Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1980-1989)

This is a chronology of activities by the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...

(IRA) from 1980 to 1989. For actions before and after this period see Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions.

Incidents resulting in at least three deaths are marked in bold.

1980

2 January 1980: An ex-British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

soldier was shot dead by the IRA near Bessbrook
Bessbrook
Bessbrook is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies about three miles northwest of Newry and close to the main Dublin–Belfast road and rail line...

, County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...

.
3 January 1980: A Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...

officer was shot dead by the IRA on the Main Street of Newtownbutler
Newtownbutler
Newtownbutler or Newtown Butler is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the southeast corner of the County, close to the border with County Monaghan and the town of Clones. It is surrounded by small lakes and bogland and close to Lough Erne...

, County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....

.
6 January 1980: Three soldiers of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

's Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...

(UDR) were killed by a landmine near Castlewellan
Castlewellan
Castlewellan is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is beside Castlewellan Lake and Slievenaslat mountain, southwest of Downpatrick. It lies between the Mourne Mountains and Slieve Croob. It had a population of 2,392 people in the 2001 Census....

, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

.
12 January 1980: An RUC officer was shot dead when an IRA unit ambushed a foot patrol at Seaview football grounds in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

.
17 January 1980: An IRA bomb detonated prematurely
Dunmurry train explosion
The Dunmurry train explosion refers to the premature detonation of a Provisional Irish Republican Army incendiary bomb aboard a Ballymena to Belfast passenger train service on 17 January 1980....

on a train near Dunmurry
Dunmurry
Dunmurry is an urban townland, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Located between Belfast and Lisburn, it was once a rural village, but is now within the Greater Belfast conurbation...

. One of the bombers and two civilians were killed.
18 January 1980: A prison officer was shot dead by the IRA outside Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

.
26 January 1980: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast.
5 February 1980: An off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in County Fermanagh.
11 February 1980: Two RUC officers were killed and another was badly injured when the IRA detonated an800 lb (362.9 kg) landmine on the main Rosslea
Rosslea
Rosslea or Roslea is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, near the border with County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. It stands on the River Finn and is beset by small natural lakes. Roslea Forest is nearby...

- Lisnaskea
Lisnaskea
Lisnaskea is the second-biggest settlement in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 2,739 people in the 2001 Census. The town is built around the long main street, which bends at almost 90 degrees along its course.- History :...

road.
16 February 1980: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA unit in Bielefeld
Bielefeld
Bielefeld is an independent city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 323,000, it is also the most populous city in the Regierungsbezirk Detmold...

, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

.
6 March 1980: A former UDR soldier was shot dead on his farm at Cortynan near Tynan
Tynan
Tynan is a village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies within the civil parish of Tynan and barony of Tiranny.- History :Tynan won the status as the most well preserved rural Irish village in 1993...

, County Armagh. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
15 March 1980: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Crossmaglen
Crossmaglen
Crossmaglen or Crosmaglen is a village and townland in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,459 people in the 2001 Census and is the largest village in south Armagh...

, South Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...

.
21 March 1980: A British soldier was killed when the IRA detonated a remote controlled bomb as a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

patrol passed by in Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
1 April 1980: IRA volunteer Robert Carr was killed in a premature bomb explosion in Newry
Newry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...

.
4 April 1980: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Glenbank Industrial Estate, Belfast.
9 April 1990: An RUC patrol was ambushed by an IRA unit in the Suffolk area of Belfast. One RUC officer was shot dead.
11 April 1980: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA while on his way to work on Franklin Street, Belfast.
25 April 1980: The IRA shot dead a civilian at his home in the Lenadoon area of Belfast. The IRA claimed he was a British informant.
2 May 1980: An undercover British Army unit was ambushed by an IRA unit in the Antrim Road, Belfast. In the ensuing gun battle one undercover British soldier was killed.
7 June 1980: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Newtownbutler
Newtownbutler
Newtownbutler or Newtown Butler is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the southeast corner of the County, close to the border with County Monaghan and the town of Clones. It is surrounded by small lakes and bogland and close to Lough Erne...

, County Fermanagh.
28 June 1980: An former British soldier was shot dead by the IRA at a cattle-market in County Monaghan
County Monaghan
County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...

.
1 July 1980: IRA volunteer Terry O'Neill was shot in the back and killed by the RUC while running away from Whiterock Community Centre in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast.
19 July 1980: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA while drinking in a pub in the Rosemount area of Derry.
27 July 1980: A British soldier was killed when the IRA detonated a remote-controlled bomb as a British foot patrol crossed the Moy bridge near Aughnacloy in County Tyrone.
3 August 1980: An off-duty British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while travelling in his car near Pettigo
Pettigo
Pettigo is a small village on the border of County Donegal, Republic of Ireland and County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is bisected by the Termon River which is part of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland...

in County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...

.
9 August 1980: A British soldier was killed in an IRA bomb attack on a foot-patrol in Forkhill
Forkhill
Forkhill or Forkill is a small village in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is within the Ring of Gullion, near Slieve Fuad. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 366.- Name :...

, County Armagh.
16 August 1980: A civilian was accidentally shot dead by the IRA during a gun attack on an RUC patrol in the Ardoyne
Ardoyne
Ardoyne is an Irish nationalist, working class and mainly Catholic district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It gained notoriety due to the large number of incidents during "The Troubles". It is home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants...

area of Belfast.
12 September 1980: An RUC officer who had been captured by the IRA 12 days before was found shot dead in Newtownhamilton
Newtownhamilton
Newtownhamilton is a small village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Tullyvallan and the barony of Upper Fews. It is part of the Newry and Mourne District Council area...

, County Armagh.
23 September 1980: An RUC officer was shot dead at his home in Roslea, County Fermanagh.
10 October 1980: A UDR soldier was killed in an IRA booby-trap bomb left under his car in Portadown
Portadown
Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...

, County Armagh. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
13 October 1980: A Garda Síochána
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...

officer was shot dead in a gun battle in County Wexford
County Wexford
County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wexford. In pre-Norman times it was part of the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnselaig, whose capital was at Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local...

after he attempted to stop a car containing an IRA unit.
27 October 1980: Seven republican prisoners, including Brendan Hughes
Brendan Hughes
Brendan Hughes , also known as "The Dark", was an Irish republican and former Officer Commanding of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army...

, Tommy McKearney
Tommy McKearney
Tommy McKearney is an Irish republican, socialist, and former hunger striker and volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.-Background:McKearney was born into a family with a long republican tradition...

and Raymond McCartney
Raymond McCartney
Raymond McCartney is a Sinn Féin politician, and a former hunger striker and volunteer within the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-IRA membership:...

, began the 1980 hunger strike.
11 November 1980: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA while sitting in a stationary army vehicle at Altnagelvin hospital in Derry.
26 November 1980: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA while leaving an RUC base in Derrygonnelly
Derrygonnelly
Derrygonnelly is a small village and townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Near Lower Lough Erne, the village was home to 594 people and dates to the Plantation era....

, County Fermanagh.
2 December 1980: The IRA injured five people when they bombed a British Army barracks in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.
16 December 1980: IRA prisoner Gerard Tuite
Gerard Tuite
Gerard Tuite was a senior member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Upon his escape from Brixton prison during the Hunger Strike in the winter of 1980, he was declared the most wanted man in Britain...

, who had been remanded in connection with 1978 bombing offences in London, escaped from Brixton Prison in London, along with armed robber Jimmy Moody
Jimmy Moody
James Alfred 'Jimmy' Moody was a British gangster and hitman whose career spanned more than four decades and included run-ins with Jack Spot, Billy Hill, "Mad" Frankie Fraser, the Krays, the Richardsons and the Provisional IRA....

and another prisoner.
27 December 1980: A civilian was accidentally shot dead during an IRA sniper attack on a British patrol in Strabane
Strabane
Strabane , historically spelt Straban,is a town in west County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It contains the headquarters of Strabane District Council....

, County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...

.

1981

16 January 1981: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Warrenpoint
Warrenpoint
Warrenpoint is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northern shore of Carlingford Lough and is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a narrow strait. The town sprang up within the townland of Ringmackilroy...

, County Down.
20 January 1981: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while manning an observation post overlooking the Bogside area of Derry.
21 January 1981: Unionist politician Norman Stronge
Norman Stronge
Captain Sir Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge, 8th Baronet, MC, PC , JP was a senior Unionist politician in Northern Ireland....

and his son James (who was an RUC officer) were killed in an IRA attack on their home, Tynan Abbey
Tynan Abbey
Tynan Abbey, County Armagh, Northern Ireland was a large neo-gothic-romantic country house built circa 1750 and situated outside the village of Tynan...

, near Middletown, County Armagh
Middletown, County Armagh
Middletown is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies two miles from Tynan and close to the border with County Monaghan. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 240 people...

. Both were also members of the Orange Order.
25 January 1981: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA during an attack on a British Army pedestrian checkpoint in Berry Street, Belfast.
6 February 1981: The British coal ship Nelly M was bombed and sunk by an IRA unit
Attacks on shipping in Lough Foyle (1981-1982)
The Provisional Irish Republican Army carried out two bomb attacks against British coal ships in February 1981 and February 1982 at Lough Foyle, a large inlet between Northern Ireland and County Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland...

while at anchor in Lough Foyle.
6 February 1981: An RUC officer was shot dead during an IRA attack in the Malone area of Belfast.
10 February 1981: An off-duty UDR soldier was killed in an IRA gun attack on the Strand Road in Derry.
23 February 1981: IRA volunteer James Burns was shot dead by the UVF at his home in the Falls area of Belfast.
1 March 1981: The 1981 hunger strike
1981 Irish hunger strike
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...

began in the Maze Prison when IRA prisoner Bobby Sands
Bobby Sands
Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....

refused food.
2 April 1981: An RUC officer was killed in an IRA booby-trap bomb attack near Bessbrook, County Armagh.
7 April 1981: A masked gunman shot dead a woman who was collecting forms for the 1981 United Kingdom census
Census in the United Kingdom
Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 and in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1921; simultaneous censuses were taken in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with...

at Anderson Crescent, Derry. Irish republicans were boycotting the census, which was being held during the 1981 hunger strike. Sinn Féin said the shooting was the work of people "frantically attempting to discredit the election campaign of hunger striker Bobby Sands". The RUC said that the gun had been used in two IRA "punishment shootings".
10 April 1981: Bobby Sands was elected Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

at Westminster for the Northern Ireland constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone
Fermanagh and South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)
Fermanagh and South Tyrone is a Parliamentary constituency in the British House of Commons. The current MP for the constituency is Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Féin....

in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

. The moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...

had decided not to run a candidate in protest at the British government's handling of the protest, which left Sands as the only nationalist candidate. Sands had been on a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...

for "Prisoner of War
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

" or Special Category Status
Special Category Status
In July 1972, William Whitelaw, the British government's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, granted Special Category Status to all prisoners convicted of Troubles-related offences...

for 41 days prior to being elected.
16 April 1988: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Moy, County Tyrone
Moy, County Tyrone
Moy or The Moy is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 1,218.It is about southeast of Dungannon and is beside the smaller village of Charlemont. Charlemont is on the east bank of the River Blackwater and Moy on the west; the two are...

