State Violence and Collusion Timeline 1974
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Events related to state violence and collusion in Northern Ireland in 1974.
January
- 1 - Sunningdale power-sharing administration takes office.[1]
- 3 - Director of Public Prosecutions writes to the Chief Constable of the RUC, saying it had been decided not to charge Robin Jackson with the murder of Patrick Campbell.[2]
- 6 - Tommy Toland shot and injured in Lurgan. The Ulster Defence Association later claimed responsibility.[3]
- 17 - Daniel Hughes killed in loyalist attack on Boyle's Bar, Cappagh, County Tyrone. The attack is later claimed by the Ulster Volunteer Force.[4]
- 19 - SDLP leadership narrowly escapes a UVF bomb attack in Dungannon.[5]
February
- February undated - Brian Nelson sentenced to imprisonment for seven years for firearms offences, intimidation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.[6]
- 11 Marian Rafferty and Thomas Mitchell shot and injured in loyalist attack in Moy.[7] Stuart Ashton and Derek McFarland admitted involvement in the attack in 1980.[8]
- 19 - A UVF bomb kills two people in a Catholic-owned Traynor's Bar in Aughenlig, Co Armagh. A UVF member was convicted for the attack in 1981. He was also convicted of a February 1974 attack on a courting couple in Charlemont. Two other men were also convicted of the latter attack, both former members of the UDR, and one also a former member of the RUC.[9] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked the bombings to the Glennane Gang.[10]
- 28 - Westminster general election - United Ulster Unionist Council wins 11 of 12 seats, with the SDLP winning West Belfast.[11]
March
- 5 - 9 people injured in a UVF bomb attack on a house in Coalisland. The bombers had kidnapped two men in a bread van and loaded the bomb into it.[12]
- 13 - Trevor Barnard charged in relation to 5 March Coalisland kidnapping.[12]
- 15 - John Somerville and Wesley Somerville appear in court in relation to 5 March kidnapping.[12]
- 19 - Robert Fisk reports in The Times that SAS members are serving undercover in Belfast and Derry.[13]
- 21 - Ulster Workers Council formed.[13]
April
- 4 Merlyn Rees announces the end of internment and the deproscription of the UVF and Sinn Féin.[13]
May
- 7 - SDLP members James and Gertrude Devlin are shot dead by a uniformed man near the home at Congo Road, near Edendork, Co Tyrone. A 21-year-old UDR member, William Thomas Leonard, was later convicted of the murders. The court heard he had driven the gunmen to the scene. A July 1996 Sunday Independent report linked Robin Jackson to the killings.[14][15] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked the shootings to the Glennane Gang.[10]
- 10 - Brendan Hughes arrested in raid on a house in Myrtlefield Park, Belfast.[16]
- 13 - In the House of Commons, Prime Minister Harold Wilson denounces IRA 'Doomsday' document recovered at Myrtlefield Park. The British Ambassador in Dublin presents the document to Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave.[16]
- 14 - Ulster Workers Council declares beginning of strike.[17]
- 15 - Internal Ministry of Defence letter warns that RUC may have concealed criminal records of applicants to facilitate recruitment into the Ulster Defence Regiment.[18]
- 17 - Three no-warning car bombs ripped through the heart of Dublin at 5.30 pm. Twenty-six people (including a French and Italian citizen) and an unborn baby lost their lives. Parnell Street, Talbot Street and South Leinster Street were devastated. Ninety minutes later, a fourth car bomb exploded outside Greacen's Pub in North Road, Monaghan town where a further seven people died.[19] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked the bombings to the Glennane Gang.[10]
- 19 - Merlyn Rees declares state of emergency.[20]
- 27 - J.N. Allan and Michael Oatley met with the UVF at Laneside. Those present included Ken Gibson, John Falls, Tom Best and Stanley Grey.[21]
- 28 - Sunningdale administration collapses and Ulster Workers Council strike ends.[22]
- 29 - A further meeting with the UVF at Laneside. J.N. Allan and Michael Oatley meet Ken Gibson and John Falls.[21]
June
- 15 - John Patrick Cunningham, a 27-year-old man with a mental disability, was shot dead by British soldiers near his home in Benburb, Tyrone.[23]
September
- 27 - Colin Wallace promoted to senior information officer.[1]
October
- 1 - Colin Wallace declines to undertake further work on Operation Clockwork Orange at around this time.[1]
