State Violence and Collusion Timeline 1974
Events related to state violence and collusion in Northern Ireland in 1974.
January
- 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.[1]
- 6 - Tommy Toland shot and injured in Lurgan. The Ulster Defence Association later claimed responsibility.[2]
- 17 - Daniel Hughes killed in loyalist attack on Boyle's Bar, Cappagh, County Tyrone. The attack is later claimed by the Ulster Volunteer Force.[3]
- 19 - SDLP leadership narrowly escapes a UVF bomb attack in Dungannon.[4]
February
- February undated - Brian Nelson sentenced to imprisonment for seven years for firearms offences, intimidation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.[5]
- 11 Marian Rafferty and Thomas Mitchell shot and injured in loyalist attack in Moy.[6] Stuart Ashton and Derek McFarland admitted involvement in the attack in 1980.[7]
- 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.[8] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked the bombings to the Glennane Gang.[9]
- 28 - Westminster general election - United Ulster Unionist Council wins 11 of 12 seats, with the SDLP winning West Belfast.[10]
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.[11]
- 13 - Trevor Barnard charged in relation to 5 March Coalisland kidnapping.[11]
- 15 - John Somerville and Wesley Somerville appear in court in relation to 5 March kidnapping.[11]
- 19 - Robert Fisk reports in The Times that SAS members are serving undercover in Belfast and Derry.[12]
- 21' - Ulster Workers Council formed.[12]
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 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.[13] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked the shootings to the Glennane Gang.[9]
- 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.[14] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked the bombings to the Glennane Gang.[9]
- 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.[15]
- 29 - A further meeting with the UVF at Laneside. J.N. Allan and Michael Oatley meet Ken Gibson and John Falls.[15]
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.[16]
October
- 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.[17] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked the killing to the Glennane Gang.[9]
November
- 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.[18] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked the killing to the Glennane Gang.[9]
- 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.[19] 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.[20] The Pat Finucane Centre has linked both bombings to the Glennane Gang.[9]
December
- 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.[21]
Notes
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 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.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Anne Cadwallader, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2013, p.60.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 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.
- ↑ THE DUBLIN AND MONAGHAN BOMBINGS, Justice for the Forgotten, 19 June 2012.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Extract from National Archives file CJ4 1147, archived by the Pat Finucane Centre, accessed 4 April 2013.
- ↑ 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.