.
28 April 1981: A UDR soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while traveling in a British Army vehcile in Castlewellan
Castlewellan
Castlewellan is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is beside Castlewellan Lake and Slievenaslat mountain, southwest of Downpatrick. It lies between the Mourne Mountains and Slieve Croob. It had a population of 2,392 people in the 2001 Census....

, County Down.
5 May 1981: Bobby Sands died after 66 days on hunger strike. His death caused riots in many parts of Northern Ireland, and also in the Republic of Ireland. An estimated 100,000 people attended his funeral.
5 May 1981: One IRA volunteer was injured and another arrested in a gun battle in south County Armagh. Twelve undercover British soldiers opened fire on a three-man IRA unit which resulted in a gun battle which lasted several minutes. The British troops fired nearly 700 rounds.
6 May 1981: An RUC officer was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on patrol in the Duncairn Gardens area of Belfast.
9 May 1981: A bomb exploded at an oil terminal in the Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands
Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...

, while Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

was attending a nearby function to mark the opening of the terminal.
14 May 1981: An RUC officer was killed after his patrol vehicle was hit by an IRA rocket on the Springfield Road, Belfast.
19 May 1981: Five British soldiers were killed when their Saracen armored personnel carrier was destroyed by a large IRA landmine planted in a culvert underneath Chancellors Road near Newry in County Armagh. Vehicle fragments and body parts were found over a 300 yard radius.
23 May 1981: Two British soldiers were injured when a British Army armoured vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by an IRA unit at Andersonstown, Belfast.
25 May 1981: A UDR soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on patrol in in Gulladuff
Gulladuff
Gulladuff is a small village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 405 people. It lies within the Magherafelt District Council area....

, County Londonderry.
28 May 1981: An off-duty RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Whitecross, County Armagh. He was also a member of the Orange Order. On the same day two unarmed IRA volunteers, Charles Maguire (20) and George McBrearty (24) were killed in an undercover British Army ambush in Derry.
31 May 1981: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in the Royal Victoria hospital in Belfast.
3 June 1981: A civilian was killed during an IRA gun attack on a British patrol in the Creggan area of Derry.
5 June 1981: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Lisnaskea
Lisnaskea
Lisnaskea is the second-biggest settlement in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 2,739 people in the 2001 Census. The town is built around the long main street, which bends at almost 90 degrees along its course.- History :...

, Fermanagh.
10 June 1981: Eight IRA prisoners being held on remand at Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast escaped after taking prison officers hostage, taking their uniforms and shooting their way out of the prison using three handguns that had been smuggled in.
12 June 1981: The IRA mortared Fort Pegasus British Army barracks in Belfast.
17 June 1981: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Beragh
Beragh
Beragh is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is about east of Omagh. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 520.-History:One of the first known references to the village was on a 1690 Plantation map of Ireland...

, Tyrone.
20 June 1981: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA while in a pub in Newry.
9 July 1981: An RUC officer was shot and wounded in an IRA gun attack on Springhill Avenue in Belfast.
10 July 1981: The IRA carried out a blast-bomb attack on Fort Pegasus British Army barracks in Belfast.
13 July 1981: A British soldier was shot and wounded in the arm by an IRA sniper in the Springhill area of Belfast.
16 July 1981: Eighteen undercover British soldiers who were waiting in ambush position for an expected IRA roadblock were themselves ambushed by a six man IRA unit near Glasdrumman in south County Armagh. The IRA fired over 250 rounds from an M60 machine gun
M60 machine gun
The M60 is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links...

killing one soldier and badly wounding another. See Glasdrumman ambush
Glasdrumman ambush
The Glasdrumman ambush was an attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army against a British Army observation post. It took place on 17 July 1981 at a scrapyard southwest of Crossmaglen, County Armagh.-Background:...

.
2 August 1981: An RUC officer was killed when his patrol vehicle struck an IRA landmine near Omagh
Omagh
Omagh is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. The town, which is the largest in the county, had a population of 19,910 at the 2001 Census. Omagh also contains the headquarters of Omagh District Council and...

, Tyrone.
5 September 1981: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA in the Stranmills area of Belfast.
7 September 1981: Two RUC officers were killed when their patrol vehicle struck an IRA landmine near Cappagh
Cappagh
Cappagh is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is between Pomeroy, Ballygawley, Galbally and Carrickmore, with the hamlet of Galbally about one mile to the east...

, County Tyrone.
12 September 1981: A UDR soldier was killed in IRA gun attack in Maghera, Derry.
14 September 1981: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Magherafelt
Magherafelt
Magherafelt is a small town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,372 people recorded in the 2001 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of County Londonderry and is the social, economic and political hub of the area...

, County Londonderry.
26 September 1981: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Killough
Killough
Killough is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the Irish Sea shore near Ardglass, five miles southeast of Downpatrick. It is notable for its sycamore-lined main street. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 845 people....

, County Down.
28 September 1981: An RUC officer was killed in an IRA rocket attack on a British patrol on Glen Road, Belfast.
3 October 1981: The hunger strike was called off, due to pressure from the remaining strikers' families who made it clear they would ask for medical intervention to save their lives. The IRA resumed full-scale military operations
10 October 1981: A bomb blast at Chelsea Barracks
Chelsea Barracks
Chelsea Barracks was a British Army barracks located in the City of Westminster, London, adjacent to Chelsea, on Chelsea Bridge Road.-History:The barracks was originally built in the 1860s to house two battalions of troops...

in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

killed two people and injured 40, including 23 soldiers.
17 October 1981: The Commandant General Royal Marines
Commandant General Royal Marines
The Commandant General Royal Marines is the professional head of the Royal Marines. The title has existed since 1945...

, Lieutenant-General Steuart Pringle
Steuart Pringle
Lieutenant-General Sir Steuart Robert Pringle, 10th Baronet, of Stichill KCB DSC is a former Royal Marines officer who became Commandant General Royal Marines and who was seriously injured by an IRA car bomb.-Military career:...

, lost a leg when an IRA car bomb attached to his car exploded outside his home in Dulwich
Dulwich
Dulwich is an area of South London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth...

, South London.
21 October 1981: A UDR soldier was shot dead outside Belfast zoo.
26 October 1981: A bomb exploded at a Wimpy Bar in Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, killing the bomb disposal officer trying to defuse it.
9 November 1981: A UDR soldier was shot and wounded by the IRA in Lisnaskea, Fermanagh. The soldier died two days later.
10 November 1981: The IRA shot dead a former RUC officer outside his workplace on Loughgall Road, Armagh town. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
12 November 1981: An RUC officer lost both his legs when an IRA booby-trap bomb exploded underneath his car in Banbridge
Banbridge
Banbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...

, County Down.
14 November 1981: The IRA killed Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...

MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

Rev Robert Bradford
Robert Bradford (NI politician)
Robert Jonathan Bradford MP was a Vanguard Unionist and Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for the Belfast South constituency in Northern Ireland until he was killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on 14 November 1981....

along with the caretaker of a community centre. Irish Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

Dr Garret FitzGerald
Garret FitzGerald
Garret FitzGerald was an Irish politician who was twice Taoiseach of Ireland, serving in office from July 1981 to February 1982 and again from December 1982 to March 1987. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969. He...

and former taoiseach and opposition leader Charles Haughey
Charles Haughey
Charles James "Charlie" Haughey was Taoiseach of Ireland, serving three terms in office . He was also the fourth leader of Fianna Fáil...

condemned the killings in the Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

. SDLP
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...

party leader John Hume
John Hume
John Hume is a former Irish politician from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and was co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize, with David Trimble....

accused the IRA of waging a campaign of "sectarian genocide".
17 November 1981: A UDR soldier and an RUC officer were killed in separate IRA attacks in Fermanagh and Tyrone.
19 November 1981: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Strabane, County Tyrone.
28 November 1981: An RUC officer was killed in an IRA bomb attack as he patrolled the Unity Flats complex in Belfast.

1982

8 January 1982: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA while working at a petrol station on the Antrim Road, Belfast.
19 January 1982: John Torbitt, an alleged informant, was shot dead by the IRA at his home in Lenadoon, Belfast.
5 March 1982: Seamus Morgan, an alleged inofrmant, was shot dead by the IRA in Forkhill, County Armagh.
15 March 1982: The IRA detonated a large car-bomb on Bridge Street, Banbridge, County Down following a warning to evacuate the area. One civilian was killed.
23 March 1982: A British coal ship, the St. Bedan, was bombed and sunk by an IRA unit
Attacks on shipping in Lough Foyle (1981-1982)
The Provisional Irish Republican Army carried out two bomb attacks against British coal ships in February 1981 and February 1982 at Lough Foyle, a large inlet between Northern Ireland and County Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland...

while at anchor in Lough Foyle.
25 March 1982: Three British soldiers were killed and five other people injured in an IRA gun attack on Crocus Street, off the Springfield Road in West Belfast. It is believed an M60 machine gun
M60 machine gun
The M60 is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links...

was used during the attack.
28 March 1982: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Patrick Street, Derry.
1 April 1982: Two British soldiers were killed in an IRA sniper ambush outside Rosemount British Army base in Derry. Both soldiers were traveling in a British Army van when they came under fire.
2 April 1982: An RUC officer was badly wounded in a gun attack on New Barnsley British Army base in Belfast. The officer died of his injuries on 16 April.
20 April 1982: The IRA launched a massive bombing offensive in Northern Ireland. A bank in Strabane
Strabane
Strabane , historically spelt Straban,is a town in west County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It contains the headquarters of Strabane District Council....

was hit by a 900 kg carbomb; a garage and car showroom in Armagh was destroyed by three firebombs; a carbomb exploded at the Linen Hall in Ballymena
Ballymena
Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....

; a 900 kg carbomb exploded in Derry and another 900 kg device was detonated in Bessbrook
Bessbrook
Bessbrook is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies about three miles northwest of Newry and close to the main Dublin–Belfast road and rail line...

followed by a smaller 40 kg device which detonated in Bessbrook some hours later, and finally another carbombing in Magherafelt.
27 April 1982: A UDR soldier was shot dead in an IRA gun attack in Lisnagelvin, Derry.
30 April 1982: A British soldier was killed when the vehicle he as traveling in struck an IRA landmine in Belleek
Belleek, County Fermanagh
Belleek is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. While the greater part of the village lies within County Fermanagh, part of it crosses the border into County Donegal, a part of Ulster that lies in the Republic of Ireland. This makes Belleek the western-most village in the United Kingdom...

, County Fermanagh.
4 May 1982: An RUC officer was shot dead in an IRA sniper attack in The Diamond area of Derry.
11 June 1982: An RUC officer was killed in an IRA booby-trap bomb attack in the Shantallow
Shantallow
Shantallow is an ancient townland now almost totally with the City of Derry and lies in the Roman Catholic parish of Templemore, within the North-West Liberties of Derry....

area of Derry.
15 June 1982: An off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Strabane, County Tyrone.
20 July 1982: The Hyde Park and Regents Park bombings
Hyde Park and Regents Park bombings
The Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings occurred on 20 July 1982 in London, England. Members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated two bombs during British military ceremonies in Hyde Park and Regent's Park. The explosions killed eleven military personnel: four soldiers of the Blues...

: In Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...