- 10 - UK General election.[1]
- 16 - Colin Wallace offered a position at the Northern Ireland Office.[1]
- 27 - The body is discovered of 18-year-old Anthony Duffy who had been beaten and shot to death by members of the UVF. Two Portadown men are later convicted of his murder.[24] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked the killing to the Glennane Gang.[10]
- 30 - Colin Wallace visited by David McKittrick over a claim that the UDA had identified George Horn as the leader of the Ulster Citizens Army.[1]
November
- 8 Colin Wallace writes memorandum complaining about lack of police action over Kincora.[1]
- 20 - Patrick Falls is shot dead at his brother's pub at Aughamullen, near Coalisland, Co. Tyrone. A close relative of Wesley Somerville is convicted of the killing in 1981.[25] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked the killing to the Glennane Gang.[10]
- 29 - UVF bomb attack on Hughes Bar in Newry, Co. Down. One man, John Mallon, dies of his injuries on 15 December. Newspaper reports suggest Robin Jackson is suspected of a role.[26] Another UVF bomb attack on 29 November took place at McArdle's Pub in Crossmaglen, Co. Armagh, owned by a former chairman of the local rural council. one man, Thomas McNamee, died of injuries sustained in the attack a year later.[27] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked both bombings to the Glennane Gang.[10]
December
- 20 - IRA ceasefire announced.[1]
- 24 - Colin Wallace told by Tony Chinneck of the Ministry of Defence that he is being moved from Northern Ireland because his life is in danger.[1]
- 27 - Nineteen-year-old George Hyde, a defendant in the shooting of Patrick Turley, is beaten to death in Long Kesh prison camp, amid allegations he had given information the RUC.[28]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Paul Foot, Who Framed Colin Wallace, Pan Books, 1989, p.427.
- ↑ Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.46.
- ↑ Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.52.
- ↑ Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.53.
- ↑ Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.54.
- ↑ Sir Desmond de Silva, Volume 1 - Chapter 6: The recruitment of Brian Nelson, Pat Finucane Review, 12 December 2012.
- ↑ Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.12.
- ↑ Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.55.
- ↑ David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney, Chris Thornton and David McVea, Lost Lives, Mainstream Publishing, pp.423-424.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Collusion in the south Armagh - mid Ulster area in the mid-1970's, Pat Finucane Centre, accessed 19 June 2012.
- ↑ W.D Flackes & Sydney Elliott, Northern Ireland: A Political Directory 1968-88, Blackstaff Press, 1989, p.4.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.60.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.61.
- ↑ David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney, Chris Thornton and David McVea, Lost Lives, Mainstream Publishing, p.444.
- ↑ Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.64.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.68.
- ↑ Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.69.
- ↑ Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.67.
- ↑ THE DUBLIN AND MONAGHAN BOMBINGS, Justice for the Forgotten, 19 June 2012.
- ↑ Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.70.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Extract from National Archives file CJ4 1147, archived by the Pat Finucane Centre, accessed 4 April 2013. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "UVFmeeting" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Paul Foot, Who Framed Colin Wallace, Pan Books, 1989, p.427.
- ↑ Gerry Moriarty, British government apologises over shooting of mentally disabled man, Irish Times, 20 March 2013.
- ↑ David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney, Chris Thornton and David McVea, Lost Lives, Mainstream Publishing, pp.486-487.
- ↑ David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney, Chris Thornton and David McVea, Lost Lives, Mainstream Publishing, p.496.
- ↑ David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney, Chris Thornton and David McVea, Lost Lives, Mainstream Publishing, p.506.
- ↑ David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney, Chris Thornton and David McVea, Lost Lives, Mainstream Publishing, p.595.
- ↑ Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.32.