1977 / 1978 / 1979 / 1980 / 1981 AD
1977
In the
Irish Republic,
Sean MacBride was awarded the
Lenin Peace Prize
and
Patrick Hillery
became the new
President of Ireland, who was to
retain the office for two 7 year terms.
I
June 13th: In the Irish Republic,
Jack Lynch,
the leader of the
Fianna Fail Party, was re -
elected to become the new
Prime Minister of
the
Republic of Ireland, with the largest ever overall majority
of
50.6%
of the votes, winning
84 seats giving the
Fianna Fail Party a
20 seat
majority, as the Fine Gael
Party had dropped from
53
to
43 seats,
while the
Irish Labour Party was down
2
seats to
17,
with
4
Independents, which now included
Neill Blaney,
Joseph Sheridan, Michael Lipper from
Limerick, and
Noel Browne.
Liam Cosgrave
resigned as the leader of the
Fine Gael
Party, and
Garret Fitz Gerald was to replace him until
1987, and
Brendan Corish
resigned as the
Irish
Labour Party leader and was replaced by
Frank Mac Cluskey.
In the
6
Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the
Ulster Province, still under the control of
the British Labour Government,
Betty Williams and
Mairead Corrigan who had previously
founded the "Peace People"
were given their
Nobel Peace Prize, but the Peace Movement
was now a spent force.
August: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, and still under the control of the British Labour Government and the "Official" Unionist Government the Queen of Britain visited for 2 days and the Provos support was even higher and they planted a bomb in the new University where she was visiting that went off after she left. Jimmy Carter the newly elected President of the Unites States of America offered financial aid for these 6 Counties in Ulster if the violence ceased and a political solution could be found and he was basically ignored, while the National Committee of the Democratic Party in America passed a motion condemning the British Government's discrimination policy against the Catholic Irish in these 6 Counties in Ulster. The Provisional I,R,A. Council had Provisional Sinn Fein representative on it based in Dublin, while the Belfast Brigade was made up of 3 Battalions, with one in the Upper Falls, Ballymurphy and Anderstown, the second in the Lower Falls, Clonard and Divis Flats, and the third in the Ardoyne and the Short Strand, and other Catholic areas in the Cit composed of 20 to 25 men. The Cumann na Ban / women and the Fianna na Eireann / youths were recruits to the P.I.R.A / Provos. The I.N.L.A was still prominent and active, but due to internal strife some of their members defected as there was some connection to the P.I.R.A / Provos. Loyalist Doomsday groups / Orange Volunteers from the Orange Order who were the most militant were declaring Civil War against the Irish Catholics if the 6 Counties in the Ulster Province were returned to the whole of Ireland, while the Ulster Defence Association / U.D.A had never been banned, but Ulster Freedom fighters who actually did the work were although it was occasionally also carried out by young militants. They had 8 Brigades with 1 in Antrim, 1 in Derry, 1 in South - East Mid Ulster, 4 in Belfast and 1 in Co. Down with their Inner Council run by sympathisers in Glasgow in Scotland.
October: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, and still under the control of the British Labour Government and the "Official" Unionist Government, a P.I.R.A. / Provo / A.S.U. / Active service Unit led by Francis Hughes carried out booby trap attacks in South Derry in Co. Derry killing U.D.R. officers at Magherafelt.
December: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, and still under the control of the British Labour Government and the "Official" Unionist Government, the Provos bombed La Mon Hotel at Comber in Co. Down were 12 people were killed and many burnt and 20 Sinn Fein members were arrested including Gerry Adams their newly elected vice - President, The Provos then destroyed 16 buses in the Derry depot.
1978 In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of the British Labour Government the Emergency Provisions Act was brought in, which was another great violation of human rights, as it was composed of very extreme measures against the population there. The Catholic Irish made up 1/3 of the work force, but they were 2/3 of the unemployed, while there was 52 % Catholic children to 48 % non - Catholic children in the various schools.
January: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of the British Labour Government, the Provos began a political campaign for political status for the prisoners in the Maze Prison and a conference involving everyone was held on Coalisland near Loch Neagh and in February at Anderstown.
February 10th:
Martin O Connor, Edward Butler, Harry Duggan and
Hugh O Doherty /
The
Balcombe Street Four were imprisoned
for 30
years each in London.
