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The Troubles in Ardoyne

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The Troubles in Ardoyne

Republican organisations have had a major influence in the Ardoyne area from the start of The Troubles in 1969. The rise in popularity of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) led to more police raids in the area, usually supported by the British Army. Internment (imprisonment without trial) affected many people in Ardoyne. Over the years after 1969, Provisional IRA membership in the area grew, so much so that it became one of the "no-go" areas listed by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and Army, due to rising security risks and casualties suffered by the armed forces upon entering the district. Subsequent to the Troubles some dissident republican activity has been recorded in the area.

Contents

1971

  • 15 February: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while taking part in a mobile-patrol in Ardoyne. Two British Army scout cars came under sniper fire and had a bomb thrown at them. The soldier was shot in the head.
  • 23 August: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper on Flax Street in the Ardoyne area. The soldier was shot in the head as he exited a British armoured vehicle.
  • 17 September: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot-patrol in Ardoyne.
  • 1 October: A British soldier was shot dead in an IRA gun-attack on a British Army foot-patrol in the Ardoyne area.
  • 21 December 1971: An unarmed IRA volunteer was shot after being captured by the British Army in Ardoyne.

    • 1972

  • 18 May: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper on Flax Street.
  • 23 July: An Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldier was kidnapped and shot dead by the IRA in Ardoyne.
  • 14 August: A civilian was killed in the crossfire between an IRA unit and a British patrol in the Ardoyne area.
  • 30 September: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Ardoyne.

    • 1973

  • 28 February: A British soldier was killed in an IRA gun attack on a patrol in the Ardoyne area.
  • 17 April 1973: An IRA volunteer was shot dead by a British Army sniper while standing talking with a number of men in Ardoyne.
  • 10 June: The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) shot dead a Catholic civilian in the Deerpark Road area adjacent to Ardoyne.

    • 1974

  • 25 November: The UDA shot dead a Protestant civilian outside Ewart's Mill. They had assumed he was a Catholic.

    • 1975

  • 5 April: The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) shot dead a Catholic civilian as he walked home at Etna Drive.
  • 2 May: The IRA shot dead a UDA member at his workplace, Ardoyne Bus Depot, on Ardoyne Road.

    • 1976

  • 10 March: The IRA shot dead Sammy Smyth (former UDA spokesman) on Alliance Avenue.
  • 13 March: An ex-British soldier was shot dead on Alliance Avenue.
  • 5 June: The UDA carried out a drive-by shooting at the Crumlin Star Bar in Brompton Park. A Catholic civilian died of his wounds two days later. An RUC detective said it was a random sectarian attack.
  • 24 October: Two British soldiers were killed when an IRA sniper team ambushed a British patrol in Ardoyne.

    • 1977

  • 20 April: Two Catholic civilians were killed when the UVF exploded a bomb at the funeral of a Provisional IRA volunteer on Etna Drive.
  • 27 February: An ex-British soldier was shot dead by the IRA in the Ardoyne area.
  • 17 April: An IRA volunteer was shot dead by a British Army sniper on Flax Street.
  • 28 August: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot patrol in the Ardoyne area.

    • 1979

  • 5 January – Two members of the IRA, Francis Donnelly (24) and Lawrence Montgomery (24), were killed in Northwick Drive, Ardoyne, when the car bomb they were transporting exploded prematurely.

    • 1980

  • 16 August: A civilian was accidentally shot dead by the IRA during a gun attack on an RUC patrol in Ardoyne.

    • 1981

  • 27 March: The UDA shot dead a Catholic civilian on Berwick Road.

    • 1987

  • 10 March: An RUC officer was killed when the IRA detonated a remote controlled bomb at the Ardoyne Shops on Crumlin Road. The RUC had been lured to the area by a hoax phone call claiming an armed robbery was in progress. The IRA had correctly anticipated which doorway the RUC would take cover in and detonated a small booby-trap bomb when they arrived. The IRA claimed his death was retaliation for "RUC brutality at republican funerals".
  • 2 April: The UVF shot dead an IRA volunteer at his home in Ardoyne.
  • 12 July: A former member of the Royal Air Force was shot dead by the IRA on Alliance Avenue. The IRA said it had intervened "to end an hour-long attack by loyalists on the area". Locals claimed the man had been attempting to stop youths from throwing stones and bottles into the nearby Catholic area. A 16-year-old was also wounded in the shooting.

    • 1989

  • 19 March: The UVF shot dead a Catholic civilian at his home on Alliance Avenue.

    • 1992

  • 21 February: The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) claimed responsibility for a gun and grenade attack on the home of a Sinn Féin councillor in Ardoyne.
  • 12 March: The UFF claimed responsibility for shooting dead a Catholic civilian at his home on Alliance Avenue.

    • 1993

  • 31 August: In an attack in Ardoyne, two British soldiers were wounded when the IRA detonated a car-bomb near their patrol.
  • 21 September 1993: A British soldier was wounded when an IRA unit threw a blast-bomb at his patrol in the Ardoyne area.

    • 1997

  • 13 March: A British soldier was injured by an IRA grenade in Ardoyne. Several people was arrested in the aftermath.
  • 7 July: INLA gunmen fired on British soldiers in Ardoyne as part of the widespread violence that followed Mo Mowlam's decision over the Drumcree parade. See 1997 nationalist riots in Northern Ireland.
  • 8 July: There was a gun battle between loyalist and IRA volunteers in Ardoyne. The IRA claim that two loyalist were wounded.

    • 2005

  • 12 July : The Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) was blamed for attacking PSNI officers with blast bombs during rioting in the Ardoyne area, following an Orange Order parade. Eighty officers were injured, one seriously, and several people were arrested.

    • 2009

  • 13 July: The Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) was blamed for shooting at the PSNI in the Ardoyne area during heavy rioting after an Orange Order parade.

    • 2010

  • 11 September: The CIRA claimed responsibility for the punishment shootings of two men in the Ardoyne area.

    • References

    The Troubles in Ardoyne Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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