10th January – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

10^th January

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Sunday 10 January 1971

Members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out an early form of ‘punishment attack’ by tarring and feathering four men who were accused of criminal activities in Catholic areas of Belfast.

[‘Punishment beatings’, and ‘punishment shootings’ (were people were shot in the knee or elsewhere on the body with intent to wound but not kill) were to become a continuous feature of the conflict in Northern Ireland and were used by both Republican and Loyalist paramilitary groups.]

Monday 10 January 1972

[Public Records 1972 – Released 1 January 2003:

Note from Sir Burke Trend, then Cabinet Secretary, to Edward Heath, then British Prime Minister, on matters related to political issues, inter-party talks, the security situation, and internment.]

Thursday 10 January 1974

[Public Records 1974 – Released 1 January 2005: Message from Edward Heath, then British Prime Minister, to Liam Cosgrave, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister). In this note Heath criticised the Irish government for its stance in public on the implications of the Sunningdale Agreement.]

Wednesday 10 January 1990

Stevens Inquiry Fire The room being used by the Stevens Inquiry, into allegations of collusion between Loyalist paramilitaries and the security forces, was destroyed by a fire. The room was in a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) station in Belfast.

[A later RUC investigation concluded that the fire was an accident. Many commentators felt it unlikely that the fire was simply a coincidence. On 17 April 2003 Stevens wrote in the summary report of his third inquiry:

“This incident, in my opinion, has never been adequately investigated and I believe it was a deliberate act of arson.” (paragraph: 3.4).]

Friday 10 January 1992

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded a small bomb, estimated at 5 pounds, that was concealed in a briefcase and left approximately 300 meters from Downing Street in London.

Wednesday 10 February 1993

Albert Reynolds, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), nominated Gordon Wilson to become a member of the Irish Senate (the upper house of the Irish Parliament). [Gordon Wilson had been injured, and his daughter killed, in the Enniskillen bomb on 8 November 1987.]

Monday 10 January 1994

Albert Reynolds, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), said that the Irish government would provide continuing clarification of the Downing Street Declaration.

Tuesday 10 January 1995

Gary McMichael, then leader of the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), called for a phased release of paramilitary prisoners.

Friday 10 January 1997

There was a series of 20 bomb alerts throughout Belfast leading to major disruption. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a statement in the Andersonstown News warning informers that “action” would be taken against them.

Ken Maginnis, then Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Security Spokesperson, called on the Department of the Environment to remove an IRA memorial to Sean South and Feargal O’Hanlon who had been killed by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in 1957.

Saturday 10 January 1998

Terence (Terry) Enwright (28), a Catholic civilian who was a cross-community worker, was shot dead by the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) outside a night club in Belfast. Enwright was a highly respected community worker who, it was said, had saved scores of young people from paramilitary ‘punishment’ attacks and had steered many others away from involvement in paramilitary groups. Enwright was also married to a niece of Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF).

David Ervine, then a spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), claimed that the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) was not operating alone and was receiving political direction from “seemingly respectable” politicians.

Sunday 10 January 1999

Billy Hutchinson, then spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), said that David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was risking the peace process by insisting on prior decommissioning of weapons by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) before Sinn Féin (SF) could take its seats in the Executive.

Monday 10 January 2000

Richard Jameson (46), a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), was shot dead outside his home near Portadown, County Armagh. The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) were responsible for the killing. The killing was part of a feud between the LVF and the UVF.

Thursday 10 January 2002

Further Violence in north Belfast

The rioting on the Ardoyne Road continued into the early hours of the night with petrol-bombs still being thrown at approximately 2.00am (0200GMT).

A Loyalist gang entered a Catholic girls’ school in north Belfast at approximately 11.00am (1100GMT) and attacked and damaged 17 cars. Six men, two of them believed to be armed with a gun and a rifle, entered the grounds of Our Lady of Mercy Girls’ Secondary School. While one man stood guard at the school’s entrance the other members of the gang attacked the cars of teachers. Some parents later took their children home early from the school. Loyalists threw fireworks at the Catholic Mercy Convent Primary School on the Crumlin Road.

A Protestant woman was assaulted as she walked past a Nationalist crowd at the Ardoyne shops. Police intervened and injured one Catholic man in the head with a baton.

Protestant pupils at the Boys’ Model and Girls’ Model Secondary schools were driven home in police Land Rovers when buses were withdrawn because of the on-going violence. Police officers decided it would be unsafe for the pupils to walk past the large crowd of Nationalists gathered at the Ardoyne shops.

There was rioting between Loyalists and Nationalists in the Ardoyne Road during the afternoon. Later in the day and into the evening there was widespread rioting in north Belfast. Nationalists petrol-bombed police in Brompton Park, Ardoyne, and also hijacked and burnt several cars. Police fired 7 plastic bullets at the crowds, and 11 arrests were made.

Two blast bombs exploded among police as they confronted the crowds in the Ardoyne area. Army bomb disposal experts made safe 3 devices which failed to explode. Loyalists attacked security forces on Twaddell Avenue, off Crumlin Road, and injured a British soldier with an acid bomb.