1979
The population of the
Irish Republic
was up to
3,368,217, and in the
January 1st: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of James Callaghan and the British Labour Government, the Provisional I.R.A. / P.I.R.A / Provos refused to be involved in the march by the Peoples' Democracy Party to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Civil Rights march to Burntollet in support of the Maze blanket prisoners, whose number was now at 250 plus women imprisoned in Armagh Jail because notice had been given to the R.U.C. police. The P.I.R.A / Provos were to concentrate on the prison officers this year and 9 were to be killed. The blanket prisoners refused to keep themselves clean in their cells to gain political status as the wardens were harassing them while they were going to the toilet and emptying their chamber pots over their mattresses. Some of the prisoners wanted to begin a hunger strike but the P.I.R.A. leadership was against it, but it made the P.I.R.A redefine its association with the Peoples Democracy, the Irish Republican Socialist Party and the Relatives Action Committee and they formed the H Block Armagh Committee. The H Block was so called due to the shape of the building's layout in the Maze Prison and this co - operation increased sympathy for the Irish Republican movement. The Loyalists were upset and isolated by their intransigence and began more murders of the people involved with the H Block campaign including their fellow non - Catholics.
May:
In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of the British Government, the Unionists won 10 seats in the British Elections, with 3 to the S.D.L. Party, 5 to the "Official" Unionist Party and the remainder to Independent Unionists. Gerry Fitt / West Belfast, Frank Maguire / Fermanagh / South Tyrone as an Independent Nationalist. James Callaghan, the British Labour Prime Minister, had did a deal with the Ascendancy "Official" Unionists to introduce Proportional Representation to give them an extra 5 seats, with Gerry Fitt from the Social Democratic Labour Party abstaining.
The
Tories / Conservative Unionist Party
was now elected
as the new British Conservative Government in England
until 1990 and in
July Margaret Thatcher
who was now the new British
Conservative Prime Minister in England, appointed
Humphrey Atkins to act as her
Secretary in the
6 Counties artificially partitioned by the British
Imperial Coalition Government from the
9 in the Ulster Province.
August 9th:
In the 6
Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the
Ulster Province, still under the control of
the
British Government, the 8th
Anniversary of Internment without trial occurred and 10,000
people demonstrated in Belfast and there where 5
Provos there dressed in uniform who were cheered on by the crowd as there was
now more support for the P.I.R.A. / Provisional I.R.A.
October: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, the I.R.A come out once again, and reaffirmed their commitment to end the artificial partition of these 6 Counties in Ulster. Long Kesh Prison was opened there in Ulster, by the British Government for the internment of Irish prisoners. Humphrey Atkins the British Conservative Governments newly appointed Secretary in control of these 6 Counties in Ulster condemned the groups in America for supporting Irish Nationalism and the re - unification of Ireland.
December 5th:
Jack Lynch,
the leader of the
Fianna Fail Government in the
Irish Republic, was forced to
resign as the
Prime Minister of Ireland
after
9 years
of service in this capacity, and
13 years
as the Fianna Fail Party leader, as he had allowed
British
Conservative
Government helicopters
to fly over the artificial border areas
following the death of
Lord
Mountbatten.
December 7th: In the Irish Republic,
Charles Haughey
/ Cathal hEachaidh, was
to be elected as the new leader of
the Fianna Fail
Party by
44 votes
to
38,
and was to remain their leader until
1992, and he was to contest
5 elections
while
losing
2
of these during his campaign for a United
Ireland,
holding office in
2 of these only with minority support, and he was
to install
Maire Geoghegan -
Quinn as the first woman to be
appointed to the
Fianna Fail
Government.
December 11th: In the Irish Republic, Charles Haughey was in as the new Fianna Fail / Taoiseach Prime Minister of Ireland in the Dail Eireann / Irish Assembly by 82 votes to 62,
In the 6 Counties
artificially partitioned from the 9 the
Ulster Province,
Gerry Fitt
was out as the leader of the political
Social Democratic Labour Party
/ S.D.L.P. and
was replaced by
John Hume.
1980 The Irish population had increased by 1/2 %.
In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, 4 of the prisoners in the Maze Prison had taken their cases to the European Court of Human Rights.
