Read Voices from the Grave: Two Men's War in Ireland Online
Authors: Ed Moloney
| 1956 | IRA begins Border Campaign in Northern Ireland. |
| 1959 | Eamon de Valera retires as Taoiseach and succeeded by Sean Lemass. |
| 1962 | Border Campaign abandoned in failure. Cathal Goulding becomes IRA Chief of Staff. |
| 1963 | Terence O’Neill becomes prime minister of Northern Ireland. Roy Johnston and Tony Coughlan join Republican Movement. |
| 1964 | Divis Street riots in Belfast over display of Irish flag. |
| 1966 deaths 3 | UVF re-formed in Belfast and kills Catholics. |
| 1967 | Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) formed. Unionist prime minister Terence O’Neill meets Irish Taoiseach Jack Lynch at Stormont – Loyalist demonstrators marshalled by Ian Paisley throw snowballs at his car. |
| 1968 | First civil rights marches in Northern Ireland. |
| 1969 deaths 18 total 21 | Riots in Derry and deaths in Belfast. Brendan Hughes joins D Company of Belfast IRA. British Army sent to Northern Ireland. IRA splits into Official and Provisional wings. Provisional IRA Convention held; Sean MacStiofain becomes first Chief of Staff. |
| 1970 deaths 28 total 49 | Sinn Fein splits after majority vote to drop abstentionism; dissidents walk and give their allegiance to new ‘Provisional’ IRA. Ian Paisley elected to Westminster parliament. Siege of St Matthew’s; Falls curfew boosts Provisionals. IRA commercial bombing campaign begins. Billy McKee is Belfast Commander. Adams heads IRA in Ballymurphy and choreographs Ballymurphy riots, defying McKee. |
| 1971 deaths 180 total 229 | IRA campaign intensifies. First British soldier shot dead and Provo commercial bombing campaign begins in Belfast. Brendan Hughes become O/C of D Company; Gerry Adams on Second Belfast Battalion staff and then Commander; Adams on Belfast Brigade staff. Internment without trial introduced. IRA campaign mushrooms. |
| 1972 deaths 496 total 725 | Bloody Sunday in Derry. Stormont parliament prorogued and Direct Rule from London imposed. Adams interned but at insistence of Ivor Bell is released to take part in ceasefire talks with British. Adams becomes Adjutant of Belfast Brigade. Special-category status granted to IRA prisoners. Ceasefire breaks down at urging of Belfast Brigade. Adams introduces Armalite rifle to IRA. IRA kills nine in ‘Bloody Friday’ bombings. David Ervine joins UVF. Operation Motorman puts IRA under pressure. Adams becomes Belfast Brigade Commander; Brendan Hughes is the Operations Officer. Four Square Laundry operation. ‘Unknowns’ cell formed by Adams. Belfast Brigade begins to ‘disappear’ double agents starting with Joe Linskey and including Jean McConville. Breton Nationalists introduce IRA to Libyans. |
| 1973 deaths 263 total 988 | London bombings carried out by Belfast Brigade. Adams and Hughes arrested and interned. Hughes escapes from Long Kesh and becomes Belfast Commander. |
| 1974 deaths 303 total 1291 | Power-sharing Sunningdale deal brought down by Ulster Workers’ Council general strike assisted by UDA and UVF and mainstream Loyalist politicians. Brendan Hughes re-arrested. David Ervine arrested while on bombing mission. |
| 1975 deaths 267 total 1558 | IRA ceasefire called, IRA leadership believes British wish to disengage. Lengthy talks with British. Adams, Hughes and Ivor Bell lead Long Kesh dissidents against Billy McKee and David Morley leadership and oppose ceasefire. Loyalist killings of Catholics surge and IRA responds with sectarian assassinations. IRA ceasefire peters out. |
| 1976 deaths 308 total 1866 | New British security policy introduced. RUC put in charge of security operations, internment phased out, juryless courts set up, IRA to be treated as criminals in jail. Prison protest to restore political status by IRA inmates in new H-blocks begins. |
| 1977 deaths 116 total 1982 | Police interrogation centres begin to process scores of IRA suspects. Adams released from jail and eventually reappointed as Belfast Brigade Commander. Brendan Hughes becomes IRA Commander in jail. Adams becomes Adjutant-General and joins Army Council. Long War speech at Bodenstown in June. Northern Command set up and Revolutionary Council established. Cellular restructuring of IRA starts. |
