Chronology
1968
August–October The first Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) march at Dungannon. At a subsequent march in Armagh, loyalists organize a counter-rally and violence breaks out as police try to keep the groups apart. Television coverage of a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) baton charge against civil rights marchers in Derry draws public attention to heavy-handed police involvement.
November Terence O’Neill, the moderate unionist prime minister of Northern Ireland, announces plans for political reform but this fails to contain unrest.
1969
April Loyalist-organized explosions at electricity and water supply facilities in Northern Ireland are blamed on the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Unable to control the worsening situation, O’Neill resigns.
August–October Rioting in working class areas of Derry (later referred to as the Battle of the Bogside) and Belfast, both against the police and between Protestant and Catholic communities, results in intervention by the British Army to maintain order. Publication of the Hunt Report recommends the disarming of the RUC and disbandment of the police reserve B-Specials. This sparks further rioting during which loyalists kill the first policeman to die in the Troubles.
January–April The IRA is ill-prepared for the growing inter-community violence and internal tensions increase over its failure to offer resistance to attacks from neighbouring Protestant communities. As a result Sinn Féin, the republican party associated with the IRA, and the IRA itself split into provisional and official wings. In April, the Alliance Party is formed to represent the small, moderate non-sectarian middle ground.
1971
August Internment (or imprisonment without trial) is introduced in response to the escalation of violence, but it exacerbates nationalist alienation. Only nationalists are detained in the initial phase, and most of them have no current involvement in the republican movement. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is formed by supporters of the civil rights movement, Republican Labour, and some members of the nationalist Party and Northern Ireland Labour Party. It becomes the main representative of the Catholic community.
October Ard Fheis (Party Conference of Provisional Sinn Féin) adopts the ‘Eire Nua’ (New Ireland) policy which advocates a federal Ireland. Loyalist leader Ian Paisley forms the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
1972
January The worst year of the Troubles begins. A total of 470 are killed and 4,876 are wounded. The IRA carries out hundreds of bombings and shootings in this period. On 30 January, known as Bloody Sunday, fourteen die as a result of shooting by the British Army in Derry at the end of a civil rights march. None of the marchers killed are armed, but a subsequent Commission of Inquiry (Widgery) exonerates the security forces. The anger and distrust of the British judicial system continue to reverberate into the 1990s.
March The Northern Ireland government resigns rather than hand over security to the British government, the Northern Ireland parliament (Stormont) is suspended on 24 March and direct rule from Westminster under a Secretary of State is imposed.
July On 7 July, secret talks are held between Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw and IRA representatives. On 21 July, known as Bloody Friday, nine are killed by the IRA when twenty-two bombs are exploded in Belfast in the space of seventy-five minutes.
October British government proposals include an ‘Irish dimension’ which would introduce the involvement of the Republic of Ireland in Northern Ireland affairs.
1973
March–July A referendum on whether Northern Ireland should remain part of Britain produces an overwhelming ‘yes’ vote, but very few Catholics take part. The government proposes a new Northern Ireland Assembly with proportional representation – the first formal peace initiative. Following elections in June, the Assembly holds its first meeting in July.
October–November Secretary of State Whitelaw chairs talks between the SDLP, the Alliance Party and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) which set up a power-sharing executive.
December At the Sunningdale Conference the power-sharing executive and the British and Irish governments discuss how the executive will function. The Sunningdale Agreement affirms that the constitutional status of Northern Ireland can only be changed with the consent of the majority and establishes a Council of Ireland.
1974
January–May A majority of members of the Ulster Unionist Council opposes the Sunningdale Agreement. Its leader Brian Faulkner resigns leading to a split in the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). All eleven unionist MPs elected to Westminster in February are opposed to the Agreement. The Northern Ireland Assembly endorses the Sunningdale Agreement with the votes of the rump of unionists who support the Agreement together with the nationalists. A strike by the Ulster Workers Council leads to the collapse of the power-sharing executive after only five months and the Assembly is suspended. July The government proposes elections to a Constitutional Convention which would seek a solution – its second formal peace initiative.
December A small group of Protestant clergy meet secretly with the leadership of the IRA to try to persuade it to call off the campaign of violence. The Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), later linked to the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), is formed. The IRA announces a ten-day ceasefire for the Christmas period as a sign of goodwill.
1975
February Following contact with representatives of the British government, the IRA suspends hostilities with the British Army and government-funded ‘incident centres’ staffed by republicans are established to monitor the ceasefire.
May The Constitutional Convention meets. Its proposals for majority rule reflect the priorities of the unionist majority.
July The INLA is formed in the context of a feud between the IRSP and the Official IRA.