Loyalist and Nationalist rioters also clashed in the Whitewell area, north Belfast. Petrol bombs were thrown at homes on both sides of the peaceline between White City and Serpentine Gardens. Police said that 31 officers and 3 soldiers had been injured in the rioting during the evening.

The Holy Cross Girls’ Primary School in Ardoyne, north Belfast, was closed for the day following the disturbances the previous day. Catholic parents and Protestant residents of Glenbryn estate held separate meetings to discuss the situation. Some other schools in the area closed early following fears about the safety of pupils.

David Trimble (UUP), then First Minister, and Mark Durkan (SDLP), then Deputy First Minister, condemned the disturbances as “disgraceful” and called for restraint. Officials had been asked to arrange an urgent meeting between community activists and local Northern Ireland Assembly members to try to facilitate cross-community dialogue.

Representatives of teachers said they would consider taking strike action in protest at the sectarian attacks on schools in north Belfast. Frank Bunting, then a representative of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), said he had asked the Department of Education to sanction strike action over the ”intolerable situation”.

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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles

Today is the anniversary of the death of the following  people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die

– Thomas Campbell

To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live  forever

– To  the Paramilitaries  –

There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.

6 People   lost their lives on the 10th  January  between  1974 – 2000

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10 January 1974

John Crawford,  (53)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Found shot near his workplace, Milltown Row, Falls, Belfast.

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10 January 1975

John Green,   (27)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: British Army (BA)
Found shot at friend’s farmhouse, Tullynageer, near Castleblayney, County Monaghan

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10 January 1976

Edward McQuaid,   (25)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot from passing car while walking along Cliftonville Road, Belfast.

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10 January 1984

William Fullerton,   (48)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot by sniper while driving his car along Warrenpoint Road, Newry, County Down.

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10 January 1998

Terry Enright,  (28)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF)
Security man. Shot outside Space Nightclub, Talbot Street, Belfast.

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10 January 2000

Richard Jameson,   (46)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF),

Killed by: Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF)
Shot outside his home, Derrylettiff Road, near Portadown, County Armagh. Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) / Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) feud.

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Big Brother’s latest victim – Winston McKenzie

Like the vast majority of Big Brother  viewers  (Ahem…. the wife makes me  watch it  ) and the Great British public I found the views and actions of ex-boxer come errr  politician  Winston McKenzie   offensive and hard to  watch and yet I felt a tiny bit of sympathy for him , but this was short lived.

The fact of the matter is BB knew all about his views before he entered the house and the producers/researcher’s must have been beside themselves with anticipation of it all kicking off – and they were not to be disappointed.

Homophobia is a hate crime and rightly has no place in a democratic and tolerant society such as the UK. The producers of BB knew that when Winston’s views were aired during the show last night the shit would hit the fan and Winston would be sent packing faster than a rat up a drain pipe.

And it was no surprise to anyone on planet earth that he was the 1st to be evicted from the house.

But BB are guilty of setting Winston up for a mighty fall and today’s Papers and social media are going into over drive as the country debates  the heinous crimes of a clueless Winston McKenzie .

The producers of the show should be ashamed of themselves for the way they have manipulated and edited the show and the fact that yesterdays task was the catalyst for Winston’s downfall left a sour taste in my mouth.

Its not the first time the show has acted in such a way and Helen Wood is testament  to the shows love of the a ” Pantomime baddie ” and the levels the producers are willing to sink to in order to get a few extra viewers and free nationwide publicity.

But should Winston have been included in the show in the first place ?

After all ,  I assume they  have a vetting process and under normal circumstances  anyone with Winston’s views would not have got passed the 1st hurdle in any other mainline show and yet he was signed up and permitted to take part in the show – despite BB knowing that his views about gays and his attitude towards women would offend all right minded people the length and breadth of the country.

Watching Emma doing the exit interview last night I noted that 90% of the questions were related to his homophobic  comments and Ms Willis was not happy and on a roll. The interview seemed more like a grilling by a hard nosed News reporter and Emma barley mentioned his time in the house apart from the obvious and nor did she follow the normal eviction formula.

Winston’s attitude towards women in the house was creepy  to say the least and uncomfortable to watch and his barely concealed homophobia  leads me to believe the man is obviously a few shillings short of a full deck and begs the question why  did he agree to enter the house in the first place?

 Have years of being punched  in the head lead to a malfunction of normal rational behaviour and should his agent now be looking for a new job?

Despite the outcry over his comments and  his nethanderal attitude to modern life/families , I do feel that Winston is a victim of BB’s hysterical desire to increase viewing figures  and raise its profile and BB have stooped to new depths in inviting Winston to take part in the show and then hanging him out to dry when he delivered what they had prayed for when they signed him up.

Being homophobia and  a chauvinistic pig should have excluded Winston from getting anywhere near the show and BB should be ashamed of themselves for setting this fool up for such  a mighty fall on national TV and  trying to manipulate public opinion as a means of increasing the shows profile.

I have little sympathy for Winston and I am sure he will live with the fallout of this episode for many years to come and yet I have a funny suspicion that the BB team are patting themselves  on the back and are already searching for the next “Lamb to the Slaughter”

Roll on  tonight show!!

See Big Brother’s Nepotism