, a bomb killed two members of the British Army's Household Cavalry
Household Cavalry
The term Household Cavalry is used across the Commonwealth to describe the cavalry of the Household Divisions, a country’s most elite or historically senior military groupings or those military groupings that provide functions associated directly with the Head of state.Canada's Governor General's...

performing ceremonial duties in the park, and seven of their horses were also killed. Another device exploded underneath a bandstand
Bandstand
A bandstand is a circular or semicircular structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts...

in Regents Park, killing seven bandsmen from the British Army's Royal Green Jackets
Royal Green Jackets
The Royal Green Jackets was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division .-History:...

as they played music to spectators.
28 August 1982: Twenty-four buses were firebombed by the IRA at the Ulsterbus
Ulsterbus
Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink , which also includes Northern Ireland Railways, Metro Belfast and Flexibus.-Services:Ulsterbus is responsible for most of the province-wide bus...

depot in County Armagh.
20 September 1982: A British soldier was killed when an IRA unit fired a rocket at his observation post at Springfield Road British Army barracks in Belfast.
1 October 1982: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Drum Manor, Tyrone.
14 October 1982: The IRA carried out a bomb attack on a British Army foot-patrol in the Ballymurhy area of Belfast.
22 October 1982: An off-duty UDR soldier was kidnapped in Glenanne, County Armagh. He was shot dead and his body was found on 29 October at Lislea, County Armagh. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
27 October 1982: Three RUC officers were killed in an IRA landmine attack on their patrol vehicle at Oxford Island, County Armagh.
9 November 1982: An RUC officer and a civilian were killed in an IRA bomb attack in Enniskillen
Enniskillen
Enniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...

, County Fermanagh.
10 November 1982: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA shortly after leaving the Customs Office in Armagh town. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
11 November 1982: Three IRA volunteers were shot dead in an undercover RUC ambush in Craigavon
Craigavon
Craigavon is a settlement in north County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was a planned settlement that was begun in 1965 and named after Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister — James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon. It was intended to be a linear city incorporating Lurgan and Portadown, but this plan...

, County Armagh.
16 November 1982: The IRA killed UDA leader Lenny Murphy
Lenny Murphy
Hugh Leonard Thompson Murphy, who commonly went by the name Lenny , was an Ulster loyalist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Murphy was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force and leader of the infamous Shankill Butchers a gang which became notorious for its torture and murder of Catholic men...

outside his girlfriend's house in Forthriver Park, Belfast. Murphy, who had been responsible for up to 20 sectarian killings which were carried out by his Shankill Butchers
Shankill Butchers
The Shankill Butchers is the name given to an Ulster loyalist gang, many of whom were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force . The gang conducted paramilitary activities during the 1970s in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was most notorious for its late-night kidnapping, torture and murder of random...

gang, was shot over 20 times at close range by two IRA volunteers.
19 December 1982: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA on Windmill Avenue, Armagh town.

1983

6 January 1983: Two undercover RUC officers were shot dead by the IRA while on a surveillance mission in Rostrevor
Rostrevor
Rostrevor is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the Newry and Mourne District Council area. It lies at the foot of Slieve Martin on the coast of Carlingford Lough. The Kilbroney River flows through the village....

, County Down.
16 January 1983: William Doyle, a judge, was shot dead by the IRA in Belfast.
18 January 1983: An off-duty RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA at a supermarket in Derry.
19 February 1983: A civilian was shot dead by the IRA near Enniskillen, Fermanagh. He had been mistaken for an off-duty British soldier.
20 February 1983: An RUC officer was killed by the IRA in a drive-by shooting at Warrenpoint
Warrenpoint
Warrenpoint is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northern shore of Carlingford Lough and is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a narrow strait. The town sprang up within the townland of Ringmackilroy...

RUC barracks.
21 February 1983: An RUC officer on foot-patrol was killed by an IRA remote-controlled bomb attack on Lower English Street, Armagh town.
25 February 1983: An off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA at his workplace in Ballygawley, Tyrone.
2 March 1983: A female RUC officer was shot dead by an IRA sniper while she was on foot-patrol in the Greencastle area of Belfast.
15 March 1983: An off-duty RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA on Tandragee Road, Newry. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
17 March 1983: The IRA launched a gun and rocket attack on a British mobile patrol in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast.
18 March 1983: The IRA badly wounded a British soldier after his Saracen APC was hit with an IRA rocket in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast. The vehicle was then sprayed with machine gun fire before the IRA unit made its escape.
31 March 1983: The IRA carried out a bomb attack on a British patrol in the Falls area of Belfast. One British soldier was badly injured and died of his wounds eight days later.
9 April 1983: A British soldier was killed in an IRA booby-trap bomb attack in Omagh, Tyrone.
13 April 1983: An off-duty British Territorial Army soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Keady
Keady
Keady is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is situated south of Armagh city and very close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. The town had a population of 2,960 people in the 2001 Census....

, County Armagh. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
16 May 1983: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA outside his home in Belfast.
24 May 1983: Andersonstown British Army barracks was devastated when the IRA detonated a massive van-bomb outside the front gate.
10 June 1983: A British soldier was killed when the IRA detonated a bomb hidden in a lamp-post as a British Army foot patrol passed in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast.
13 July 1983: Four UDR soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck an IRA landmine near Ballygawley, County Tyrone.
10 August 1983: Fort Pegasus British Army base in Belfast came under heavy machine gun fire from a number of IRA units. On the Whiterock road a British Army land-rover was hit by IRA sniper fire
23 August 1983: An off duty UDR soldier was shot dead as he left his workplace in Strabane
Strabane
Strabane , historically spelt Straban,is a town in west County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It contains the headquarters of Strabane District Council....

, County Tyrone.
24 August 1983: A shopkeeper was shot dead after an altercation with an IRA unit in Derry.
25 September 1983: 38 IRA prisoners took part in the Maze Prison escape
Maze Prison escape
The Maze Prison escape took place on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. HM Prison Maze was a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe, and held prisoners convicted of taking part in armed paramilitary campaigns during the Troubles...

. One guard died of a heart attack during the escape, and six others were shot or stabbed.
6 October 1983: Two RUC officers was shot dead in an IRA ambush in Downpatrick
Downpatrick
Downpatrick is a medium-sized town about 33 km south of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the county town of Down with a rich history and strong connection to Saint Patrick. It had a population of 10,316 at the 2001 Census...

, County Down.
10 October 1983: A civilian was shot dead by the IRA in Newry. He had been mistaken for an off-duty RUC officer.
15 October 1983: A British soldier was killed when the IRA detonated a bomb as a British mobile patrol passed in the Creggan area of Derry.
24 October 1983: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA near Aughnacloy, Tyrone.
28 October 1983: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA outside his home in Derry.
4 November 1983: The IRA detonated a time-bomb in the ceiling of a classroom in Jordanstown College. Two of the three RUC officers giving a lecture at the time died instantly, another died of his injuries several months later.
5 November 1983: An off duty RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Rasharkin
Rasharkin
Rasharkin , is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is south of Ballymoney, near Dunloy and Kilrea. It had a population of 864 people in the 2001 Census, after 30 years of gradual decline from a peak of 1,000 in 1971.-History:...

, County Antrim.
7 November 1983: A British soldier was killed in an IRA bomb attack in Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
10 November 1983: An RUC officer was shot dead in an IRA gun attack in Ballymartin, County Down.
12 November 1983: An RUC officer was killed and several others injured when the IRA mortared Carrickmore
Carrickmore
Carrickmore is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies in the heart of the county on an raised site colloquially called "The Rock"; between Cookstown, Dungannon and Omagh. It had a population of 612 in the 2001 Census.-History:...

British Army and RUC base.
14 November 1983: Charles Armstrong–who was a UDR soldier, an Orangeman and an Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...

councillor–was killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb attached to his car outside the District Council offices in Armagh town.
4 December 1983: Two unarmed IRA volunteers, Colm McGirr (23) and Brian Campbell (19) were shot dead by the British Army in Coalisland
Coalisland
Coalisland is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 4,917 people . As its name suggests, it was formerly a centre for coal mining.-History:...

, Tyrone.
7 December 1983: An Ulster Unionist Party MLA was shot dead outside Queens University Belfast.
10 December 1983: An IRA bomb exploded at the Royal Artillery Barracks
Royal Artillery Barracks
The Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich in South East London is the "home" of the Royal Artillery. It is famous for having the longest continuous building facade in the UK as well as for having the largest parade square of any UK barracks.-History:...

in London, injuring three people.
16 December 1983: An Irish Army
Irish Army
The Irish Army, officially named simply the Army is the main branch of the Defence Forces of Ireland. Approximately 8,500 men and women serve in the Irish Army, divided into three infantry Brigades...

soldier and a Garda officer were shot dead during a gun battle with the IRA in Ballinamore
Ballinamore
Ballinamore is a small town in County Leitrim, Ireland, from the border with Northern Ireland. It is located on the R202 regional road where it is joined by the R199 and R204. means "mouth of the big ford", and the town is so named because it was the main crossing point of the Yellow River,...

, County Leitrim
County Leitrim
County Leitrim is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the county...

in an attempt to free Don Tidey who had been taken hostage by an IRA unit which included Bik McFarlane.
17 December 1983: The Harrods bombing
Harrods bombing
The Harrods bombing was a car bombing that occurred at Harrods department store in London on 17 December 1983. The bomb had been planted by members of the Provisional IRA, although the IRA Army Council claimed that it had not authorised the attack. The IRA members had sent a warning 37 minutes...

in London killed six people including three police officers, and injured 75 other people. On the same day the IRA shot dead a UDR soldier in Maghera, County Londonderry.
26 December 1983: The IRA was blamed for a bombing in London which later is revealed to be the result of the Abu Nidal Organisation.

1984

2 January 1984: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Castlederg, County Tyrone.
10 January 1984: An RUC officer was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Newry.
31 January 1984: Two RUC officers were killed in an IRA land mine attack on their armoured patrol car, near Forkill, County Armagh.
10 February 1984: An IRA unit fired a rocket at a British Army Saracen APC in Glenalina Park, Belfast. The rocket bounced off the front of the vehicle and landed in a school. Nobody was injured.
21 February 1984: Two IRA volunteers and an SAS member were killed in a gun battle between an undercover British Army unit and the IRA at Dunloy, County Antrim.
2 March 1984: A UDR soldier was killed in an IRA booby-trap bomb attack near Castlederg, County Tyrone.
3 March 1984: A civilian was killed by a booby-trap bomb attached to a garage door at his workplace on Alexander Road, Armagh town. The IRA claimed responsibility and said he was a serving member of the UDR. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
6 March 1984:William McConnell, then Assistant Governor of the Maze Prison, was shot dead by the IRA outside his home in east Belfast.
8 March 1984: An off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA near Moira, County Down
Moira, County Down
Moira is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is in the northwest of the county, near the borders with counties Antrim and Armagh. The M1 motorway and Dublin–Belfast railway line are nearby. The settlement has existed since time immemorial...