November The Secretary of State announces the end of special status for paramilitary prisoners and argues that the IRA ceasefire is becoming meaningless.
December Internment is ended because it is seen to be ineffective and counter-productive. By now all terrorist cases are tried under the Diplock Rules which made convictions easier to obtain. The First Fair Employment Act introduces measures to tackle discrimination in recruitment and other discriminatory practices in the workplace.
1976
March The Constitutional Convention is dissolved by the British government because its proposals do not command widespread acceptance throughout the community.
April Republican prisoners begin a campaign against the loss of their special status. These ‘dirty protests’ (wearing only blankets and refusing to wash) are accompanied by attacks on prison warders for the first time.
August–September Mass peace rallies take place in Belfast and all over Ireland in the months following the accidental death of a young family when republicans crash their car while pursued by the security forces. The movement becomes known as the Peace People and its founders, Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams, are later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1977
May The Independent Unionist Group, mainly composed of former members of the Northern Ireland Labour Party, publish ‘Proposals for a New Initiative to Achieve Peace and Democracy in Northern Ireland’ which advocates sharing responsibility with nationalists. One member of the group had links with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), which later supports the document.
1978
January British interrogation methods used on interned paramilitary prisoners in 1971 are judged to be ‘inhuman and degrading’ by the European Court of Human Rights.
1979
March Conservative Party opposition spokesman on Northern Ireland, Airey Neave, is killed by an INLA car bomb in the House of Commons car park in London.
June Ian Paisley of the DUP tops the poll for the Northern Ireland constituency in the first elections to the European Parliament.
August–September On 27 August separate IRA bomb explosions claim the lives of Lord Mountbatten and eighteen soldiers. Pope Paul visits the Republic of Ireland but is advised for security reasons not to visit Northern Ireland. He calls on paramilitary groups to end their campaigns.
October Secretary of State Humphrey Atkins invites the four main political parties to attend a new constitutional conference – the government’s third formal peace initiative. The invitation is rejected by the UUP which indicates a shift away from its preference for devolved government.
January–March The constitutional conference set up by Humphrey Atkins fails to agree to proposals on government for Northern Ireland because of continuing divergence between unionist support for majority rule and nationalist support for power-sharing.
May At their first meeting the British and Irish premiers agree on closer cooperation.
October–December The first republican hunger strike by IRA and INLA prisoners is organized in the Maze prison in support of demands for special category (prisoner-of-war) status, their ‘dirty protest’ having failed to gain concessions. The hunger strike is called off on 18 December, the strikers believing, mistakenly, that the government has made concessions.
1981
March–October IRA and INLA prisoners begin a second hunger strike over political status. One of the prisoners, Bobby Sands, is elected as an MP to the Westminster parliament in a by-election in Fermanagh–South Tyrone but dies one month later. In the following months nine more hunger strikers die. The strike peters out as families permit their dying relatives to be fed. Following the end of the hunger strike the government makes concessions in the prison regime without recognizing the prisoners’ political status. Sinn Féin’s party conference agrees its ‘armalite and ballot box’ strategy and decides to fight elections for seats on local government bodies.
November The British and Irish premiers establish the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference to improve co-ordination of policy.
1982
April–November Secretary of State James Prior introduces legislation for ‘rolling devolution’, an initiative designed to transfer powers to a Northern Ireland Assembly gradually and in agreed areas – the fourth formal peace initiative. The SDLP consider the scheme unworkable and stand for the elections in October on an abstentionist platform. Sinn Féin also fields candidates on an abstentionist platform, as it does not recognize Northern Ireland as a political entity, and wins five seats.
1983
May–November New Ireland Forum established by Irish government to review future constitutional arrangements for Ireland opens in Dublin. The three main parties in the Republic of Ireland and the SDLP take part, but Sinn Féin is not included. Gerry Adams, the new President of Sinn Féin, wins the West Belfast seat in the UK general election and the party’s total vote reaches thirteen per cent. The UUP withdraw from the Assembly in November in protest against the security situation – a further blow to Prior’s experiment.
1984
May All three options proposed by the New Ireland Forum as possible solutions – a unitary Ireland, a federal Ireland, and joint UK–Irish authority – are rejected by the British government as they represent a loss of their sovereignty in Northern Ireland.
October The IRA confirms its continuation of the armed struggle by attempting to kill Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and cabinet members with a bomb at the Conservative Party conference in Brighton.
1985
November–December The Anglo-Irish Agreement formalizes Irish influence in Northern Ireland and confirms that there can be no change in the status of Northern Ireland without the consent of the majority. In December mass unionist protests are organized against the Agreement.