March:
In the
6
Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in
the Ulster Province
still under the control of the British Conservative
Government, Humphrey Atkins the British Government appointed Secretary in these
6 Counties announced that there was now no political status for
Irish prisoners who had been found guilty prior to
March 1st 1976, but he would allow the prisoners in the Maze Prison to wear
track suites during exercise, which they rejected. Later in the year
he offered to allow them to wear
civilian clothes that would be issued by the prison authorities.
May 21st: Charles Haughey, the new Fianna Fail Prime Minister of Ireland, was keen to explore discussions on the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province by the British Imperial Government in 1922, to try and bring about peace and a United Ireland, and he met with Margaret Thatcher the new British Conservative Prime Minister in London, but nothing was achieved. Humphrey Atkins her acting British Secretary in the 6 Counties in Ulster tightened his grip on these 6 Counties and then offered to release it slightly.
June: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, the European Court of Human Rights announced that it was acceptable for the Irish prisoners to be treated as criminals, but condemned the British Conservative Government for failing to be flexible enough to find an answer to the problem. John Turnly from the Irish Independent Party was gunned down and Mr. and Mrs. Bunting were shot in their own house in Belfast for being members of the I.R.S. Party and the Provos suspected that some of the British forces were involved in the attacks.
October 27th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, 7 Provos seeing there was no end in sight went on a hunger strike and the National H Block Committee began demonstrations throughout Ireland and associated groups also held some in Britain and there was support from abroad and the Catholic Church in Ireland, especially from Tomas O Fiaich the Primate of Ireland.
December: Charles Haughey, the Fianna Fail Prime Minister of Ireland, declared that the British Government Ascendancy's experiment in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province had failed, and he met with Margaret Thatcher the British Conservative Prime Minister, again in Dublin Castle, where they agreed to collaborate, by setting up an Anglo - Irish Inter Governmental Council of Ministers and Civil Servants. Charles Haughey was now backing off from giving full backing to the P.I.R.A / Provos and the Irish Republicans in the these 6 Counties in Ulster, while Margaret Thatcher also came to realise that the government in Dublin had to be involved to reach a real solution. Humphrey Atkins and Margaret Thatcher agreed to set up study teams to investigate matters of mutual concern, while Ian Paisley was upset with this progress and began a campaign to sign a Solemn Oath and Covenant similar to the 19th Century to defeat all and defy their attempts to remove British Nationality. In the meantime Sean Mac Kenna a prisoner in the Maze Prison by now was near death.
December 17th: Humphrey Atkins announced the British Government Secretary in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, announced they were willing to accept a compromise but by now the hunger strike had widened with 3 women at Armagh Prison and 6 U.D.A. men joining in who were to be segregated from the Irish Republicans.
December 18th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, Humphrey Atkins the British Government Secretary said that the prisoners must end the strike first, and the Provos worried about the depreciating physical condition of Sean Mac Kenna decided to call off the strike. All the Provos received from taking this decision was that the British Government made a vague reinterpretation of the Prison rules.
This year, another
75
people met with
violent deaths
1981 January 16th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, Margaret Thatcher the Conservative British Prime Minister appointed James Prior as her new Secretary in these 6 Counties in Ulster until 1984. Bernadette Devlin / Mac Aliskey, the young Civil Rights M.P. in the Westminster Parliament and her husband, were physically attacked by Loyalist Unionist gunmen in Co. Tyrone and both were badly wounded.
January 21st: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, Sir Norman Stronge and his son, James, who were 2 former Unionist politicians, were killed in their home at Tynan Abbey in Co. Armagh and a warning was issued that the same would be carried out on other leading Loyalists and the attacks suddenly stopped.
January : Near the end the National H Block Armagh Committee realised that the first hunger strike was a failure and called a conference to decide if a second one was necessary and there was arguments over further support for the P.I.R.A campaign of violence and wether they should seek trade union and Catholic Church aid and it was finally decided to begin a second hunger strike.
February : In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, in the countryside surrounding Belfast several thousand non - Catholics rallied and 500 men produced gun licenses to defend against the Irish Republicans, and the British Government for treachery.