.
22 March 1984: The IRA exploded three bombs in buildings in the centre of Belfast.
27 March 1984: A British soldier was killed in an IRA van-bomb attack in Derry.
8 April 1984: An IRA unit carried out a gun attack on Thomas Travers, then a Resident Magistrate, outside St Brigid's Catholic Church in Belfast. Travers was badly injured in the attack but his daughter Mary Travers was shot dead.
11 April 1984: A former UDR soldier was badly injured when a bomb exploded underneath his car in Belfast.
14 April 1984: A British soldier was badly injured when he was shot in the face by IRA volunteers in an attack in Glassdrummond in south County Armagh.
16 April 1984: The IRA shot and badly injured a civilian in Derry City. They later apologised saying that he was mistaken for an undercover British soldier.
21 April 1984: An IRA unit launched a bomb attack against a British patrol in Derry City. Three British soldiers were injured and IRA volunteer Richard Quigley (22) was killed when he was struck by shrapnel from the explosion.
23 April 1984: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Derry. Petrol bombers had dropped sweet-jars filled with petrol on two army landrovers. As the soldiers began fleeing the IRA opened fire, injuring six.
8 May 1984: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Dungannon.
9 May 1984: A British soldier was killed in an IRA bomb attack in Newry.
12 May 1984: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA while off-duty at his farm in Lismore, County Tyrone.
18 May 1984: Two RUC officers were killed when the IRA exploded a landmine as their armoured patrol car travelled near Camlough, County Armagh. One of the officers was also a member of the Orange Order.
18 May 1984: Two off duty British soldiers were killed, and another died later as a result of injuries, after the IRA planted a booby trap bomb under their car in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.
21 May 1984: A British patrol came under IRA sniper attack in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast.
29 May 1984: A British soldier was killed in an IRA landmine attack near Crossmaglen, County Armagh. An IRA bomb on the Whiterock Road in Belfast was defused by the British Army.
4 June 1984: A UDR soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Lurgan, County Armagh.
9 June 1984: Alleged criminal James Campbell was shot dead by the IRA in Conway Street, Belfast.
11 June 1984: A taxi-driver and former UDR soldier was lured and shot dead by the Provisionals' East Tyrone Brigade
Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade
The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army , also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles"...

off the main Omagh to Cookstown road. RUC detectives believe that the tax-driver died in a burst of automatic fire and his foot jammed on the accelerator, sending the car crashing into a gate post, where his body was found.
22 June 1984: A British soldier was badly injured when he was shot in the neck by an IRA sniper on the Whiterock Road in Belfast.
2 July 1984: An IRA unit fired an RPG7 rocket at an RUC landrover patrol but missed in Ballygawley, County Tyrone.
13 July 1984: IRA volunteer William Price was shot dead by the British Army during a bomb attack in Ardboe, County Tyrone.
14 July 1984: Two UDR soldiers among an eight-member foot patrol were killed in a 200 lb (90.7 kg) IRA landmine attack near the border at Castlederg, County Tyrone. Detectives believed that the bomb was triggered just a few hundred yards across the border. Immediately after the explosion, gunmen opened fire on the foot patrol as colleagues radioed for help. The West Tyrone Brigade of the IRA claimed responsibility for the attack.
10 August 1984: A Garda officer was shot dead by the IRA in County Meath during an attempted armed robbery of a post office.
12 August 1984: One RUC officer was killed in a land mine attack on an RUC mobile patrol, Crockanboy, Greencastle, County Tyrone.
7 September 1984: One UDR soldier and a Protestant civilian were killed in an IRA attack in County Tyrone.
12 October 1984: Brighton hotel bombing
Brighton hotel bombing
The Brighton hotel bombing happened on 12 October 1984 at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England. The bomb was planted by Provisional Irish Republican Army member Patrick Magee, with the intention of assassinating Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet who were staying at the hotel for the...

: a bomb in the Grand Hotel killed five in a failed attempt to assassinate members of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...

. Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

narrowly escaped death. Several others including Margaret Tebbit, wife of Norman Tebbit
Norman Tebbit
Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, CH, PC , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment...

, were left permanently disabled.
19 October 1984: One British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot patrol on Norglen Road, Turf Lodge, Belfast.
2 December 1984: Two IRA volunteers and one SAS member were killed in an exchange of fire after an attempted bombing in Kesh, County Fermanagh
Kesh, County Fermanagh
Kesh is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is on the Kesh River about from Lower Lough Erne. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 972 people....

.
6 December 1984: Two members of the IRA were shot dead by undercover British soldiers in the grounds of Gransha Hospital, Derry.
17 December 1984: IRA volunteer Sean McIlvenna was killed by the RUC after carrying out a bomb attack against a British Army patrol.

1985

1 February 1985: The IRA shot dead a member of the British Army's UDR regiment in Derrylin
Derrylin
Derrylin is a small village and townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is on the A509 road between Enniskillen and the border with County Cavan . It had a population of 423 in the 2001 Census.-History:...

, County Fermanagh. The soldier was driving a bus at the time when an IRA volunteer shot him seven times through the front windscreen. Two other gunmen then entered the bus and shot him a further 24 times at point blank range. Ulster Unionist MP Ken Maginnis claimed that this was a "genocide - a conscious effort by the IRA to systematically wipe out Protestant families in the community". His statement was in relation to the fact that two of the soldier's brothers, who were also British soldiers, had been killed by the IRA in 1981.
17 February 1985: A Prison Officer was shot dead by the IRA in Armagh town. The man was leaving Saint Patrick's Cathedral when he was shot three times in the head at point-blank range.
21 February 1985: An RUC officer was killed when the IRA ambushed an RUC vehicle at Drumsallen, near Armagh town. Three gunmen attacked the vehicle with machine guns. They had taken over a house on the road and had been lying in wait. The IRA unit fired 36 shots.
23 February 1985: IRA volunteers Charles Breslin (20), Michael Devine (22) and David Devine (16) were shot dead in a British Army/SAS ambush in Strabane
Strabane
Strabane , historically spelt Straban,is a town in west County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It contains the headquarters of Strabane District Council....

. Two other IRA volunteers managed to escape. The men were returning weapons to an arms dump when they were shot.
23 February 1985: A civilian from Derry was shot dead by the IRA. They claimed he was a British informant.
28 February 1985: An IRA unit launched a devastating mortar attack
1985 Newry mortar attack
The 1985 Newry mortar attack was an attack carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on a Royal Ulster Constabulary station in Corry Square, Newry, Northern Ireland. The attack killed nine RUC officers.-Background:...

on an RUC base in Newry. Nine officers (including a Chief Inspector) were killed while 37 people (including civilians) were injured.
28 February 1985: A UDR soldier was killed in an IRA booby-trap bomb attack while on patrol in Pomeroy
Pomeroy, County Tyrone
Pomeroy is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is in the townland of Cavanakeeran, about from Cookstown, from Dungannon and from Omagh. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 604 people....

, County Tyrone.
3 March 1985: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Enniskillen. The officer was exiting his vehcile when he was hit by a number of bullets. As he lay wounded a gunman ran up and fired a number of shots into him at point blank range.
23 March 1985: An alleged Garda informant was shot dead by the IRA in Cork. Garda informant Sean O'Callaghan
Sean O'Callaghan
Sean O'Callaghan is a former member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who became an informer for the Garda Síochána and who was later debriefed by the UK's MI5 in the Netherlands...

claimed in an interview with a local newspaper that he had shot the man, although he later retracted this.
27 March 1985: A British soldier was killed in an IRA bomb attack while patrolling the Divis Flats Complex in Belfast. The killing was strongly condemned by the Irish government due to the fact that the attack took place in the centre of a heavily populated high rise flat complex. In response, Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...

of Sinn Féin said that:"No Irish politicians who believe in Irish independence should condemn any IRA operation which is clearly directed against the British presence, which takes adequate safeguards to avoid civilian casualties and which is geared towards securing an end to British rule in Ireland. The responsibility for the death of the British soldier rests with the British government. That government is aided and abetted by Mr Barry [Irish foreign Minister] and his cronies in the Dublin administration.
29 March 1985: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA while working in a garage in Rathfriland
Rathfriland
Rathfriland is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a hilltop Plantation of Ulster settlement between the Mourne Mountains, Slieve Croob and Banbridge. It had a population of 2,079 people in the 2001 Census.-History:...

, County Down. Two gunmen approached him and shot him three times at point blank range before escaping.
3 April 1985: The IRA detonated a car-bomb outside Newry Courthouse killing an RUC officer and a security officer employed at the court.
3 May 1985: The IRA shot dead a former Ulster Special Constabulary officer at his home in Leitrim
Leitrim, County Down
Leitrim is a townland in County Down, Northern Ireland, near Castlewellan.There are two townlands called Leitrim in South Down, one is referred to as Upper Leitrim, the other, as Lower Leitrim. One being closer to Hilltown, the other approximately 6 miles from Castlewellan, near Dromara. It...

, County Down. The IRA claimed that the man was currently an RUC Reservist and that he had been seen regularly at roadblocks. However, the RUC denied this.
20 May 1985: Four RUC officers were killed by an IRA remote-controlled bomb in Killeen, County Armagh. The officers were part of a police escort for an armoured car, which was transporting £2 million from Dublin to Belfast. The escort had just met the security van on the border when the first armour plated RUC vehicle was hit by a 1000 lb (453.6 kg) roadside bomb. The vehicle was completely destroyed.
28 May 1985: A civilian who had just applied to join the RUC was shot dead by the IRA in Millfield, Belfast.
14 June 1985: A 1000 lb (453.6 kg) IRA bomb exploded in the centre of Belfast causing severe damage.
15 June 1985: An RUC officer was shot dead in an IRA gun attack in Derry. The officer was sitting in his vehcile when an IRA volunteer fired through the windscreen with a revolver. The IRA man then opened the driver seat door and beat the officer over the head with the revolver before shooting him again at point blank range.
18 June 1985: An undercover RUC officer was killed after his patrol vehicle struck an IRA landmine in Kinawley, Fermanagh. Another RUC officer was badly injured.
2 July 1985: Fort Pegasus British Army base in Belfast was mortared by an IRA unit. The barracks kitchen was hit by an IRA missile and completely destroyed although it was empty at the time.
6 August 1985: IRA volunteer Charlie English (21) was killed during an engagement with an RUC patrol in Derry. He was killed when a home made rocket launcher jammed and then exploded as he tried to fire it. Another IRA volunteer was injured but managed to escape.
7 August 1985: The first of four Libyan shipments of weaponry to the IRA is landed by the trawler Casamara at Clogga Strand, near Wiklow
Wiklów
Wikłów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kruszyna, within Częstochowa County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately north of Kruszyna, north-east of Częstochowa, and north of the regional capital Katowice....

, Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, with 10 tonnes of weaponry consisting of AK-47 rifles, RPG launchers, hand grenades, revolvers and ammunition. Another 14 tonnes were delivered on 2 October.
20 August 1985: A civilian who worked as a contractor to the British Army was shot dead by the IRA at his home in Donnybrook, Dublin
Donnybrook, Dublin
Donnybrook is a district of Dublin, Ireland. It is situated on the southside of the city, in the Dublin 4 postal district, and is home to the Irish state broadcaster RTÉ. It was once part of the Pembroke Township...

. The man's family owned Roughan Castle
Roughan Castle
Roughan Castle is a castle a mile outside Newmills, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, on the Dungannon to Stewartstown road. It was built about 1618 by Sir Andrew Stewart , 2nd Lord Castlestewart, eldest son of Andrew Stewart the third Lord Ochiltree, 1st Lord Castlestewart who came from Scotland...

and a 300 acres (1.2 km²)estate outside Coalisland
Coalisland
Coalisland is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 4,917 people . As its name suggests, it was formerly a centre for coal mining.-History:...