1986
March Unionists strike and march against the Anglo-Irish Agreement but fail to have a significant impact.
June The Northern Ireland Assembly is wound up after it becomes a vehicle of unionist opposition to the Agreement.
September Individuals in the UUP and the DUP discuss independence options for Northern Ireland.
November Sinn Féin ends its policy of abstentionism in elections to the lower house of the Irish Republic’s parliament, the Dáil.
1987
May Eight IRA men are killed in an attack on a police station in Loughgall by a security force ambush. It fuels suspicions of a shoot-to-kill policy.
June The Ulster Defence Association (a loyalist paramilitary group) publishes its Common Sense document with proposals for a form of power-sharing in a new Northern Ireland Assembly.
October–November The IRA bombs a Remembrance Day parade in Enniskillen on 8 November killing eleven. Concern over security increases. Father Alex Reid, a Catholic priest in Belfast, writes his paper laying out the arguments for saying that the conflict was ripe for resolution and how the process of resolution might work.
1988
January–September SDLP leader John Hume holds the first of a series of talks with Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams which were to last eight months. Sinn Féin also makes contact with representatives of the Irish government.
October Members of proscribed organizations are banned from speaking on radio and television. The ban is mainly directed at Sinn Féin. Broadcasters use actors to provide ‘voice-overs’ for the politicians. Members from four Northern Ireland political parties meet for unofficial talks in Duisburg, West Germany organized by the Lutheran lawyer Dr Eberhard Spiecker.
1989
March Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin, makes a speech in which he says that he seeks a ‘non-armed political movement to work for self-determination’ in Ireland. July–November Peter Brooke is appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 24 July. On 3 November he states that if violence were ended he would not rule out talks with Sinn Féin and suggests that the IRA cannot be defeated militarily.
January New Fair Employment legislation comes into force following the failure of previous legislation to solve the problem of discrimination in the workplace.
October Peter Brooke authorizes the reopening of an indirect channel of communication involving Michael Oatley, an intelligence officer, and Father Denis Bradley.
November In a constituency meeting Peter Brooke makes the significant statement that Britain has ‘no selfish economic or strategic interest’ in Northern Ireland and would accept unification by consent of the majority. The Irish opposition leader, John Bruton of Fine Gael, accepts that there could be changes to Article 2 of the Republic’s constitution, which declares that the national territory consists of ‘the whole island of Ireland’. John Major replaces Margaret Thatcher as leader of the Conservative Party, and he begins to take a more flexible approach to Northern Ireland policy.
1991
March–July In March constitutional parties agree to Peter Brooke’s formula for Three Strand talks to examine relationships ‘within Northern Ireland, within the island of Ireland and between the peoples of these islands’. These talks became known as the Brooke–Mayhew talks. In April loyalist paramilitaries of the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) declare a ceasefire for the duration of the talks to facilitate the negotiations. In June, political talks begin on Strand One (i.e. relationships within Northern Ireland), on the unionist’s condition that no Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference meetings take place during the talks. In July the CLMC declare an end to their ceasefire.
1992
April Strand One talks reconvene during a gap in Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference meetings. Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin loses his Belfast seat in the UK general election.
July–November The new Secretary of State Sir Patrick Mayhew initiates talks between representatives of the British and Irish Governments and the Northern Ireland parties on Strands Two and Three under independent chairman Sir Ninian Stevens, a former governor-general of Australia. In the absence of agreement on the form of devolution the premiers set 16 November as the date for the next Anglo-Irish intergovernmental conference, effectively setting a limit to the talks. August sees the introduction of ‘Education for Mutual Understanding’, a programme to improve awareness of the different traditions and their aspirations in Northern Ireland, as part of the school curriculum under the Education Reform (NI) Order 1989.
November The Irish Coalition Government collapses and a general election is called for 25 November. Unionists withdraw from the Brooke–Mayhew talks, bringing the process to an end.
December Mayhew suggests that if Sinn Féin renounces violence ‘for real’ they can be included in the political dialogue. The IRA calls a three-day ceasefire.
1993
April Talks between Hume and Adams become public knowledge. They are known to be working on a document that might provide a generally acceptable basis for negotiations with the British government. They issue a joint statement asserting the right of all Irish people to ‘national self-determination’ and rejecting an internal settlement in Northern Ireland.
June The Opsahl Commission, a ‘citizen’s initiative’ to investigate public views on possible ways to deal with the conflict, publishes its report.
September The Hume–Adams dialogue is suspended while their peace proposals are considered by the two governments.
October Twenty-two conflict-related deaths in one week spark peace rallies.
