The Ulster Declaration: Chronology
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Your support makes all the difference.In 1968 a civil rights movement emerged in Northern Ireland to fight discrimination against Catholics in housing, jobs and electoral rights. More than 3,000 people have died during events since:
October 1968
Londonderry civil rights march broken up by police. Regarded as the start of the troubles
April 1969
Bernadette Devlin, civil rights campaigner, won Mid Ulster by-election
August 1969
British troops arrived in Belfast and Londonderry after seven died in rioting
December 1969
Provisional IRA formed after splitting from the Official IRA
September 1970
Provisional IRA bombing campaign started in Belfast. Two RUC officers killed
February 1971
Gunner Robert Curtis, the first British soldier to die, killed during Belfast rioting
August 1971
Internment without trial introduced. 343 rounded up but IRA leaders escaped
December 1971
15 killed in Loyalist bomb attack on McGurk's bar, Belfast
January 1972
13 men shot dead by British paratroopers in Londonderry on 'Bloody Sunday'
February 1972
Official IRA bombed Parachute Regiment headquarters in Aldershot, Hants, killing seven
March 1972
Direct rule from London replaced the Unionist government in Northern Ireland
November 1973
Unionist, SDLP and Alliance parties agreed to form power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland
December 1973
Sunningdale conference agreed to establish a Council of Ireland with representatives from north and south Ireland
May 1974
Strike by Ulster Workers Council brought down the power-sharing executive led by Brian Faulkner
November 1974
Two bombs in Birmingham pubs killed 21 people following earlier attacks in Woolwich and Guildford
February 1975
IRA declared ceasefire and talked with British civil servants. Ceasefire lasted until the autumn
January 1976
SAS sent to South Armagh after 10 Protestants were murdered by the IRA
August 1976
Peace movement started after three children killed in Belfast. Founders Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams later awarded Nobel Peace Prize
February 1978
12 killed in IRA fire bomb attack on La Mon House restaurant, near Belfast
March 1979
Airey Neave, Conservative spokesman on Northern Ireland, assassinated by INLA car bomb at the House of Commons
August 1979
Lord Mountbatten and three others killed by IRA bomb in boat off Irish coast. 18 British soldiers died in explosions at Warrenpoint, County Down
April 1981
Bobby Sands, IRA hunger striker in the Maze prison, elected as MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. He died in May
October 1981
Hunger strike called off after 10 IRA and INLA members had died
July 1982
11 bandsmen and mounted soldiers killed in separate explosions in Regents park and Hyde Park, London
November 1982
Three unarmed IRA men shot dead by the RUC in the first of three incidents which prompted accusations of a 'shoot to kill' policy
December 1982
17 people, including 11 soldiers, killed in INLA bombing of Droppin' Well disco in County Londonderry
June 1983
Gerry Adams elected as Sinn Fein MP for West Belfast. The party won more than 100,000 votes across Northern Ireland
September 1983
38 Provisional IRA men escaped from the Maze Prison, the biggest escape in British prison history
December 1983
Five people killed and 80 injured by IRA car bomb outside Harrods in London
October 1984
Five killed and 34 injured in IRA attempt to wipe out the Cabinet by bombing the Grand Hotel, Brighton during the Conservative conference
February 1985
Nine RUC officers killed in IRA mortar attack on police station in Newry, County Down
November 1985
Anglo-Irish Agreement signed by British and Irish leaders increasing co-operation between London and Dublin. Loyalists outraged
April 1986
Unionist leaders announced campaign of civil disobedience. Protestants attacked homes of RUC officers
May 1987
Eight IRA men shot dead by the SAS as they attacked Loughgall RUC station, County Armagh
October 1987
French customs seized the cargo slip 'Eksund' carrying 150 tons of Libyan arms and explosives destined for the IRA
November 1987
11 people killed and 63 injured when the IRA bombed the Remembrance Sunday service in Enniskillen
March 1988
Three IRA members shot dead in Gibraltar by the SAS. Three mourners killed at their funeral by Loyalist gunman and two British soldiers murdered at IRA funeral
August 1988
Eight soldiers killed in IRA bombing at Ballygawley, County Tyrone
September 1989
IRA bomb attack on Royal Marines barracks at Deal, Kent kills 11 bandsmen
July 1990
Ian Gow, Conservative MP for Eastbourne, assassinated by IRA car bomb at his Sussex home
March 1991
Peter Brooke, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced that formal talks on the political future of the province could go ahead
February 1992
Five Catholics killed in an attack on a Belfast betting shop by the Loyalist UDA
April 1992
The IRA marked the Conservative General Election victory by destroying the Baltic Exchange, London with a bomb killing three people
March 1993
IRA bomb which exploded among shoppers in Warrington, Cheshire, killed two children and caused international revulsion. A peace movement launched in Dublin
April 1993
Massive IRA bomb in Bishopsgate in the City of London killed one man and caused damage worth billions of pounds
John Hulme, leader of the SDLP, and Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, begin talks to try and find a peace formula
October 1993
IRA bomb attack in Belfast killed 10 people and unleashed violence which claimed 24 lives. Seven of these were murdered by Loyalist gunmen in Greysteel, County Londonderry. John Major and Albert Reynolds agreed to launch a fresh attempt to bring peace
(Photographs omitted)
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