. The IRA said he was killed because he supplied building materials to British forces. The IRA also said they had given him warnings by telephone, letter and even through an attack on his estate.
22 August 1985: A civilian was shot dead by the IRA in Strabane. He was mistaken for a British Army contractor. The IRA admitted responsibility for the attack and extended "deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Kieran Murray". The dead man had aided Sinn Féin in local elections.
24 August 1985: A civilian was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Pomeroy, Tyrone. The car he was traveling in had been mistaken for that of an undercover RUC officer.
31 August 1985: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA outside his home in Crossgar, County Down. Sinn Féin objected to the decision of Down district council to adjourn during the RUC mans funeral as a mark of respect. In a statement the Sinn Féin councillors said: "We feel if the council is going to do this sort of thing then they should do it for all those who have lost their lives due to British occupation, and not just a select few."
4 September 1985: The IRA launched a mortar attack against Enniskillen RUC training centre. The centre was almost completely destroyed.
8 September 1985: Two civilians were found shot dead in the Turf Lodge area of Belfast. The IRA claim the couple were British Army agents and that they had been responsible for the capture of a 30 lb (13.6 kg) bomb and the arrests of three INLA members. Ex-members of the British Military have confirmed that the couple were recruited by the Special Branch.
22 September 1985: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Derry. The soldier was off-duty and returning from a disco when he was shot six times in the head by an IRA volunteer. Another soldier escaped uninjured.
7 October 1985: A civilian was shot dead in Strabane by the IRA. The IRA claim he was an informant and that he had admitted to working for the police for 13 months while under interrogation. It claimed he had provided the SAS with intelligence which resulted in the deaths of three IRA volunteers in an ambush earlier that year. The three IRA volunteers had been killed in a field overlooking his home.
7 October 1985: A British army base in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast was mortared by an IRA unit. The attack caused serious structural damage to the base and blew a large hole in the perimeter.
15 November 1985: An RUC officer was killed and another badly wounded in an IRA landmine near Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The officer was part of a joint RUC/British Army patrol which had been deployed by helicopter into the area around Crossmaglen.
18 November 1985: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in the Waterside
Waterside, Derry
The Waterside is an urban neighbourhood on the east side of the River Foyle opposite the Cityside of Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Traditionally, the Waterside ends at the Caw roundabout near the Foyle Bridge...

area of Derry.
21 November 1985: A contractor to the British Army was shot dead outside his home in Derry City. The man was shot 15 times as he was about to drive to work.
29 November 1985: A UDR soldier, who was also employed as a contractor to the Royal Air Force, was killed when he triggered a booby-trap bomb which had been attached to his car in Kilkeel, County Down.
30 November 1985: Alleged criminal Edward Taggart was shot dead by the IRA in the Divis Flats complex in Belfast. The man was shot in the back and both legs. The dead mans family admitted he had been involved in joyriding activities and he had previously been imprisoned for joyriding offences.
7 December 1985: In an attack on the RUC barracks in Ballygawley
Attack on Ballygawley barracks
The attack on Ballygawley RUC barracks was an attack carried out on 7 December 1985 by a Provisional Irish Republican Army group against a Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks at Ballygawley, County Tyrone...

the IRA killed two policemen and destroyed the barracks with a large bomb. IRA volunteers had been lying in wait outside the station and as the officers left two gunmen stepped out of concealed positions and shot both officers in the head from close range. Another IRA unit then directed heavy machine gun fire at the front of the station which provided cover for a bomb team to plant a 100 lb (45.4 kg) bomb inside. The bomb exploded ten minutes later, destroying the barracks. Three other RUC officers who were in the building fled through a back door. One of the dead policemen was also a Methodist preacher.
19 December 1985: The RUC station at Castlederg, County Tyrone, was wrecked by a shell during a mortar attack carried out by the IRA. Seven people were injured, and about 250 families evacuated.

1986

1 January 1986: Two RUC officers were killed when the IRA detonated a remote-controlled bomb hidden in a litter bin as their patrol passed on Thomas Street, Armagh town.
15 January 1986: A UDR soldier was killed when he triggered an IRA booby trap which had been attached to his car in Castlederg, County Tyrone.
3 February 1986: A UDR soldier was killed when the IRA detonated a remote-controlled bomb hidden in a dry stone wall as a British Army foot patrol passed in Belcoo, County Fermanagh.
11 February 1986: An RUC Detective-Constable and a civilian were killed in an IRA gun attack in Maguiresbridge, County Fermanagh. An IRA bomb exploded at the scene 40 minutes later.
22 February 1986: An IRA active service unit launched a sniper attack on a Fort George British Army base in Derry. In the gun-battle which followed IRA volunteer Anthony Gough was killed and another IRA volunteer was captured.
18 March 1986: A British soldier was killed and several others wounded when the IRA detonated a booby-trap bomb concealed in a derelict building as a British Army foot patrol passed by in Castlewellan, County Down.
26 March 1986: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA while off duty near Omagh
Omagh
Omagh is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. The town, which is the largest in the county, had a population of 19,910 at the 2001 Census. Omagh also contains the headquarters of Omagh District Council and...

, County Tyrone. A lone IRA volunteer, who was not wearing a mask, approached him and shot him a number of times.
8 April 1986: A UDR soldier was killed when he triggered an IRA booby-trap bomb which had been attached to his car near Castlederg, County Tyrone.
23 April 1986: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Newcastle, County Down. IRA volunteers opened fire on him from a wooded area on the opposite side of the road, hitting him a number of times. As he lay wounded they ran across the road and shot him at point blank range in the head.
26 April 1986: The Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...

(SAS) killed IRA volunteer Séamus McElwaine
Séamus McElwaine
Séamus Turlough McElwaine was a volunteer in the South Fermanagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army killed by the Special Air Service in 1986...

in Roslea, County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....

. At an inquest held in 1993, McElwaine was found to have been unlawfully killed. He had been shot in the back after being handcuffed. Another IRA volunteer was wounded and arrested.
12 May 1986: Three British Army bases in west Belfast were targeted in IRA grenade attacks.
15 May 1986: An former UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Newry. He was driving his delivery vehicle when a motorcycle pulled up alongside and the pillion passenger opened fire, hitting the man 15 times with low-velocity bullets.
17 May 1986: A civilian was shot dead near Dungannon. The man was ambushed as he drove his pick-up van. Over 30 shots were fired through the windscreen. The IRA claimed the man was a member of the British Army's UDR Regiment but they did not claim responsibility for the killing. Later a caller from the Catholic Reaction Force
Catholic Reaction Force
The name Catholic Reaction Force was used to claim responsibility for attacks and threats against Protestants in Northern Ireland during "The Troubles". In 1983 it claimed responsibility for shooting dead three Protestant civilians at a church service near Darkley, County Armagh. That was claimed...

claimed they were responsible for the killing although many have speculated that the IRA was involved. The dead man was a member of the Orange Order.
20 May 1986: The IRA kidnapped and killed a civilian in Killeen, County Armagh. The IRA claimed he was a local criminal and had been "given a free hand by the RUC in exchange for information on republicans in the area". The RUC refused to comment on the allegations. He had been ordered to leave south Armagh by the IRA in 1989 but later returned.
22 May 1986: Two RUC officers and a British soldier were killed in an IRA remote-controlled bomb attack in Crossmaglen
Crossmaglen
Crossmaglen or Crosmaglen is a village and townland in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,459 people in the 2001 Census and is the largest village in south Armagh...

, County Armagh.
25 May 1986: A civilian was found shot dead on the side of a road outside Castlederg. The IRA claimed he was a British informer and had previously been associated with the OIRA and was involved in a bomb attack which killed two civilian employees at a British Army base in Derry.
28 May 1986: A UDR soldier and his sniffer dog were killed and another soldier wounded in an IRA bomb attack in Kilkeel
Kilkeel
Kilkeel is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the main fishing port on the Down coast, and its harbour houses one of the largest fishing fleets in Ireland. It had a population of 6,338 people according to the 2001 Census...

, County Down. The soldiers were searching for a bomb which the IRA had claimed they left in the area when the sniffer dog nudged an oil drum which contained a booby trapped mercury tilt switch device.
16 June 1986: A civilian contractor to the British Army was kidnapped by the IRA and found shot dead near Cullyhanna, County Armagh. The man had previously been warned to cease working for the British Army. He was found with two bullet wounds to his head and one to his neck.
1 July 1986: A UDR soldier was killed in an IRA booby-trap bomb attack in Drumaness, County Down.
8 July 1986: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA at his farm in Rosslea
Rosslea
Rosslea or Roslea is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, near the border with County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. It stands on the River Finn and is beset by small natural lakes. Roslea Forest is nearby...

, County Fermanagh. The man had been a member of the Orange Order. At his funeral, the local Church of Ireland minister claimed Protestants in Fermanagh were under siege.
9 July 1986: Two British soldiers were killed and two others injured when the IRA detonated a large car-bomb as a British Army foot-patrol passed near Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
10 July 1986: The oil-rig replenisher Villa landed 14 tonnes of weaponry and explosives smuggled by the IRA from Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

off the Clogga Strand, near Wicklow
Wicklow
Wicklow) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. Located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island, it has a population of 10,070 according to the 2006 census. The town is situated to the east of the N11 route between Dublin and Wexford. Wicklow is also connected to the rail...

, by inflatable boats. The same ship repeated the operation in October, this time by landing an 80 tonnes cache which included one tonne of Semtex, reportedly ten SAM-7 missiles, more RPG-7s, AK-47s and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition.
26 July 1986: Three RUC officers were killed when IRA volunteers opened fire on an a stationary armoured patrol car from close range in Newry. The IRA unit fired six shots into the car through an open door. They then threw a grenade into the car although it did not explode as the pin had not been fully pulled out.
30 July 1986: A civilian contractor to the British Army was shot dead by the IRA in Greencastle, County Tyrone.
4 August 1986: A British patrol in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast was attacked by an IRA unit using blast-bombs.
4 August 1986: A UDR soldier was shot dead at his home in the Shankill area of Belfast by the IRA. A two man IRA unit was seen running up the street towards the man firing. They continued firing as he lay on the ground wounded before making their getaway.
11 August 1986: An IRA unit destroyed an RUC base at the Birches near Portadown, County Armagh. The unit drove a digger through the perimeter fence with a 200 lb bomb attached to the bucket. Some members of this unit would be killed the next year by the SAS during a similar attack on Loughgall RUC base.
15 August 1986: A civilian was shot dead by the IRA in the Clonard area of Belfast. The IRA claimed he was a British informer. The IRA said he had previously been a member of their organisation and that he was being paid by the RUC to work as an informer.
28 August 1986: A civilian contractor to the British Army was shot dead by the IRA in Derry. The IRA denied claims that the killing was sectarian stating: "The man's religion is of no interest to us. Despite previous warnings he continued to work for the UDR, and that was the reason he was targeted."
10 September 1986: The IRA shot dead a man they claimed was an informer in Lurgan. The IRA claimed he had been a member of their organisation but had become an informer in 1982 after he was arrested in connection with the bombing of Lurgan Golf Club.
14 September 1986: High ranking UVF member John Bingham, who was suspected of involvement in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...

was shot dead by the IRA at his home in the Ballysillan area of Belfast. Two IRA men, armed with a rifle and a revolver, used an axe to smash down his front door before shooting him in both legs. The UVF man managed to make his way to an upstairs bedroom before being shot three more times. The IRA later released a statement saying: "Relying on accurate intelligence reports we were able to pinpoint the whereabouts of UVF murder-gang leader John Bingham, who after a period of intensive activities which resulted in the deaths of five innocent Catholics, had just in the last number of weeks felt safe to return home." Bingham had also been a member of the Orange Order.
14 September 1986: An RUC foot-patrol came under fire from the IRA in west Belfast.
14 September 1986: Unarmed IRA volunteer James McKernan (29) was shot in the back by the British Army in the Brenda Park area of Belfast. The man was running away from a British Army patrol after planting a booby-trap bomb nearby.
6 October 1986: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Dungannon, County Tyrone. He was killed when three bullet fragments hit him after his vehicle was fired on.
11 October 1986: An RUC officer was killed and another officer injured when the IRA mortared New Barnsley British Army base in Belfast. The constable was killed when the mortar bomb exploded just above his head. Two civilians were also slightly wounded in the attack. The other injured officer was later killed by the IRA in 1990.
24 October 1986: A civilian contractor to the British Army was shot dead by the IRA in Magherafelt
Magherafelt
Magherafelt is a small town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,372 people recorded in the 2001 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of County Londonderry and is the social, economic and political hub of the area...