December Prime Minister John Major and Albert Reynolds, Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), issue a joint declaration from 10 Downing Street, London (the document became known as the Downing Street Declaration). This expresses their willingness for Sinn Féin to participate in talks following a permanent end to violence. It confirms that there will be no change in the constitutional status of Northern Ireland without the consent of the majority. It reflects draft position papers produced by Hume–Adams, the Irish government and Sinn Féin, which were commented on by representatives of loyalist paramilitary groups before being finalized.
1994
January The broadcasting ban on Sinn Féin is lifted in the Republic of Ireland. Despite British objections Gerry Adams is granted a visa to enter the United States of America to address a peace conference.
March The IRA declares a three-day ceasefire over the Easter period.
May The Northern Ireland Office publishes a twenty-one-page clarification in response to questions raised by Sinn Féin regarding the Downing Street Declaration.
July Sinn Féin discussions are seen as a rejection of the Downing Street Declaration.
August–November On 31 August the IRA declares ‘a complete cessation of military operations’. Loyalist paramilitaries cease all operational hostilities on 13 October and declare that its permanence would depend on ‘the continued cessation of all nationalist/republican violence’. The Dublin government fulfils its promise to convene the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation with Sinn Féin participation. The Alliance Party from Northern Ireland also takes part. The broadcasting ban is lifted on proscribed organizations including Sinn Féin. John Major, speaking in Belfast announces that exclusion orders on Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, would be lifted, all border roads would be reopened, and that exploratory talks between the British Government and Sinn Féin would begin before Christmas. In Dublin, the coalition government headed by Albert Reynolds collapses.
December Talks are held between government officials and Sinn Féin representatives. President Clinton appoints Senator George Mitchell as special economic adviser on Ireland.
A new coalition Government is formed in the Republic of Ireland and John Bruton, leader of Fine Gael, is elected Taoiseach.
1995
February The document Frameworks for the Future is issued. Proposals include a devolved Northern Ireland Assembly and cross-border political and economic bodies. Unionists condemn the document but agree to participate in talks. US special envoy George Mitchell addresses the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation.
March Sir Patrick Mayhew signals a shift in the government position on the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons during a visit to Washington, where he says that republicans could only enter into substantive negotiations when they show a willingness to disarm by decommissioning some of their arms in advance of talks.
April Mayhew invites UUP, DUP, SDLP and Alliance Party representatives to bilateral talks.
May–June The first ministerial level talks are held with Sinn Féin (the first official meeting between SF and the British Government in 23 years), but the party withdraws from exploratory talks because of perceived unequal treatment.
July Lee Clegg, a paratrooper with the British Army, is released from prison on the orders of Sir Patrick Mayhew, after serving four years of a life sentence. He had been convicted of murder after shooting at a stolen car and killing a passenger in 1990. The decision sparks serious rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland.
August Mayhew announces measures for the early release of paramilitary prisoners.
September David Trimble is elected as leader of the UUP.
November An Anglo-Irish communiqué announces an independent body chaired by George Mitchell in order to separate decommissioning issues from political negotiations – the ‘twin-track’ strategy.
1996
January The Mitchell International Body on Decommissioning reports and establishes six principles for participants at all-party talks. British Prime Minister John Major adopts one of its other proposals for elections as a route to all-party talks.
February The IRA ends its ceasefire with a bomb at an office block in the Docklands area of London, because of lack of progress in the all-party talks. The governments refuse to meet Sinn Féin until the IRA ceasefire is restored.
May–June Elections to the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue are held. Successful parties nominate representatives to the all-party negotiations. Sinn Féin attracts a record 15.5 per cent of the votes.
June Party talks commence without Sinn Féin. The IRA explode a bomb in Manchester, England, which destroys a large part of the city centre and injures 200 people
July The RUC prevent a march by Portadown Orangemen from returning from Drumcree Church via the Garvaghy Road (a nationalist area). After four days of protests and roadblocks by Loyalists across Northern Ireland, the parade is allowed to proceed. A car bomb believed to be the work of a new group called the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) explodes in Enniskillen causing substantial damage.
1997
May–June Following elections the new Labour government in the UK and new Fianna Fáil government in the Republic of Ireland provide fresh impetus to the political process. Tony Blair on a visit to Northern Ireland gives the go ahead for exploratory contacts between government officials and Sinn Féin. The British and Irish governments issue new proposals on decommissioning. Delegates from the parties elected to the Northern Ireland Forum travel to South Africa to learn about their transition from apartheid.