March 1st: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, Bobby Sands who was born in 1954 at Rathcoole, from where his family had been driven out of by the Northern Unionist Loyalists and those previous actions, coupled with the treatment metered out to him by his "Interment without Trial "in the Maze Prison, had convinced him to become a member of the I.R.A. While in the Maze Prison, he decided on a hunger strike to protest against the removal of his political status and he was joined in the hunger strike by 9 other Irish internees and those in the Maze prison and Armagh called off their "dirty" protest to allow the focus to be on him. 5,000 demonstrators protested on the same day down Falls Road to support his stand and for the prisoners to wear their own clothes, to be exempt from Penal labour, free association to organise their own recreation and the restoration of remission for good behaviour. The 10 of them were all to die this year within a period of 217 days, due to the intransigence of Margaret Thatcher who would not even allow them to wear there own clothes.
February 13th: In the Irish Republic 48 people died on this day, in a disastrous fire at the Stardust Ballroom in Dublin in the north - east of Southern Leinster, which was the day before the Fianna Fail Convention / Ard Fheis was to be held.
February 18th:
In the Irish Republic,
the
Fianna Fail Government under
Charles Haughey was defeated, and
Garret Fitzgerald
the leader of the
Fine Gael Party became the new
Taoiseach
/ Prime Minister of
Ireland.
In the Irish Republic, "The O Gorman Mahon" / Charles J.P. Mahon died at 91 years of age, and had been involved in 13 duels during his lifetime.
March 15th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of Margaret Thatcher and the British Conservative Government, Bobby Sands was joined in the hunger strike by Francis Hughes from South Derry A.S.U.
March 22nd: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, 2 more prisoners joined in with Bobby Sands and Francis Hughes and were soon followed by others. Frank Maguire the Westminster M.P. for Fermanagh / South Tyrone, died. and the National H Block Committee because of his strong determination and the publicity he had generated for the cause of those "Imprisoned without Trial," nominated Bobby Sands to replace him and the S.D.L. Party did not run a candidate, while the Unionists were represented by Harry West.
April 7th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, a 29 Year old woman and part time Census taker was shot dead in Derry.
April 9th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government, Election Day occurred with a heavy turnout and Bobby Sands was to be elected in the electoral seat left vacant due to the death of Frank Maguire the previous S. D..L. P. / Social Democratic Party candidate who defeated Harry West by 1,000 votes in a 60,000 poll. There was to be rioting on the Easter weekend and Bobby Sands physical condition continued to deteriorate and there was no reaction from Margaret Thatcher and Charles Haughey had the European Human Rights commission offer to mediate to end the chance of any deaths occurring due to the hunger strike.
April 26th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of Margaret Thatcher and the British Conservative Government, 20,000 people gathered in the Falls area to hear General Ramsey Clark the former USA attorney, and Daniel Berrigan a Peace activist speak. In Britain only 32 out of 270 Labour Opposition M.P.'s signed a statement urging Margaret Thatcher to
negotiate to settle the dispute with the hunger strikers, while at a rally in London to have the British Military troops withdrawn from these 6 Counties in Ulster only 1,000 people attended.
May 5th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of Margaret Thatcher and the British Conservative Government, Bobby Sands, died and Humphrey Atkins the British Conservative Secretary stated that he had committed suicide and rioting broke out in Belfast in which 2 people were killed.
May 12th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of Margaret Thatcher and the British Conservative Government, Francis Hughes also died and there was more rioting.
May 13th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, Bobby Sands, was allowed to starve to death in the Maze Prison in Belfast in Co. Antrim by Margaret Thatcher the British Conservative Prime Minister despite all the pleas for some sign of humanity from all over the World and Church leaders, and he was laid to rest in the cemetery in West Belfast in Co. Antrim, where out of respect and a
show of protest at her actions 100,000 people were to attend his funeral.
May 19th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of Margaret Thatcher and the British Conservative Government, the Provos came out in force and 5 British Military soldiers were killed in South Armagh.
May 21st: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of Margaret Thatcher and the British Conservative Government, 2 more hunger strikers, died and there was more riots and more funerals but still Margaret Thatcher did nothing. While all of this was going on there were local elections in these 6 Counties in Ulster and a General Election in the Irish Republic.
June: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, Kieran Doherty, another of the participants in the "hunger strike" from the H - Block Prison, who was also trying to gain political status, won the electoral seat as an Independent for Co. Cavan in Southern Ulster, which was still in the Irish Republic, and he stood with the principals of the political Sinn Fein Party, but he was
never to be able to take up his seat. The Irish Independence Party who were anti - Unionist and not connected to any of the Para Military groups were to have some success in the local elections, while the Peoples Democracy gained Gerry Fitt's seat in West Belfast, while the Paisleyites ran a close second to the "Official" Unionists.
