1972 in Northern Ireland
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Events during the year 1972 in Northern Ireland.
Incumbents
Events
- 17 January – The "West Belfast Seven" Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) internees escape from prison ship Maidstone moored in Belfast Lough by swimming ashore.[1]
- 30 January - Bloody Sunday: Thirteen unarmed civilians are shot dead in Derry as British paratroopers open fire on a banned civil rights march. A fourteenth, John Johnston, is also to die some months later after having been shot by a paratrooper.
- 9 February – A day of disruption takes place in Northern Ireland as people take to the streets in protest.
- 10 February – The IRA[which?] announces a ceasefire.[2]
- 12 February – William Craig launches the Ulster Vanguard movement in Lisburn.
- 22 March – Bomb explodes near Europa Hotel, Belfast.
- 22 February – 1972 Aldershot Bombing: The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a bomb outside the headquarters of the British Army's 16th Parachute Brigade in Aldershot, England, killing 7 and injuring 17.
- 28 March – Northern Ireland Parliament suspended after Prime Minister Brian Faulkner resigns. Direct rule introduced.[3]
- 19 April – A report by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery, into the Bloody Sunday shootings exonerates the British troops of blame because the demonstration had been illegal.[4]
- 30 May – The Official Irish Republican Army declares a ceasefire in Northern Ireland.[5]
- 3 June – A Protestant demonstration in Derry against the creation of "no-go" areas in the city ends in violence.[6]
- 13–14 June – The Provisional Irish Republican Army proposes a ceasefire. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), as intermediaries, make offer to British, who accept terms.[3]
- 9 July – End of British–IRA ceasefire.[3]
- 21 July – Bloody Friday: Nine people die and over one hundred are injured in a series of Provisional IRA explosions in Belfast city centre.
- 31 July
- Operation Motorman, 4:00 AM: British Army begins to regain control of the "no-go areas" established by Irish republican paramilitaries in Belfast, Derry ("Free Derry") and Newry.[7]
- Claudy bombing ("Bloody Monday"), 10:00 AM: Three car bombs in Claudy, County Londonderry, kill six immediately with three dying later in hospital. It becomes public knowledge only in 2010 that a local Catholic priest was an IRA officer believed to be involved in the bombings but his role was covered up by the authorities.[8]
- July – Shankill Butchers begin killing Catholics.[9]
- 10 September – Three British soldiers are killed and four injured when the IRA blows up their Saracen armoured personnel carrier at Sanaghanroe near Dungannon.[10]
- 25 September - Darlington conference on the future of Northern Ireland opens.
- 1972 is the worst year for casualties in The Troubles, with 479 people killed (including 130 British soldiers) and 4,876 injured.[10]
Arts and literature
- The Planning (Northern Ireland) Order first provides for listed buildings in Northern Ireland.
- Seamus Deane's poetry Gradual Wars is published.
Sport
Athletics
- Pentathlon: Mary Peters becomes the first Irish woman to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games.
Football
- Winners: Glentoran
- On 13 October 1972 Derry City withdraws from senior football in the Irish League due to security problems in the Brandywell Stadium area.
Motorcycling
- Ulster Grand Prix cancelled due to the political situation.
Snooker
- Alex Higgins wins the World Professional Snooker Championship.
Births
- 15 January – Derek Heasley, cricketer.
- 24 January – Éamonn Burns, Gaelic footballer.
- 12 February – Owen Nolan, ice hockey player.
- 6 March – Terry Murphy, snooker player.
- 24 April – Sinéad Morrissey, poet.
- 27 May – Maggie O'Farrell, novelist.
- 21 June – Neil Doak, cricketer and rugby player.
- 9 July – Darren Corbett, boxer.
- 6 September – Gary Arbuthnot, flautist.
- 1 November
- Kevin Horlock, soccer player.
- Gillian Sewell, field hockey player in Canada.
- 24 November – Iain Jenkins, soccer player.
- 28 November – Bronagh Gallagher, actress and singer.
- Full date unknown – Stephen Paul McClelland, cyclist.
Deaths
- 22 February – Eva McGown, Official Hostess of Fairbanks and Honorary Hostess of Alaska (born 1883).
- 15 April – Joe McCann, Official Irish Republican Army volunteer killed by British soldiers (born 1947).
See also
References
- ^ Hamill, Desmond (1985). Pig in the Middle: The Army in Northern Ireland, 1969–1984. London: Methuen. p. 95. ISBN 0413508005.
- ^ [citation needed]
- ^ a b c "Larkspirit Irish History". Archived from the original on 2 May 2007.
- ^ "1972: 'Bloody Sunday' report excuses Army". On This Day. BBC. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ "1972: Official IRA declares ceasefire". On This Day. BBC. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ "1972: Protestant march ends in battle". On This Day. BBC. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict – 1972
- ^ "Claudy bomb: conspiracy allowed IRA priest to go free". BBC News Northern Ireland. 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
- ^ "A Chronology of the Conflict – 1979". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 29 January 2010.
- ^ a b Edwards, Aaron (2011). The Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Banner 1969–2007. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 40–44, 88. ISBN 978-1-84908-525-0.