July The Orange Order march in Drumcree, Portadown creates disturbances in nationalist areas. The IRA ceasefire is restored allowing Sinn Féin’s entry into the talks.
August An International Commission under the chairmanship of the Canadian General John de Chastelain is established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.
September Sinn Féin signs up to the Mitchell Principles and enters multi-party talks. The United Kingdom Unionist Party (UKUP) and DUP withdraw from the talks as a result.
December INLA prisoners shoot and kill Billy Wright, leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), within the Maze Prison. Loyalist prisoners vote to withdraw their support for the peace process.
1998
January Mo Mowlam, the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, goes into the Maze Prison to meet UDA and Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) prisoners. This strategy works and the prisoners subsequently restate their support for the peace process. At a low point in the negotiations the two governments produce the Heads of Agreement paper to focus discussion on the outstanding issues to be resolved. Following the revelation that the UFF had been involved in the killing of at least three Catholics, in the recent weeks, the British and Irish governments expel the UDP under the agreed procedures.
February Sinn Féin is expelled from the multi-party talks because of an assessment by the RUC that the IRA had been involved in the recent killing of two men. Sinn Féin is told that it can re-enter the talks in two weeks if there were no further breaches of the IRA ceasefire. The UDP rejoins the multi-party talks.
March Sinn Féin rejoins the multi-party talks. George Mitchell sets 9 April as the deadline for reaching an agreement between the parties.
April–June The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement) is reached on 10 April. A referendum on the Agreement produces a seventy per cent ‘yes’ vote, although it is supported by just over fifty per cent of unionists. Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly are held.
August An explosion in Omagh kills twenty-eight. The Real IRA, an anti-Agreement splinter group of the Provisional IRA, claims responsibility.
1999
January–July Failure to reach agreement on decommissioning and the formation of the executive prevents implementation of the Agreement. Rosemary Nelson, a human rights lawyer, is killed by a car bomb in Lurgan, County Armagh. Prime Minister Tony Blair announces an ‘absolute’ deadline of 30 June 1999 for the formation of an executive and the devolution of power to the Assembly.
July Former Northern Ireland talks chairman, Senator George Mitchell is invited to take part in a summit meeting on the peace process between the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister.
August The Northern Ireland Parades Commission decides to allow an Apprentice Boys march to go down the lower Ormeau Road, Belfast, despite nationalist condemnation. The decision leads to violence in Derry and Belfast.
September–November Senator Mitchell chairs a review of the Belfast Agreement. The Patten Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland releases its recommendations for a radical overhaul of the police service. Senator George Mitchell returns to the United States after issuing a report on his 10 week-long review. He concludes that the basis now exists for devolution to occur and there is an understanding of the sequence for the implementation of the outstanding elements of the Agreement. The RUC is awarded the George Cross, Britain’s highest civilian award for gallantry. The Council of the UUP decide by 480 votes to 349 to back the Mitchell Review. The Northern Ireland Assembly meets. The d’Hondt procedure for the appointment of ministers in a power-sharing executive is triggered and 10 ministers are appointed. (This is the first time in 25 years that Northern Ireland has a power-sharing Executive.) Both houses of the British parliament approve a devolution order under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 that allows for the transfer of power from Westminster to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont.
December On 3 December Direct Rule comes to an end as powers are devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. At a meeting in Dublin the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Ministerial Council are formally established. At the same time the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985 is replaced by the British-Irish Agreement. At 9.20am the Irish Constitution is amended and Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution, which laid claim to Northern Ireland are changed. At 3.00 pm the new Executive of the Northern Ireland Assembly meets for the first time. Present at the meeting are representatives of the UUP, the SDLP, and Sinn Féin. The DUP refuses to attend. At 8.30 pm the IRA issues a statement indicating that it will appoint a representative who will meet with the Decommissioning Body chaired by General de Chastelain.
January Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader David Trimble threatens to resign if the Irish Republican Army (IRA) fail to meet a February deadline on decommissioning.
February Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, suspends the power-sharing Executive and restores direct rule from Westminster. The move follows reports from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) that it had "received no information from the IRA as to when decommissioning will start" and fears that the Ulster Unionist Council would withdraw support from the Executive. The IRA withdraws from talks with the IICD.
March David Trimble defeats a challenge for the leadership of the UUP from Martin Smyth (who wins 43 per cent of the vote). Trimble fails to stop a motion linking any resumption of the Executive to the retention of the title of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) for the Northern Ireland police force. The Saville Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday (30 January 1972) begins public hearings at the Guildhall in Derry.