June 11th: In the Irish Republic, the General Election was conducted where the Fianna Fail Party only gained 45% of the vote with 78 seats, while the Fine Gael Party won 65, and the Irish Labour Party 15 seats, the Independents 8, which included 3 to the Workers Party. Frank Mac Cluskey, the leader of the Irish Labour Party lost his seat, and he was replaced as their leader by Michael O Leary, who formed a very unstable All Ireland Forum for a New Ireland Coalition Government in the Irish Republic, with Garret Fitz Gerald the leader of the Fine Gael Party together with some Independents. (This New Ireland Coalition was to include Noel Browne and James Kemmy.) Of the other Independents, Sean Loftus and Joseph Sherlock remained neutral, while Neil Blaney still continued to support the Fianna Fail Party Opposition now under the leadership of Charles Haughey. Patrick Agnew, had also won a seat while representing the political Sinn Fein Party, but he could not take it up as he was to die in a pitiful state also in a prison in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative British Government, as did Kieran Doherty who was by now also in a similar state there. Garret Fitz Gerald voiced condolences when a prisoner died and criticized Margaret Thatcher for her inflexibility, but refused the H Block Committees demands to withdraw the Irish Republic's ambassador from London or expel the British ambassador, and cease the cross border co - operation with the British forces in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned in Ulster.
June 21st: The British Parliament passed a Bill prohibiting convicted criminals from standing for election due to Bobby Sands previous election to ensure that no other prisoner took his place, and the Provos saw this as proof that British democracy was a sham, so Owen Carron who had been Bobby Sands election agent stood instead.
July: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of Margaret Thatcher and the British Conservative Government, 2 more of the hunger strikers, died and the Catholic Church was now more active through the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace and it now offered to mediate and the prisoners said they were ready to negotiate, Humphrey Atkins was also ready to act on behalf of the British Government if the strike was called off first, but the British Government, and the Provos due to the 2 recent deaths were not ready and it came to nothing. Garret Fitz Gerald asked Ronald Regan to intervene but he declined so the P.I.R.A / Provos continued their attacks.
August: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of Margaret Thatcher and the British Conservative Government, Owen Carron won the bye - election with a larger majority.
August 5th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of Margaret Thatcher and the British Conservative Government, the P.I.R.A / Provos were especially active with bombings through out these 6 Counties in Ulster and by the end of August the whole 10 of the hunger strikers had died with Margaret Thatcher showing no sign of humanity at all to their plight and the I.N.L.A. refused to let anymore of the men join in as it was achieving little and Father Denis Faul who was well respected by the Irish Republican elements persuaded the strikers families to get them medical help.
September:
In the
6
Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in
the Ulster Province
still under the control of Margaret Thatcher and the British Conservative
Government, 3
of the other hunger strikers gave up their task.
October 3rd: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, the "hunger strike" previously being carried out to gain re - recognition of the internees there as "political" prisoners was called off by the I.R.A command, and the relations between Ireland and the British Conservative Government in England under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher was at it's lowest ebb. In fact the British Conservative Government's shares all over the World were by now well and truly badly damaged, as Margaret Thatcher had continued to show complete disregard for any sign of humanity, for the life of these young Irishmen and that nothing had changed in her or the Conservative Party's outlook. In the meantime the political Sinn Fein Party had only increased in popularity with the Irish population, as one after another of these young Irish internees, involved in the "hunger strike" were to die. By now the political Sinn Fein Party's popularity, under the leadership of Gerry Adams, had grown so much, that it now threatened the popularity of the S.D.L. P. / Social Democratic Labour Party under John Hume in these 6 Counties in Ulster.
November 6th:
Garret Fitz Gerald,
the new
Fine Gael Coalition
Prime Minister of Ireland,
met with
Margaret Thatcher the British
Conservative Prime Minister in
London, trying to bring about some way of increasing the strength of the
Democratic Nationals
in these
6 Counties
artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province,
and
weaken the support for the Provisional I.R.A.
/ Provos and
also the political
Sinn Fein Party
there, hoping for an Anglo
- Irish Agreement
along these lines.
November: the bombings in
London finished and the A.S.U./ Active Service Units disappeared
In