, County Londonderry. The IRA said the firm had ignored repeated warnings to stop working for the security forces. A DUP MP, Willie McCrea, accused a Sinn Féin councillor of carrying out the attack.
26 October 1986: An IRA unit fired a mortar at Crossmaglen British Army base in County Armagh.
28 October 1986: An IRA unit fired seven mortars at Drummuckavall British Army watchtower in County Armagh. This is the first recorded use of Libyan-supplied Semtex
Semtex
Semtex is a general-purpose plastic explosive containing RDX and PETN. It is used in commercial blasting, demolition, and in certain military applications. Semtex became notoriously popular with terrorists because it was, until recently, extremely difficult to detect, as in the case of Pan Am...

high-explosive. In the aftermath, a red Ford Escort was pursued while escaping across the border towards Thomas Murphy's farm by members of the Scots Guards
Scots Guards
The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...

. One of the guards, a Lance Corporal, broke into a shed, where he was confronted by two IRA members. The guard had inadvertently crossed the border and after a brief brawl with the two men, a Gardaí patrol arrived at the scene and arrested the soldier, for being in possession of an illegal arm. He was taken to a police station at Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...

but was released six hours later after negotiations between senior RUC and Garda officers.
23 November 1986: Six British soldiers were wounded after the IRA launched seven mortars at a British Army barracks in Middleton, Armagh.
27 November 1986: The IRA launched a mortar at Newry RUC base; however, the device overshot its target, landing in a nearby residential area where it wounded more than 30 people (mainly from flying glass). The IRA apologised for the incident.
12 December 1986: A civilian was killed when he triggered a booby-trap bomb attached to his car. The IRA claimed he had been mistaken for an off-duty RUC officer and apologised for the killing.
16 December 1986: A bus bomb exploded outside a south Belfast RUC barracks slightly injuring seven people. The IRA claimed responsibility.

1987

9 January 1987: An RUC officer was killed when the IRA detonated a remote control bomb hidden in a litter bin as an RUC foot patrol passed the High Street in Enniskillen in County Fermanagh. The RUC officer was also a member of the Orange Order.
26 January 1987: A British soldier was killed in an IRA gun attack in Coalisland, County Tyrone. The soldier was shot 3 times in the back and head by a two man IRA unit outside his home.
6 March 1987: New Barnsley RUC/British Army base in Belfast came under IRA gun attack, meanwhile Fort Jericho British Army base, also in Belfast, was mortared by an IRA unit.
7 March 1987: An RUC riot squad were shot at by an IRA sniper in the Whiterock area of Belfast.
10 March 1987: An RUC officer was killed when the IRA detonated a remote controlled bomb at the Ardoyne Shops on the Crumlin Road in Belfast. The RUC had been lured to the area by a hoax phonecall 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 bobm when they arrived. The IRA claimed his death was retaliation for "RUC brutality at republican funerals".
13 March 1987: Two RUC officers were injured in an IRA bomb attack at Roselawn Cemetery in Belfast.
23 March 1987: A Prison Officer was shot dead by the IRA as he sat in his car outside Magee College
Magee College
Magee College is a campus of the University of Ulster located in Derry, Northern Ireland. It opened in 1865 as a Presbyterian Christian arts and theological college...

. Three masked gunmen approached the front of the vehicle and fired six shots through the windscreen using a low-velocity rifle. The Prison Officer was shot in the head and died instantly. The IRA unit was then seen casually walking away. The IRA said the officer was killed in reprisal for the inhumane conditions suffered by IRA prisoners in Magilligan Prison.
23 March 1987: 2 RUC officers were killed when the IRA detonated a briefcase bomb on the Rock Road in Derry. The officers were examining the scene of a fatal IRA gun attack on a Prison Lecturer.
23 March 1987: 31 people were injured in a car bomb attack at Rheindahlen Military Complex
Rheindahlen Military Complex
JHQ Rheindahlen, latterly also called the Rheindahlen Military Complex, is a British forces base in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. JHQ stands for Joint Headquarters and the base has functioned as the main headquarters for British forces in Germany since being built in the 1950s...

, nearMönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach , formerly known as Münchengladbach, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine half way between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border....

in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.
30 March 1987: A British soldier was killed in an IRA blast bomb in the Divis Flats complex of West Belfast. The bombs were dropped from the flat complex onto the roof of a passing British land rover. One of the bombs fell through a hatch in the vehicles roof and exploded, killing one soldier and wounding another. A Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

member was later charged for his part in the attack. Author Tony Geraghty claims that the bombs were actually Mark-6 mortar shells dropped by hand.
30 March 1987: The IRA launched a gun and grenade attack on New Barnsley RUC/British Army base in Belfast.
3 April 1987: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Ederney, County Fermanagh.
3 April 1987: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA outside Ballynahinch Royal Ulster Constabulary base in County Down. Two RUC officers were leaving the base when an IRA unit fired on them from the oppposite side of the road, killing one officer and wounding another.
11 April 1987: Two RUC officers were shot dead in an IRA ambush while on foot patrol on the Main Street in Portrush, County Antrim.
12 April 1987: The IRA shot dead a man they claimed was a British informer near Killeen, County Armagh. The man's body was found in the back of a van. His hands were tied behind his back and a plastic bag was placed over his face.
20 April 1987: An RUC officer was killed when an IRA unit opened fire on an RUC foot patrol on Central Promenade, Newcastle, County Down.
21 April 1987: Harold Henry, a security contractor to the British Army was shot dead by the IRA at his home near Moneymore, County Londonderry. A five man IRA unit entered his home and shot him four times in the head. The man was also a member of the Orange Order.
23 April 1987: An RUC officer was killed after being shot by the IRA while off-duty in Prehen, County Londonderry. He was leaving a local gold club when he was shot ten times at close range by a two-man IRA unit.
25 April 1987: Chief Justice Maurice Gibson, along with his wife, was assassinated when the IRA detonated a roadside bomb as his car passed in Killeen, County Armagh.
25 April 1987: An off duty British soldier was shot dead by the IRA at his home in Pomeroy, County Tyrone. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
28 April 1987: Senior UVF member William "Frenchy" Marchant was shot dead by the IRA in a drive-by shooting on the Shankill Road in west Belfast. He was leaving the offices of the Progressive Unionist Party
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party is a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979...

when he was shot a number of times at close range with an Armalite rifle and a handgun. The IRA claimed Marchant had been involved in the killing of IRA volunteer Larry Marley and the ITV also alleged he was involved in the Dublin bombings of 1974 which killed over 30 civilians.
2 May 1987: IRA volunteer Finbarr McKenna (33) was killed in a premature bomb explosion during an attack on Springfield RUC base in Belfast.
8 May 1987: Loughgall Ambush
Loughgall Ambush
The Loughgall ambush took place on 8 May 1987 in the village of Loughgall, Northern Ireland. An eight-man Provisional Irish Republican Army group launched an attack on the village's Royal Ulster Constabulary station, but was ambushed by a British Army Special Air Service unit of twenty-five. The...

: The SAS ambushed volunteers of the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade
Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade
The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army , also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles"...

as they attempted to attack an RUC station in Loughgall
Loughgall
Loughgall is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 285 people.Loughgall was named after a small nearby loch. The village is at the heart of the apple-growing industry and is surrounded by orchards. Along the village's main street...

, County Armagh. All eight IRA volunteers, along with a civilian, were killed.
21 May 1987: An off-duty British soldier as shot dead by the IRA in Tiroony, County Tyrone. He was driving through Sixmilecross when his car was hit a number of times by IRA gunfire. He managed to continue driving for several hundred yards before crashing. The officer was a member of the Orange Order, Royal Black Preceptory and chairman of the local Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...

branch.
22 May 1987: A former British soldier and a former prison officer was shot dead by the IRA in the bathroom of his home. The man was a well known local loyalist and a member of the Orange Order and Royal Black Preceptory. The IRA claimed he was involved in over 18 sectarian shootings.
2 June 1987: An off-duty RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Letterkenny
Letterkenny
Letterkenny , with a population of 17,568, is the largest town in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. The town is located on the River Swilly...

, County Donegal
Donegal
Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....

. The man was shot while working on his farm by two IRA men using a shotgun and a revolver.
4 June 1987: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on patrol on Shaws Road in Andersonstown, Belfast. The soldier was shot in the neck while standing in the back of a Land Rover.
11 June 1987: A British soldier was shot and injured by an IRA sniper in the New Barnsley area of Belfast.
12 June 1987: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Lambeg, County Antrim. Three IRA men walked into the Golf Club where he was working and shot him 12 times at close range with handguns. The soldier was also a member of the Orange Order.
15 June 1987: A former British soldier was killed by an IRA booby trap bomb attached to his car in central Belfast. The man was also a member of the Orange Order.
23 June 1987: An RUC officer was killed during an IRA gun attack against Antrim Road RUC base, Belfast.
24 June 1987: A member of the Workers' Party of Ireland
Workers' Party of Ireland
The Workers' Party is a left-wing republican political party in Ireland. Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party, adopting its current name in 1982....