May British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern arrive in Northern Ireland for talks as part of a review of the Belfast Agreement. Peter Mandelson offers to reduce the presence of British Army soldiers in Northern Ireland by an unspecified number if the IRA keeps to its promise on decommissioning. The next day, Ronnie Flanagan, Chief Constable of the RUC, discloses that five military installations are to close. The IRA offers to allow inspection of arms dumps.
The IICD appoints Cyril Ramaphosa (former Secretary-General of the African National Congress) and Martti Ahtisaari (former President of Finland) as inspectors.
Gerry Loughran is appointed as the head of the Civil Service in Northern Ireland, the first Catholic to serve in the post.
David Trimble states that it is his belief that the offer by the IRA to open its arms dumps to international inspection means that its 30-year war is over. At a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC), the policy-making body of the UUP, David Trimble narrowly wins a motion allowing him to re-enter the power-sharing Executive with Sinn Féin. The motion proposed to accept the IRA offer on disarmament as a basis for the return to Stormont.
The British government restores devolution to the Northern Ireland Assembly and the power-sharing Executive on 30 May.
June The IRA issues a statement declaring that it has opened some of its arms dumps to be viewed by the independent weapons inspectors. The IICD confirms that the inspection has taken place.
July It is announced that 2,000 soldiers are to be drafted into Northern Ireland to help police the loyalist marching season (only weeks after an announcement that levels of British soldiers were to reach their lowest levels since 1970). The Northern Ireland Parades Commission announces that it is banning the Orange Order from parading along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road, Portadown, County Armagh. The last of the 428 paramilitary prisoners freed under the Belfast Agreement are released from the Maze Prison.
October Peter Mandelson warns hardline Ulster Unionists that if devolution fails they could face joint rule by London and Dublin.
December The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) announce an "open-ended and all-encompassing cessation of hostilities", ending a loyalist feud that had been raging since August.
Sinn Féin begins a High Court case to challenge David Trimble's refusal to nominate their attendance at North/South Ministerial Council meetings.
2001
January Peter Mandelson resigns from the British cabinet over his alleged role in a 'passports-for-favours' affair involving the millionaire Hinduja brothers. His departure comes in the midst of a further crisis over the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons. John Reid is appointed to succeed Mandelson. He is the first Catholic to hold the post.
February After a meeting with Tony Blair in London, David Trimble states that the Belfast Agreement is moving towards a review because of a lack of progress on disarmament. Seamus Mallon, deputy leader of the SDLP, says there is a real risk that the Agreement might collapse.
March A Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) car-bomb explodes outside the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Television Centre in London. One man is injured in the explosion.
Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern hold new talks in Belfast with the political parties, hoping for an interim agreement to keep the peace process alive. The IRA states that it is willing to meet with General John de Chastelain of the IICD for the first time since June 2000.
June Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) make significant gains in the UK-wide Westminster General Election and the local government District Council elections on the same day. Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern holds talk with representatives of the three main pro-Agreement parties in an attempt to break the political deadlock over decommissioning.
RUC officers have to protect children and parents entering the Catholic Holy Cross Girls' Primary School in north Belfast after local loyalist residents block the road to the school. The protests continue until the end of the school term and start again after the summer holidays.
July David Trimble's threatened resignation as First Minister comes into effect at midnight on 30 June. He calls on Tony Blair to suspend the Northern Ireland Assembly and the other institutions established under the Belfast Agreement.
Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern begin a series of intensive political talks with the pro-Agreement parties in Weston Park, England but cannot produce an agreement. The British and Irish governments say they will put together a document containing a package of proposals for the parties on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Serious riots take place during Orange Order marches past the nationalist Ardoyne and Short Strand areas of Belfast.
August British Army officers defuse a RIRA car-bomb left in the main car park at Belfast International Airport on 1 August. Two days later a RIRA bomb goes off near Ealing Broadway railway station in London, slightly injuring seven people. The British and Irish governments publish their Implementation Plan for the Belfast Agreement on 1 August. The document (which is published online at www.c-r.org/accord) addresses the remaining issues of policing, normalization, stability of the institutions, and decommissioning of paramilitary weapons. The political parties are given until 6 August to give their response to the proposals.
A statement is issued by General John de Chastelain on 6 August in which he announces that an IRA representative has proposed a method for putting weapons completely and verifiably beyond use.
UUP Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and Members of Parliament (MPs) meet for two hours on 7 August to discuss the British and Irish government's Implementation Plan and the statement by the IICD. Following the meeting the UUP reject both the Implementation Plan and the latest decommissioning proposals by the IRA. The SDLP responds positively to the Implementation Plan. The IRA issues a statement on 9 August about its meetings with the IICD. David Trimble, leader of the UUP, says the statement does not go far enough and his party wants to see a beginning to actual decommissioning. The UUP, Sinn Féin and SDLP hold separate meetings with John Reid, at Hillsborough Castle, County Down.
