1976 in Northern Ireland explained

Events during the year 1976 in Northern Ireland.

Incumbents

• Secretary of State - Merlyn Rees (until 10 September), Roy Mason (from 10 September)

Events

• 5 January - Kingsmill massacre: ten Protestant men killed in South Armagh, Northern Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), using the cover name "South Armagh Republican Action Force".
• 1 March - Merlyn Rees ends Special Category Status for those sentenced for crimes relating to the civil violence in Northern Ireland.
• 4 March - The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London via the British parliament.
• 12 March - Lenny Murphy, leader of the Shankill Butchers, is arrested, but his gang continue to murder.
• 17 March - Hillcrest Bar bombing: 4 catholics are killed and a further 50 injured in Hillcrest, Dungannon, Tyrone, Northern Ireland when a car bomb by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) goes off outside a crowded pub on Saint Patrick's Day. The attack is one of the many attributed to the Glenanne gang.
• 15 July - Four prisoners escape when bombs explode in the Special Criminal Court, Dublin.
• 21 July - Christopher Ewart-Biggs, UK ambassador, and a civil servant, Judith Cooke, are killed by a landmine at Sandyford, Co. Dublin.
• 10 August - Three children die when are hit by a car whose driver, an IRA fugitive named Danny Lennon, is fatally shot by British troops. A witness, Betty Williams, is inspired to set up Women for Peace.^[1]
• 14 August - 10,000 Protestant and Catholic women demonstrate for peace in Northern Ireland.
• 14 September - Kieran Nugent is first IRA man to be admitted to the Maze Prison without Special Category Status. He becomes the first blanketman.^[2]
• November - The Provisional Irish Republican Army restructures on cellular lines.^[3]
• 10 December - Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan win the Nobel Peace Prize.^[4]
• Ruth Patterson becomes the first woman to be ordained to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.^[5]

Arts and literature

• 16 March - Downtown Radio, an adult contemporary music station, begins broadcasting from Newtownards to the Belfast area, the first Independent Local Radio in Northern Ireland.
• Ciaran Carson publishes his first book, the poetry collection The New Estate.

Sport

Football

• Irish League

Winners: Crusaders

• Irish Cup

Winners: Carrick Rangers 2 - 1 Linfield

Births

• 25 March - Francis Bellew, Gaelic footballer.
• 30 March - Mark McClelland, musician, formerly with Snow Patrol.
• 3 June - Paul Berry, former Democratic Unionist Party MLA.
• 12 June - Ian McCrea, Democratic Unionist Party MLA.
• 15 June - Gary Lightbody, musician with Snow Patrol.
• 18 August - Damaen Kelly, boxer.
• 25 October - Steve Jones, footballer.
• 29 October - Stephen Craigan, footballer.

Deaths

• 4 May - Hugh Delargy, British Labour Party politician and MP (born 1908).
• 29 July - Knox Cunningham, barrister, businessman and Ulster Unionist politician (born 1909).
• 7 October - Michael O'Neill, nationalist politician and MP (born 1909).
• 4 December - W. F. McCoy, Ulster Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland (born 1886).

See also

• 1976 in Scotland
• 1976 in Wales

Notes and References

1. Web site: Betty Williams. Nobel Peace Laureates Conference. 2013-04-04. November 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/20110916222735/http://www.virginia.edu/nobel/laureates/bios/williams_bio.html. 2011-09-16. dead.
2. Web site: Larkspirit Irish History . larkspirit.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20090423022915/http://larkspirit.com/history/chronology.html . 23 April 2009.
3. Book: Edwards, Aaron. The Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Banner 1969-2007. Oxford. Osprey Publishing. 2011. 978-1-84908-525-0. 48.
4. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1976/ The Nobel Peace Prize 1976
5. Web site: Staff Profiles. https://web.archive.org/web/20120112010101/http://www.restorationministries.co.uk/about/staff.htm. Restoration Ministries. Belfast. 2012-07-26 . dead. 12 January 2012.