was kidnapped and shot dead by the IRA in west Belfast. The IRA claimed the man was an informer and ruled out any feud between themselves and the OIRA, the military wing of the Workers Party.
26 June 1987: An off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA on Surrey Street in Belfast. The soldier was shot five times in the head at close range.
7 July 1987: A UDA/UFF member was shot dead by the IRA in north Belfast. A two man IRA unit opened fire on him with a submachine-gun and a revolver, hitting him 9 times.
12 July 1987: A former member of the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

was shot dead by the IRA on Alliance Avenue in north Belfast. 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.
17 July 1987: An IRA unit launched a drogue bomb (improvised anti-armour grenade) at a British Army Land Rover on the Falls Road. This is the first recorded use of such a weapon by the IRA.
19 July 1987: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot patrol in Belleek, County Fermanagh. He was providing cover to other members of his unit when he was shot in the head with a single bullet. The RUC claimed the IRA sniper had fired from the southern side of the border, the Gardaí denied this.
23 July 1987: An off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in the Twinbrook area of Belfast. He was driving along the Stewardstown road when he was shot through the windscreen with seven 7.62mm rounds.
27 July 1987: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in his home in Ballymena, County Antrim. The IRA unit used a sledgehammer to break down his door before shooting him ten times with a submachine-gun and a pistol. The officer was a member of the Orange Order.
9 August 1987: Five RUC officers were injured when their land-rover was hit by an IRA impact-grenade on Dawson Street, Belfast.
10 August 1987: Three RUC officers were injured when their mobile patrol was attacked by an IRA unit using impact-grenades on the Ballymurphy Road in Belfast.
16 August 1987: The IRA sent letterbombs to six senior civil servants in London.
26 August 1987: Two undercover RUC Special Branch officers were shot dead by the IRA after entering the Liverpool Bar on Donegall Quay in Belfast.
30 August 1987: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA outside his home in Ballyronan, County Londonderry. The officer was also a member of the Orange Order.
9 September 1987: The IRA shot dead a civilian in north Belfast. The IRA mistook him for an off-duty member of the British Army's UDR Regiment.
17 September 1987: An off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in the Tigers Bay area of Belfast.
20 September 1987: The IRA mortared Springfield Parade RUC Barracks in Belfast.
24 September 1987: The IRA shot dead a civilian as he drove his car along Kilmorey Street in Newry. The IRA stated that the man was mistaken for an RUC officer and it extended "sincere sympathy" to his family.
1 October 1987: An RUC officer was injured in an IRA grenade assault in Pomeroy, County Tyrone.
3 October 1987: Volunteers of the IRA's South Armagh Brigade launched ten mortars at Glassdrummond British Army base. The base was badly damaged but there were no injuries.
14 October 1987: The IRA fired two rockets at separate RUC bases in Belfast in coordinated attacks in the mid-morning. There were no injuries.
21 October 1987: IRA volunteers in Turf Lodge carried out a punishment shooting against a 16 year old youth (Francis Finnegan). They claimed he was joy rider.
26 October 1987: A British soldier was injured in an attack on the Springfield Road, West Belfast, when his Saracen APC was hit by a drogue-bomb in an IRA attack.
27 October 1987: A British soldier was injured when an IRA unit detonated an anti-personnel device close to Mackies Factory in West Belfast.
28 October 1987: Two IRA volunteers, Eddie McSheffrey (29) and Paddy Derry (31) were killed when bombs they were transporting exploded prematurely in the Creggan area of Derry.
29 October 1987: A British soldier was injured when an IRA unit attacked North Howard Street barracks in Belfast with a grenade launcher.
31 October 1987: Three RUC officers were injured (one seriously) in an IRA ambush in Strabane
Strabane
Strabane , historically spelt Straban,is a town in west County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It contains the headquarters of Strabane District Council....

, County Tyrone.
1 November 1987: during transit to Ireland, the last arms consignment from Libya was intercepted by the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

aboard the MV Eksund, along with five crew members, among them Gabriel Cleary
Gabriel Cleary
Gabriel Cleary is a senior engineer in the Provisional IRA. A native of Tallaght, he was arrested in 1987 when the French and Irish governments intercepted a shipment of weapons from Libya. After spending five years in French prison, Leary was freed in 1992...

. The vessel was found to contain 120 tonnes of weapons, including HMGs, 36 RPGs, 1000 detonators, 20 SAMs, Semtex and 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition.
2 November 1987: Four RUC officer were injured when their an IRA unit launched a grenade at their Land Rover in North Queen Street, North Belfast.
8 November 1987: The Remembrance Day bombing
Remembrance Day Bombing
The Remembrance Day bombing took place on 8 November 1987 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland...

at Enniskillen killed 11 civilians and one RUC officer, and injured 63 people.
21 November 1987: The IRA in County Tyrone placed three bombs in the Kildress Inn in Cookstown. The bombs exploded at approximately 7.30 pm destroying the building. A warning was given and there were no injuries.
25 November 1987: Belfast was paralyzed by a series of hoax bomb alerts. A small bomb was also detonated near Donegall Pass. There were no injuries.
27 November 1987: The Belfast to Dublin railway was severed when the IRA detonated a 10 lb (4.5 kg)bomb at Finaghy Halt.
28 November 1987: Two British soldiers were wounded when the IRA launched three mortars at a temporary vehicle check point in south County Armagh.
10 December 1987: Two British soldiers were badly injured when an IRA unit launched a grenade at a mobile patrol in Bank Place, Derry.
17 December 1987: The IRA detonated a 200 lb (90.7 kg) car-bomb outside the home of Judge Donald Murray in Cadogan Park, South Belfast. A warning was given and there were no injuries.
21 December 1987: Two British soldiers were injured in a gun battle with the IRA in the Bogside area of Derry City. The incident occurred just minutes after the IRA had carried out a punishment shooting on a local youth.
22 December 1987: UDA/UFF
United Freedom Front
The United Freedom Front was a small American Marxist organization active in the 1970s and 1980s. It was originally called the Sam Melville/Jonathan Jackson Unit, and its members became known as the Ohio 7 when they were brought to trial...

leader John McMichael was killed when he triggered a 5 lb (2.3 kg) booby trap bomb which had been attached to his car outside his home in Lisburn by an IRA unit.

1988

4 January 1988: A British soldier was shot and injured by an IRA sniper during an attack on Woodbourne RUC/British Army barracks in Belfast.
9 January 1988: The IRA detonated a 500 lb (226.8 kg) car-bomb outside Belfast Law Courts on Chichester Street. A warning was given and there were no injuries.
15 January 1988: A UDR soldier was shot and fatally wounded by the IRA in Coalisland, County Tyrone. Three IRA volunteers had cut holes in a hedge outside his home to make firing positions and as he drove past his car was hit by over 20 rounds fired from two AK-47 assault rifles. He died a day later.
23 January 1988: An RUC officer was injured after an RUC patrol came under gun and grenade assault on the Culmore Road.
25 January 1988: One RUC officer was killed and others were badly injured after an IRA unit launched two drogue bombs at their armoured patrol in Mulholland Terrace in West Belfast. The RUC said this was the first time an officer had been killed by a "drogue bomb/impact grenade". A British Army bomb disposal officer described the devices as "devastating".
26 January 1988: The IRA detonated a 500 lb (226.8 kg) car-bomb at Dunmurry RUC barracks. The bomb caused extensive damage to the building. A warning was given and there were no injuries.
30 January 1988: An alleged rapist was shot and injured by the IRA in a punishment attack in the Twinbrook area of Belfast.
4 February 1988: An IRA active service unit in Derry engaged a joint British army and RUC checkpoint on the Foyle Bridge. Over 70 rounds were fired before the unit withdrew.
10 February 1988: An IRA grenade attack on a British army observation post on North Howard Street in West Belfast injured two British soldiers.
15 February 1988: A UDR soldier was shot dead by a unit of the IRA's South Down Command at his home in Kilkeel, County Down. The soldier was also a member of the Young Unionists
Young Unionists
The Young Unionists, formally known as the Ulster Young Unionist Council , is the youth wing of the Ulster Unionist Party . It has in its present incarnation been in existence since 2004...

.
19 February 1988: Two RUC officers were injured (one seriously) when an IRA active service unit launched a grenade at an RUC armoured car on Main Street in Coalisland.
24 February 1988: Two UDR soldiers were killed and two injured when an active service unit from the IRA's Belfast Brigade detonated a 250 lb (113.4 kg) bomb at the Royal Avenue security gate in Belfast. One land rover was ripped apart by the explosion. A second device, intended for the Army response unit, was defused. Both of the dead soldiers were also members of the Orange Order.
26 February 1988: An IRA unit launched two mortars at North Howard Street British army base. The mortars exploded in mid-air.
28 February 1988: Two members of the RUC were injured when the IRA launched two grenades at an RUC patrol in Strabane.
29 February 1988: A British soldier and an RUC officer were injured when they triggered an anti-personnel mine which had been planted by the IRA in the Andersonstown area of Belfast.
29 February 1988: Two IRA volunteers, Brendan Burns and Brendan Moley of the IRA's South Armagh Brigade died when bombs they were transporting exploded prematurely during a raid on a British army base.
3 March 1988: Two IRA units attacked Musgrave Street RUC barracks with Rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. The base was damaged but there were no injuries.
6 March 1988: Operation Flavius
Operation Flavius
Operation Flavius was the name given to an operation by a Special Air Service team in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988 tasked to prevent a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb attack...

: Three unarmed IRA volunteers, Daniel McCann
Daniel McCann
Daniel "Danny" McCann was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army who was killed by British Army Special Air Service soldiers in Operation Flavius.-Background:...

, Sean Savage
Seán Savage
Seán Savage was a volunteer of the Provisional IRA who was shot and killed by British Army Special Air Service soldiers in Operation Flavius.-Early life:...

and Mairead Farrell
Mairéad Farrell
Mairéad Farrell was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army . She was killed by SAS soldiers during Operation Flavius, a British Army operation to prevent a bombing in Gibraltar.-Early life:...

, were killed by the SAS in Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

, as they were planning an attack on a public military parade. Although initial reports claimed the three had been shot dead when about to set off a massive car bomb, within 24 hours the Foreign Secretary, Geoffrey Howe
Geoffrey Howe
Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, CH, QC, PC is a former British Conservative politician. He was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving Cabinet minister, successively holding the posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary, and finally Leader of the House of Commons...

, was forced to admit this was not the case. However, a car used by the three was found in Marbella
Marbella
Marbella is a town in Andalusia, Spain. It is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, in the province of Málaga, beneath the La Concha mountain. In 2000 the city had 98,823 inhabitants, in 2004, 116,234, in 2010 approximately 135,000....

two days after the killings containing140 lb (63.5 kg) of Semtex
Semtex
Semtex is a general-purpose plastic explosive containing RDX and PETN. It is used in commercial blasting, demolition, and in certain military applications. Semtex became notoriously popular with terrorists because it was, until recently, extremely difficult to detect, as in the case of Pan Am...

, timed to go off during the changing of the guard.
8 March 1988: A British patrol came under heavy fire from an IRA unit at the Poleglass Roundabout in West Belfast.
14 March 1988: IRA volunteer Kevin McCracken was killed in a gun battle with British forces while attempting to defend the friends and family of Sean Savage (who had been killed in Gibraltar) from RUC and British army intimidation in the Turf Lodge are of West Belfast.
16 March 1988: Milltown Cemetery attack
Milltown Cemetery attack
The Milltown Cemetery attack The Milltown Cemetery attack The Milltown Cemetery attack (also known as the Milltown Cemetery killings or Milltown Massacre took place on 16 March 1988 in Belfast's Milltown Cemetery...

: At the funeral of the three IRA volunteers killed in Gibraltar, Michael Stone
Michael Stone (loyalist paramilitary)
Michael Stone is a Northern Irish loyalist who was a volunteer in the Ulster Defence Association . Stone was born in England but raised in the Braniel estate in East Belfast, Northern Ireland. Convicted of killing three people and injuring more than sixty in an attack on mourners at Milltown...