The UUP argues for a suspension of the institutions of devolved government, whereas Sinn Féin favours fresh elections to the Assembly. John Reid suspends the Northern Ireland Assembly from midnight on 10 August for a period of 24 hours. The effect of the suspension is to allow another period of six weeks for the political parties to come to an agreement and re-elect the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.
Three Irish men are arrested at Bogotá Airport in Colombia on 13 August, for travelling on falsedocuments. They include an alleged Sinn Féin representative living in Cuba, a member of the Sinn Féin Ard Comhairle (national executive), and an election worker for Sinn Féin in Armagh. There is speculation that the three men, who had reportedly been in an area of Colombia under the control of left-wing guerrillas, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), were members of the Provisional IRA and that they had been helping to train the guerrillas. On 14 August, the IRA announces that it has withdrawn its plan on how to put its weapons beyond use, citing UUP rejection of the plan and the suspension of the Assembly and institutions as their reason. The 'Patten Report - Updated Implementation Plan 2001' containing revised proposals for the policing service is published on 17 August. The DUP reject the plan stating that the measures contained go far beyond the original Patten Report. Of the parties already shown copies, Sinn Féin rejects the document for not going far enough, and the UUP states that it will not consider the issue of policing without IRA decommissioning. The Irish government calls on the SDLP and Sinn Féin to support the Implementation Plan and to nominate representatives to the Northern Ireland Policing Board. The SDLP announces that it will nominate representatives to the proposed 19-member Policing Board to oversee the new Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). The DUP lets the deadline to respond pass, while the UUP announces that it requires more time to respond to the revised proposals.
September John Reid suspends the Northern Ireland Assembly at midnight on 21 September for 24 hours. The suspension allows another period of six weeks (until 3 November) in which the political parties have an opportunity to come to agreement and elect a First Minister and Deputy First Minister.
David Trimble says that his party will table a motion in the Northern Ireland Assembly to exclude Sinn Féin ministers from the Executive. Trimble also announces that if the motion fails the UUP will withdraw its ministers from the Executive.
October The Northern Ireland Assembly debates a UUP motion, and later a similar DUP motion, to exclude Sinn Féin ministers from the Executive. The motions are supported by unionist members of the Assembly but not by Sinn Féin or the SDLP. Due to a lack of cross-community support the two motions fail. Following the debates the UUP announces that its three ministers are withdrawing from the Executive.
John Reid announces that he is "specifying" the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), and the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), meaning that the British government considers their ceasefires to be at an end. David Trimble and Gerry Adams hold a meeting at Stormont to discuss the possible decommissioning of IRA weapons and what political steps would be likely to follow. They fail to resolve outstanding issues.
The three UUP ministers and the two DUP ministers formally resign from the Northern Ireland Executive on 18 October. The IRA issues a statement on 23 October announcing that the organization has begun to decommission its weapons. David Trimble meets with General John de Chastelain to discuss the act of decommissioning by the IRA. He announces that he will be recommending to the UUP executive that the UUP ministers retake their seats on the Executive. The DUP and some members of the UUP claim the move by the IRA is a "one-off gesture" or a "stunt".
November The Northern Ireland Assembly meets on 2 November to elect a First Minister and a Deputy First Minister. David Trimble stands for re-election to the post of First Minister. The SDLP nominates Mark Durkan (soon to succeed John Hume as SDLP leader) as Deputy First Minister, as Seamus Mallon no longer wishes to be considered for the position. The DUP opposes the election of Trimble as First Minister and obtains enough unionist support to prevent his election by one vote. The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition (NIWC) wins an earlier motion to reduce the 30 days notice required to change the community nomination of MLAs, allowing it to change its two MLAs from being designated 'other' to being one 'unionist' and one 'nationalist'. Despite this move Trimble fails to be elected. The UUP manages to strengthen the support of some of its waverers but two assembly members are unwilling to back the leadership and so the vote is lost on the floor of the Assembly. The pressure now comes on the Alliance party to follow the procedure adopted by the NIWC to enable a new vote to take place. After some internal debate the Alliance agrees and a successful vote takes place. On 6 November, Trimble and Durkan are finally elected. Following the vote there are scuffles between pro- and anti-Agreement members in the hall outside the Assembly chamber where David Trimble and Mark Durkan give a press briefing. The DUP begins a court challenge to the elections on the grounds that the final vote took place after the time limit laid down by the Northern Ireland Act.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) comes into being, replacing the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). The new recruits are to be selected in equal proportions from the Catholic and Protestant communities. The powers of the new Northern Ireland Policing Board take effect. The UUP, DUP and SDLP take their seats on the Board, but Sinn Féin does not.2002
January Thousands join rallies on 18 January organized by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in protest against paramilitary activity. They are sparked the murder of 20 year old Catholic postman Daniel McColgan by the UDA six days before. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) issue a statement calling for an end to trouble in north Belfast. nationalist politicians are very sceptical about the impact of the statement but say they are willing to meet with loyalist paramilitaries. The Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) issues a statement claiming that attacks on nationalists are putting an "impossible" strain on the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) ceasefire.