| 1978 deaths 88 total 2070 | Adams loses his rank as Chief of Staff when he is arrested in the wake of La Mon bombing. Martin McGuinness becomes IRA Chief of Staff. Adams cleared and released – he becomes Adjutant-General, second in command to McGuinness. British Army document, Northern Ireland – Future Terrorist Trends , leaked to IRA; names Adams and Bell as architects of IRA restructuring. |
| 1979 deaths 125 total 2195 | Margaret Thatcher becomes British prime minister. Lord Mountbatten killed in IRA bombing. 18 British soldiers killed in ambush on border. |
| 1980 deaths 86 total 2281 | First IRA prison hunger strike begins with Brendan Hughes leading the protest. Northern IRA leaders negotiate secret deal to end fast with Britain’s MI6. Hunger strike ends with no significant concessions; IRA leadership tries to disguise defeat |
| 1981 deaths 117 total 2398 | Second jail hunger strike starts. IRA prison leader Bobby Sands elected MP for Fermanagh–South Tyrone. When Sands dies Owen Carron is elected in his place. Two IRA prisoners elected to the Dail in Dublin. Hunger strike ends with ten deaths. Brendan Hughes moves to non-IRA blocks. Sinn Fein adopts ‘Armalite and ballot box’ strategy and agrees to contest elections. |
| 1982 deaths 112 total 2510 | Army Council allows Adams and McGuinness to stand in elections to new NI Assembly but McGuinness forced to quit as Chief of Staff while Adams stands down as Adjutant-General, the last time he holds rank in the IRA. Ivor Bell becomes new Chief of Staff. Sinn Fein wins 10 per cent of the vote in Assembly elections, causing political sensation. New Sinn Fein leadership dominated by Adams allies. Peace process begins with talks between Gerry Adams and Father Alex Reid. |
| 1983 deaths 87 total 2597 | Gerry Adams elected MP for West Belfast; Sinn Fein tops 100,000 votes in British general election. Adams succeeds Ruairi O Bradaigh as President of Sinn Fein as old guard is vanquished. Ivor Bell forced to quit as Chief of Staff after he is arrested. Kevin McKenna succeeds him. Major IRA jail escape: 38 inmates break out of Long Kesh/Maze. |
| 1984 deaths 72 total 2669 | Libyan Intelligence Service negotiates arms and cash deal with IRA Army Council. Failure of rebellion against Adams leadership by Ivor Bell and Belfast Brigade staff over resources devoted to elections fails. Army Council plans Irish ‘Tet’ offensive. |
| 1985 deaths 58 total 2727 | Anglo-Irish Agreement signed giving Dublin a consultative say in Northern Ireland’s affairs. Libyan arms shipments begin. Adams publicly seeks talks with SDLP leader John Hume. He also calls for a united Nationalist approach to North. |
| 1986 deaths 66 total 2793 | Father Reid first approaches Charles Haughey for peace talks on behalf of Gerry Adams. IRA drops abstentionism and lifts ban on taking seats in the Dail at first General Army Convention held since 1970. Sinn Fein follow suit at ard-fheis – number of delegates nearly doubles for this one meeting. McGuinness briefs IRA Executive and IRA field commanders about large arms shipments, saying more is on the way. Brendan Hughes is released from jail and rejoins IRA. |
| 1987 deaths 106 total 2899 | Charles Haughey becomes Taoiseach after Fianna Fail returns to power. East Tyrone IRA unit wiped out in SAS ambush at Loughgall. Eksund intercepted off Brittany coast with 150 tonnes of Libyan weaponry, betrayed by IRA informer. |
| 1988 deaths 105 total 3004 | Hume–Adams talks begin but conclude with no agreement. Secret contacts between Hume and Adams resume immediately afterwards. IRA attempt to kill British Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe in Brussels apparently betrayed. Gibraltar bombing ends with three IRA deaths amidst suspicion of betrayal. Republican leaders deny IRA ceasefire on the agenda of SDLP talks. |
| 1989 deaths 81 total 3085 | Sinn Fein criticism of botched IRA operations intensifies. Major IRA informer Joe Fenton killed before he can be fully interrogated. Brendan Hughes, then in charge of spy-catcher unit, suspects Fenton was killed to protect other spies. New NI Secretary Peter Brooke raises possibility of talks with Sinn Fein. |
