Shankill Butchers were sentenced to life in prison for nineteen murders. The infamous group was named for their practice of torturing and mutilating their victims with butcher’s knives.

* 1979, March: Conservative shadow spokesman on Northern Ireland, Airey Neave was killed by a bomb planted in his car by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). If he had lived, he might have become Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when the Conservatives won the United Kingdom general election two months later.

* 1979, August: Eighteen British soldiers were killed by an IRA bomb in the Warrenpoint ambush. A gun battle ensued between the IRA and the British Army, in which one innocent civilian was killed. On the same day, four people, including the Queen’s cousin Lord Louis Mountbatten, were killed by an IRA bomb on board a boat off the coast of County Sligo.

* 1979, September: During a visit to the Republic of Ireland, Pope John Paul II appealed for an end to the violence in Northern Ireland.

1980 - 1989

* 1980, October: Republican prisoners in the Maze began a hunger strike in protest against the end of special category status.

* 1980, December: Hunger strike called off.

* 1981, January: Sir Norman Stronge, Bt. (86) and his son James (both former UUP MPs) are killed by the IRA at their home Tynan Abbey, which is destroyed by fire.

*1981, March: Prisoners in the Maze began a second hunger strike.

* 1981, April: Hunger striker Bobby Sands won a by-election to be elected as a Member of Parliament at Westminster. The law was later changed to prevent prisoners standing in elections.

* 1981, May: After 66 days on hunger strike, 26 year old Bobby Sands MP died in the Maze. Nine further hunger strikers died in the following 3 months.

* 1981, June: Eight IRA prisoners escaped from the Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast.

* 1981, September: Northern Ireland’s first religiously integrated secondary school opened.

* 1981, October: Hunger strike ended.

* 1982, July: Eleven British soldiers and seven military horses died in IRA bomb attacks on Regents Park and Hyde Park, London. Many spectators were badly injured.

* 1982, December: 17 people were killed by an INLA bomb at the Droppin’ Well Bar, County Londonderry.

* 1983, May: New Ireland Forum set up.

* 1984, October: The IRA carried out a bomb attack on the Grand Hotel, Brighton, which was being used as a base for the Conservative Party Conference. Five people, including MP Sir Anthony Berry, were killed. Margaret and Denis Thatcher narrowly escaped injury.

* 1984, December: Ian Thain became the first British soldier to be convicted of murdering a civilian during the troubles.

* 1985, November: Margaret Thatcher and Garret FitzGerald signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

* 1985, December: All fifteen Unionist MPs at Westminster resigned in protest against the Anglo-Irish agreement.

* 1986, June : Northern Ireland Assembly was officially dissolved.

* 1987, May: Eight IRA members killed by the SAS in Loughall, Co. Armagh.

* 1987, November: Eleven people were killed by an IRA bomb during a Remembrance Day service in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. One of those killed was Marie Wilson. In an emotional BBC interview, her father Gordon Wilson (who was injured in the attack) expressed forgiveness towards his daughters killer, and asked Unionists not to seek revenge. He became a leading peace campaigner and was later elected to the Irish Senate. He died in 1995.

* 1988, January: SDLP leader John Hume and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams held a meeting. Many consider this meeting as the beginning of the Peace Process.

* 1988, March: Three IRA members were killed by the SAS in Gibraltar. At the funeral of those killed in Gibraltar, loyalist Michael Stone launched a grenade, killing three. Most of the action was filmed by Television News crews.
**At the funeral of Michael Brady, killed at the funeral by Michael Stone, two British soldiers in plain clothes were killed after being mistaken for loyalist gunmen.

* 1988, June Six off-duty British soldiers were killed by an IRA bomb on their minibus in Lisburn.

* 1988, August: Eight British soldiers were killed by an IRA bomb at Ballygawley, County Tyrone.
**October: The British Government introduced the broadcasting ban.

* 1989, February: Prominent Republican solicitor Pat Finucane was shot and killed by the Ulster Freedom Fighters.

* 1989, September: Eleven military bandsmen were killed by the IRA at Deal Barracks, Kent, England.

1990 - 1999

* 1990, March: Charles Haughey became the first serving Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) to visit Northern Ireland since 1965.

* 1990, July: The IRA bombed the Stock Exchange, London.
** Conservative MP for Eastbourne, Ian Gow, was killed by an IRA bomb planted in his car.

* 1990, September: Two Catholic teenagers were killed by British soldier in Belfast.

* 1990, November: Margaret Thatcher resigned as British Prime Minister.