March The Northern Ireland Assembly debates a motion proposing the expulsion of Sinn Féin from the Executive for a period of one year. The motion is tabled by the DUP and other anti-Agreement unionist parties. David Trimble describes the timing of the motion as a "stunt". Those requesting the debate specifically ask for it to be held before 9 March - the date of the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) annual general meeting. Most pro-Agreement MLAs do not attend the debate and the motion is defeated.
Trimble tells the House of Commons that he opposes any amnesty for paramilitary fugitives (also called "on the runs"). He says it would represent the "last straw" for many unionist supporters of the Agreement.
April The PSNI has its first passing-out parade. Democratic Unionists complain after the head of the Irish Republic's police force, Pat Byrne, is invited to speak. The IRA puts a second tranche of its arsenal "beyond use". General de Chastelain (IICD) describes the event as "substantial".
May Northern Ireland Secretary of State John Reid says that a ceasefire is not enough from the IRA: there also needs to be a "sense that the war is over", and an end to paramilitary activity has to accompany the general commitment to peace.
September Following a meeting with UUP hardliners, David Trimble says his party will withdraw from the power-sharing Executive on 18 January if republicans do not demonstrate they have left violence behind for good. SDLP leader Mark Durkan says the peace process is now in crisis.
October Discoveries during a PSNI raid on Sinn Féin offices at Stormont result in allegations of a republican spying ring. David Trimble announces he will withdraw his ministers from the executive unless the government proposes the expulsion of Sinn Féin. A DUP motion to exclude Sinn Féin from the Executive is defeated and their ministers resign on 12 October.
On 14 October, the Secretary of State suspends the institutions leading to a return of direct rule by London ministers from midnight. Leading Belfast republican Martin Meehan says the IRA's campaign is at an end, but Gerry Adams does not endorse the statement, responding: "Certainly for many republicans the war is over and those who see it like that will say so. But what I have to deal with is the management of a conflict resolution process".
Tony Blair speaks in Belfast on 16 October calling for "acts of completion". In a British cabinet reshuffle, Paul Murphy takes over from John Reid as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 24 October.
2003
January An IRA statement says the peace process is under threat from "the British military establishment, its intelligence agencies and from the loyalist murder gangs". David Trimble says the statement is the "work of people living in an unreal world".
A number of attacks in loyalist areas of Belfast indicate a growing internal feud between the UDA and its members in the lower Shankill area of Belfast.
February Following the murder of a UDA commander by members of the UDA company in the Lower Shankill, the UDA threatens any members who do not leave that company immediately. The majority move to join other companies and some of the leaders are forced to flee overnight to Scotland. These developments are taken to mean an end to the loyalist feud and the UDA announces a ceasefire for 12 months.
The ‘One Small Step’ campaign is launched on 27 February, calling on groups and individuals to show their commitment to peacebuilding in Northern Ireland.
March With growing expectations that a statement is about to be agreed which will allow the institutions to be reinstated, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern host talks at Hillsborough with all the pro-Agreement parties. With no breakthrough, the elections are postponed from 1 May until 29 May to allow more time for any proposals to gain the support of the UUP and for the Institutions to begin operating again. Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams says he can foresee a situation where his party would join the Policing Board, and the party later agrees to hold a special conference should the question of joining the policing board emerge.
April The IRA issues a confidential statement on 10 April, but the two governments feel it is neither sufficiently clear nor adequate for David Trimble to gain the support of his party. The British and Irish governments postpone the publication of a blueprint to complete implementation of the Belfast Agreement. The IRA produces a further statement of clarification on 13 April which is not accepted by the Ulster Unionists.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, without support from the Taoiseach, postpones elections indefinitely and says the priority now is to work for equality and the protection of human rights.
May On 6 May the IRA makes public the previously unpublished statement of 13 April. The document states that the IRA poses no threat to unionists or the peace process and is committed to making conflict a thing of the past.
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