Troubles in Northern Ireland Timeline 1969-2007

August 1969

The British Government first sends troops to Northern Ireland in what it describes as a “limited operation” to restore law and order after three days of violence in the predominantly Catholic Bogside area of Londonderry.

February 1971

Gunner Robert Curtis becomes the first British soldier to die when he is shot dead by the IRA.

January 1972

On “Bloody Sunday”, 30 January, 13 civilians are shot dead by the British Army during a civil rights march in Londonderry. • Six held over 'IRA plot to kill Prince Charles' • Charles's pilgrimage to spot where Mountbatten was murdered

March 1972

The Stormont Government is dissolved and direct rule imposed by Westminster.

October 1974

Pubs are bombed in Guildford as the IRA expands its campaign to mainland Britain. A month later, there are more pub bombings in Birmingham, killing 21 people.

July 1976

Christopher Ewart Biggs, the British Ambassador to Ireland, is murdered by a car bomb in Dublin.

March 1979

Airey Neave, a confidant of Margaret Thatcher’s, is murdered by an Irish National Liberation Army car bomb which explodes as he leaves the Houses of Parliament.

August 1979

Lord Mountbatten, the Queen’s cousin, dies when a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA explodes on his boat…