* 1990, December: The IRA held its first Christmas ceasefire for 15 years.

* 1991, February: Three mortars were fired into gardens at 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British Prime Minister.

* 1991, March: A Belfast taxi driver, Michael Lenaghan, was murdered by the UVF.

* 1992, January: Eight people were killed by an IRA bomb at Teebane, County Tyrone. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Brooke was accused by unionists of gross insensitivity, after he was persuaded to sing ‘Oh My Darling, Clementine’ on RTE’s Late Late Show.
** RUC officer Allen Moore killed three men in Sinn Féin office in Belfast. He later shot himself.

* 1992, February: The UFF shot and killed five Catholics at a bookmaker’s shop on Belfast's Ormeau Road.

* 1992, April: Three people were killed by an IRA bomb at the Baltic Exchange, London.

* 1993, March: The IRA exploded two bombs in the Warrington bomb attacks, in Cheshire, England, killing 3 year old Jonathan Ball and injuring fifty-six others. 12 year old Tim Parry died of his injuries five days later. There were widespread protests in Britain and Ireland following the deaths of the two innocent boys.

* 1993, April: The IRA exploded a large bomb at Bishopsgate, London. It killed one person, injured thirty others, and caused an estimated £350 million in damage.

* 1993, June: President of the Republic of Ireland, Mary Robinson, visited community groups in Belfast. She publicly shook hands with Gerry Adams, provoking criticism.

* 1993, September: The IRA observed a ceasefire to coincide with a visit to Northern Ireland by prominent Irish Americans.

* 1993, October: Ten people were killed by an IRA bomb at a fish shop on Shankill Road, Belfast.
** The UFF shot and killed eight people at the Rising Sun bar, Greysteel, County Londonderry. One gunman was heard to say ‘trick or treat’ before he fired into the crowded room, a reference to the Halloween party taking place.

* 1994 January: The broadcasting ban lifted in the Republic of Ireland.
** Bill Clinton granted a ‘limited duration’ visa to see Gerry Adams.

* 1994, March: The IRA carried out a mortar attack on Heathrow Airport, London. Further attacks were carried out later in the month, but on each occasion, the mortars failed to explode.

* 1994, June: Twenty-nine people, including ten senior RUC officers, died when their Chinook helicopter crashed at Mull of Kintyre, Scotland. They were travelling from Belfast to a security conference in Inverness.
** Six men were shot and killed by the UVF at a bar in Loughinisland, County Down.

* 1994, August: The IRA issued a statement which announced a complete cessation of military activities. This ceasefire was broken less than two years later.

* 1994, September: John Major lifted the broadcasting ban in the UK.

* 1994, October: Loyalist groups announced a ceasefire.

* 1994, December: Former US Senator, George Mitchell, was appointed by Bill Clinton as special economic advisor on Ireland. In effect, Mitchell was the ‘peace envoy’ promised by Clinton in 1992.

* 1995, January: A delegation from Sinn Féin met with officials from the Northern Ireland Office.

* 1995, February: The British and Irish governments released the Joint Framework document.

* 1995, March: Gerry Adams attended a reception held by Bill Clinton at the White House.

* 1995, July: Lee Clegg, a British Army paratrooper , was released from prison on the orders of Secretary of State Patrick Mayhew. Clegg had been jailed in 1993, for the murder of Catholic teenager Karen Reilly.

* 1995, September: David Trimble was elected as the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, following the resignation of James Molyneaux.

* 1995, November: Bill Clinton became the first serving US President to visit Northern Ireland.

* 1996, February: The IRA bombed South Quay, Docklands, London. The bomb killed two people, and brought to an end the ceasefire after 17 months and 9 days.

* 1996, June: Detective Jerry McCabe of Garda Siochana (Irish police force) was killed by the IRA in County Limerick.
**Talks at Stormont began without Sinn Féin.
** The IRA exploded a bomb in Manchester. It destroyed a large part of the city centre and injured over 200 people. To date, it is the largest bomb to be planted on the British mainland. The devastation was so great, that several buildings were damaged beyond repair, and had to be demolished. It’s estimated that Manchester lost a third of all its retail space in the blast. Re-building took many years.

* 1996, October: 31 people were injured by an IRA bomb at the British Army HQ in Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn. 43 year old Warrant Officer James Bradwell died of his injuries four days later in hospital.

* 1997, February: Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick was shot and killed by the IRA at Bessbrook, Co. Armagh. He was the last British soldier to die in the Troubles.