| 1990 deaths 84 total 3169 | Peter Brooke said Britain had ‘no selfish strategic or economic interest’ in staying in NI. Martin McGuinness proposes formal Christmas ceasefire, the first official cessation since 1975. |
| 1991 deaths 102 total 3271 | Margaret Thatcher resigns as British prime minister. First drafts of joint government declaration on NI, otherwise known as Hume–Adams Document, drafted. |
| 1992 deaths 91 total 3362 | Hume–Adams Document agreed but leaves blank a date for British withdrawal. |
| 1993 deaths 90 total 3452 | Hume–Adams contacts publicly revealed for first time. Irish prime minister Albert Reynolds negotiates separate document with British, called Downing Street Declaration. Shankill bomb kills nine Protestants and one IRA man. Loyalist violence claims 16 lives. |
| 1994 deaths 69 total 3521 | IRA Army Council votes 5–1 with one abstention for four-month ceasefire. Army Council extends ceasefire until April 1995. |
| 1995 deaths 9 total 3530 | British harden demand for IRA decommissioning before Sinn Fein gets into talks. US politician George Mitchell heads decommissioning inquiry. Martin McGuinness suggests voluntary self-decommissioning. |
| 1996 deaths 22 total 3552 | Army Council votes 7–0 to end ceasefire. Huge truck bomb kills two and causes £100 million sterling damage at Canary Wharf, London. IRA campaign confined to England. Adams survives IRA Convention when dissidents fail to capture Army Council but suffers setbacks. |
| 1997 deaths 21 total 3573 | British general election called; Tony Blair becomes British prime minister and Bertie Ahern is the new Irish Taoiseach. Four days before controversial Garvaghy Orange march Army Council votes 7–0 for second ceasefire. IRA Executive and Army Council clash over ceasefire decision; dissidents defeated at Convention; Real IRA formed. All-party talks start at Stormont. Sinn Fein attend and subscribe to Mitchell principles of non-violence. |
| 1998 deaths 57 total 3630 | Good Friday Agreement negotiated. IRA Convention lifts abstentionist ban on taking seats in Stormont parliament. After two attempts, Sinn Fein ard-fheis endorses Good Friday Agreement and lifts ban on taking seats at Stormont. |
| 1999 deaths 6 total 3636 | Army Council agrees to locate the bodies of ‘disappeared’. Eamon Molloy’s body returned but not that of Jean McConville. Power-sharing government set up, Martin McGuinness and Bairbre de Brun are the two Sinn Fein ministers, for Education and Health respectively. |
| 2000 deaths 19 total 3655 | Army Council agrees in principle to initiate a process to put all its weapons ‘beyond use’ and in the interim agrees to international inspection of two arms dumps. Last IRA and Loyalist paramilitary prisoners released. |
| 2001 deaths 16 total 3671 | IRA agrees on methods to decommission IRA weapons. 11 September attacks in New York and Washington kill nearly 3,000 and Bush administration declares war on terrorism. IRA decommissions unspecified amount of weaponry. Police Service of Northern Ireland replaces RUC. Assembly and Executive restored; David Trimble is first minister, Mark Durkan of the SDLP is his deputy. |
| 2002 deaths 10 total 3681 | Sinn Fein win five seats to Irish parliament; party has three seats at Westminster. Assembly and Executive suspended by NI Secretary John Reid. |
| 2003 deaths 11 total 3692 | Freddie Scappaticci, former head of IRA’s internal security unit exposed as a British agent. Remains of Jean McConville discovered on County Down beach. Postponed Assembly election takes place with Sinn Fein and DUP emerging as largest parties. |
| 2004 deaths 3 total 3695 | Adams denies on Irish TV that he was ever an IRA member. Irish Justice minister Michael McDowell alleges Sinn Fein funded by IRA. Sinn Fein’s Bairbre de Brun wins John Hume’s seat in European parliament. Joe Cahill dies. Talks aimed at reaching a settlement begin at Leeds Castle, Kent. Political talks aimed at restoring power-sharing government founder over demand for photographs of IRA decommissioning. £26.5 million stolen from Northern Bank cash centre in Belfast. |