* 1997, April: The Grand National horse race was cancelled, and Aintree Racecourse evacuated following a hoax bomb warning from the IRA. It was one of a number of events that proved how easily the IRA could disrupt the lives of the British public with minimum effort, and minimum risk to IRA members.

* 1997, May: Labour won the UK general election. Dr. Marjorie ’Mo’ Mowlam was appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

* 1997, June: Sinn Féin won its first ever seats in the Dail (Irish Parliament)
**Two RUC officers were shot and killed by the IRA.

* 1997, July: The IRA renewed its ceasefire.

* 1997, August: There was a debate on BBC’s Newsnight between Sinn Féin and the UUP. This was the first television debate between the two parties.

* 1997, September: Sinn Féin signed the Mitchell Principles.
** General John de Chastelain was appointed as the chair of the body to oversee decommissioning.
** Multi-party talks resumed.

* 1997, December: Billy Wright, the leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force within the Maze was shot and killed.

* 1998, January: Against the advice of the British government, Mo Mowlam visited UDA and UFF prisoners in the Maze to encourage them to support the peace talks.
** The Ulster Democratic Party were suspended from talks following UDA and UFF violence.

* 1998, March: Two men were shot and killed by the LVF at Poyntzpass, County Armagh.
** George Mitchell set a deadline of 9th April for the parties to reach an agreement.

* 1998, April: George Mitchell’s 9 April deadline passed, but the talks continued well into the night. Then at 5:35 p.m., on Good Friday, 10th April, after thirty years of violence, and two years of intensive talks, George Mitchell made the historic announcement: ‘I am happy to announce that the governments, and political parties of Northern Ireland have reached an agreement.’ The agreement, officially called the Belfast Agreement, would become better known as the Good Friday Agreement.

* 1998, May: The people of Ireland, North and South, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Good Friday Agreement.

* 1998, June: Northern Ireland Assembly elections were held. David Trimble was elected First Minister. Seamus Mallon was elected deputy.

* 1998, August: A dissident Republican splinter group, calling itself the Real IRA, exploded a bomb in Omagh, County Tyrone. It killed twenty-nine people, making it the worst single bombing of the Troubles, in terms of life lost.

* 1998, December: David Trimble of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and John Hume from the SDLP were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

* 1999, January: Former IRA member Eamon Collins was found dead near Newry, County Down.

* 1999, March: Solicitor Rosemary Nelson, who had represented Republicans in several high profile cases, was killed by a booby trap car bomb in Lurgan, County Armagh. A loyalist group, Red Hand Defenders, admitted responsibility.

* 1999, July: 22 year old Charles Bennett was shot and killed by the IRA in Belfast.

* 1999, October: Peter Mandelson replaced Mo Mowlam as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

2000 - present

* 2000, February: Peter Mandelson suspended the Northern Ireland Assembly, citing insufficient progress on decommissioning.

* 2000, March: The Bloody Sunday Inquiry begins in Derry.

* 2000, May: Devolution was restored.

* 2000, June: A Real IRA bomb caused minor damage to Hammersmith Bridge, London.

* 2000, July: The final prisoners were release from the Maze, under the conditions of the Good Friday Agreement.

* 2000, December: Bill Clinton began a visit to Northern Ireland.

* 2001, January: Dissident Republicans launched a mortar attack on a British Army base in Derry.
** Dr. John Reid replaced Peter Mandelson.

* 2001, March: A Real IRA bomb exploded outside BBC Television Centre, causing some damage to the building (See 4 March 2001 BBC bombing).

* 2001, April: A Real IRA bomb exploded at a Post Office depot in North London.

* 2001, June: RUC officers had to protect pupils and parents at Holy Cross Catholic Girls’ School in Belfast, following attacks from loyalist protesters. The attacks resumed in September, following the school summer holidays.

* 2001, July: David Trimble resigned as First Minister.
** Catholic teenager Ciaran Cummings was shot and killed by the UDA in Co. Antrim.
** The worst rioting for several years took place in Belfast.

* 2001, August: Army bomb disposal teams defused a bomb in the main car park at Belfast International Airport.
** A Real IRA car bomb injured seven people in Ealing, West London (See 3 August 2001 Ealing bombing).

* 2001, October: The IRA began decommissioning.

* 2001, November: The RUC was replaced by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Recruits were recruited on the basis of 50% Catholic, 50% non catholic.
** David Trimble was re-elected as First Minister.

* 2008, May: A car bomb exploded in Spamount, injuring a police officer. The attack is believed to have been carried out by 'dissident' Republicans.

Notes