, a member of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), launched hand grenades during the graveside oration, killing three people and injuring over 50 injured; including a 10 year old boy who was shot in the back, a 72 year old grandmother and a pregnant mother of four who was wounded by shrapnel. One of those killed was IRA volunteer Caoimhin MacBradaigh who had attempted to disarm the gunman.
18 March 1988: A civilian was shot dead by the IRA while sitting in a car in Tonaghgorm, near Belleek. Over 30 shots were fired into the vehicle. The IRA said the intended target was a close family friend who was a British soldier and subsequently announced that it had disbanded the unit which had carried out the attack. There is also speculation that this unit had been responsible for the Enniskillen bombing.
19 March 1988: Corporals killings
Corporals killings
The corporals killings was the killing of corporals David Robert Howes and Derek Tony Wood, two British Army soldiers of the Royal Corps of Signals killed on 19 March 1988 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The non-uniformed soldiers were killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army , after they...

: During the funeral of IRA volunteer Caoimhin MacBradaigh, killed in the cemetery attack by Michael Stone, a car approached the funeral procession at high speed. The car was surrounded by mourners, and two men later identified as corporals in the British Army were overpowered, dragged from the car, stripped and searched, taken to waste ground and shot and stabbed to death by the IRA.
21 March 1988: An RUC officer was killed in an IRA gun attack on a vehicle checkpoint in the Creggan area of Derry. He was shot in the head after an IRA unit fired two bursts of gunfire from a nearby building which they had taken over sometime earlier. A nearby civilian was hit in the leg by a stray bullet.
6 April 1988: A UDR soldier was killed when he detonated a booby trap bomb which had been attached to his car by an IRA active service unit in Fermanagh.
7 April 1988: A British soldier and an RUC officer were injured during a large IRA operation in Clogher, County Tyrone. IRA units took control of the town before launching simultaneous assaults on the RUC and UDR barracks. A UDR Major was shot and injured as was an RUC officer.
18 April 1988: A civilian who worked as a laborer for the British army was injured when he triggered a booby trap bomb which had been attached to his car by an IRA unit in Ballyronan, East Tyrone.
18 April 1988: Two British soldiers were injured when an IRA unit detonated a 5 lb (2.3 kg) mine by remote control as a patrol passed in Dungannon.
26 April 1988: Two British soldiers were killed in separate IRA attacks. One UDR soldier was killed in a gun attack near Moortown in County Tyrone. He was shot at close range by IRA volunteers using assault rifles. After he fell to the ground they fired more shots into him. Another British soldier was killed and two injured when the IRA detonated a remote control bomb in Carrickmore. The British patrol had passed a small shop in the village when the bomb exploded. It is believed the IRA switched a gas cylinder which always sat outside the shop for one packed with40 lb (18.1 kg) explosives
1 May 1988: Three British soldiers, all members of the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

, were killed and four others were wounded when the IRA launched separate attacks in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. In the first attack an IRA unit opened fire on a car carrying British soldiers near Roermond, killing one and injuring three. In the second attack, two British soldiers were killed when they triggered a booby trap bomb attached to their car in Nieuw-Bergen.
6 May 1988: IRA volunteer Hugh Hehir was killed by the Garda Special Branch following a bank raid in County Clare.
11 May 1988: Craigavon RUC barracks came under grenade and gun assault from the IRA shortly after 9:20am. The base was damaged but there were no injuries.
13 May 1988: Two British soldiers were badly wounded when the IRA detonated an anti-personnel mine as their patrol passed on North Howard Street, Belfast.
16 May 1988: A UDR soldier was badly injured when a booby trap bomb concealed in a creamery can exploded at Bantry, near Dungannon.
19 May 1988: Seven RUC officers were injured in an IRA bomb attack during the Balmoral Show in Belfast.
12 May 1988: A British soldier, of the Royal Pioneer Corps dog unit, and his dog were killed when they triggered an IRA anti-personnel device on the Castleblaney Road. The IRA had partly hidden a massive landmine at the side of the road so that it would be discovered by the British Army. When the bomb disposal team arrived they defused the device and a follow-up search was carried out. The IRA had placed a pressure plate bomb nearby and it exploded when the soldier stepped on it during the follow-up operation.
24 May 1988: An IRA unit fired four mortars at Cookstown British army base. Three of the mortars landed inside the base but only one exploded.
15 June 1988: A UVF member, Robert Seymour, he was shot dead by the IRA in an alley behind his shop on the Woodstock Road in Belfast.
15 June 1988: Six off-duty British soldiers were killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb attached to their unmarked military van in Market Square, Lisburn
Lisburn
DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...

. The bomb was made in such a way so as to ensure it exploded only upwards, causing maximum damage to the van, but avoiding spraying surrounding vehicles with shrapnel.
22 June 1988: A British soldier was wounded in an IRA gun and bomb attack in the Westrock area of Belfast.
23 June 1988: A British Army Lynx
Westland Lynx
The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to the development of both battlefield and naval variants...

helicopter was brought down by the IRA near Upper Cashel Lough Upper in south County Armagh. The aircraft was engaged by two DShK
DShK
The DShK 1938 is a Soviet heavy machine gun firing the 12.7x108mm cartridge. The weapon was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armour-plate shield...

s machine guns, three M60s and rifles from Aughanduff mountain.
4 July 1988: The IRA attacked North Queen Street RUC Station in Belfast but withdrew after being engaged by a heavily armed SAS detachment which had been lying in wait with at least one heavy machine gun. The SAS shot dead a passing taxi driver.
7 July 1988: Two civilians were killed in an IRA bomb attack at the Falls Baths in West Belfast. The IRA released a statement saying that the operation had gone "tragically wrong". The IRA said the bomb was intended for a British foot patrol but had been triggered accidentally. In the follow-up operation a British Army bomb disposal officer was killed when he stepped on a pressure-plate bomb left nearby.
7 July 1988: IRA volunteer Seamus Woods (23) was killed when an improvised mortar detonated accidentally during an attack on Pomeroy RUC station.
13 July 1988: Nine British soldiers were injured when the IRA detonated two bombs at a British military barracks in Duisburg
Duisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...

, Germany.
23 July 1988: Three civilians were killed by an IRA landmine on the main Belfast to Dublin road near Newry. The bomb was intended for High Court Judge Eoin Higgins, who was returning from Dublin Airport. The civilian vehicle was a similar model and had also been returning from Dublin Airport. Along the route it was driving behind an unmarked Garda car. The IRA believed this was a Garda escort and, judging by the car model and the route taken, it was assumed to the Higgins's car.
25 July 1988: IRA volunteer Brandan Davison (33) was gunned down while unarmed by UVF members wearing RUC uniforms in the Markets area of Belfast.
29 July: A British soldier was killed when an IRA landmine exploded as a British foot patrol passed in Cullyhanna. Two RUC officers and two soldiers were also injured.
1 August 1988: One soldier, Lance Corporal Michael Robbins, was killed and a further 9 were injured by a timer device. The attack was the first Provisional IRA bomb on the UK mainland in four years. The target was the British Army base at the Inglis Barracks in Mill Hill
Mill Hill
Mill Hill is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a suburb situated 9 miles north west of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until it was absorbed by London...

, North London. The two storey building containing the single men's quarters was completely destroyed.
2 August 1988: An RUC detective was killed in an IRA under-car booby-trap bomb attack in Sloan Street, Belfast.
2 August 1988: A UDR soldier was shot dead in the carpark of a shopping centre in West Belfast by a two man IRA unit. The gun used in the killing had been stolen from one of the corporals killed on 19 March.
2 August 1988: Six part-time soldiers of the UDR were injured when their vehicle was struck by an IRA explosive device outside Dungannon, county Tyrone.
3 August 1988: A UDR soldier was killed when he was on his way to work by an IRA unit which had taken over a house in Cookstown, County Tyrone.
4 August 1988: Two contractors who worked for the RUC were killed when the IRA ambushed their van as it left Belleek barracks. The van was hit by over 100 high velocity bullets. Both men were also members of the Orange Order.
8 August 1988: A British soldier died three weeks after being shot by an IRA sniper at New Barnsley base in west Belfast.
12 August 1988: A British Army Sergeant-Major was shot dead by the IRA in Ostend
Ostend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....

, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

.
20 August 1988: Ballygawley bus bombing
Ballygawley bus bombing
The Ballygawley bus bombing was an attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on a bus carrying British Army soldiers in Northern Ireland...

: Eight British soldiers were killed and 28 wounded in a landmine attack on their bus, which was travelling between Omagh
Omagh
Omagh is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. The town, which is the largest in the county, had a population of 19,910 at the 2001 Census. Omagh also contains the headquarters of Omagh District Council and...

and Ballygawley. The bomb contained 200 pounds of plastic explosive.
22 August 1988: A British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

officer was killed in an IRA bomb attack in Belfast.
26 August 1988: Three RUC officers were injured in an IRA bomb attack and a hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

was also destroyed in an explosion.
27 August 1988: The IRA carried out over 200 separate gun and bomb attacks across Northern Ireland, within a 24 hour period, in a demonstration of the IRA's military capacity. It was timed to coincide with the extradition hearing of IRA volunteer Robert Russell.
30 August 1988: 3 IRA volunteers, Brian Mullin (26) and brothers Gerard (29) and Martin Harte (23), were killed in an SAS ambush near Drumnakilly
Drumnakilly
Drumnakilly is a small village and townland between Carrickmore and Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 114 people. It lies within the Omagh District Council area.- References :*...

, County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...

, as they attempted to kill an off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...

.
9 September 1988: An Ulster Clubs
Ulster Clubs
The Ulster Clubs was the name given to a network of unionist organisations founded in Northern Ireland in November 1985. Emerging from an earlier group based in Portadown the Ulster Clubs briefly mobilised wide support across Northern Ireland and sought to co-ordinate opposition to the development...

member was shot dead by the IRA in the Finaghy area of Belfast.
12 September 1988: The house of Sir Kenneth Bloomfield
Kenneth Bloomfield
Sir Kenneth Percy Bloomfield is a former head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service who was later a member of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains and for a time Northern Ireland Victims Commissioner...

, the top civilian servant in Northern Ireland, located at Helen's Bay
Helen's Bay
Helen's Bay is a village on the northern coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballygrot , between Holywood, Crawfordsburn and Bangor. It is served by a railway station and had a population of 1,362 in the 2001 Census...

, County Down, was heavily damaged by two bombs planted by the IRA. Bloomfield, his wife and children had to be treated for shock.
25 September 1988: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA at Loughgall, County Armagh. The IRA unit fired 47 shots in the attack and the soldier was hit a number of times in the lower body. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
4 October 1988: A Prison Officer was killed when his car was blown up by an IRA bomb in the Bloomfield area of Belfast.
7 October 1988: A British soldier was wounded in an IRA booby-trap bomb attack in Belfast.
11 October 1988: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA on the Lisburn Road in Belfast. He was looking after his brother's ice cream shop when two men entered and shot him a number of times at close range with .357 Magnums.
17 October 1988: A contractor to the British Army was killed in an IRA bomb attack in the Dundonald area of Belfast. The IRA also claimed he was linked to the UVF.
26 October 1988: An RUC officer was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Kinawley, County Fermanagh.
26 October 1988: A civilian was killed by a booby-trap bomb attached to his car at his workplace (a postal sorting office) on Tomb Street, Belfast. The IRA claimed responsibility and said it believed he was a member of the UDR.
21 November 1988: An RUC officer was killed in an IRA attack on a security barrier in Castlederg, County Tyrone.
13 December 1988: A contractor to the British Army was shot dead by the IRA in Portadwon.
16 December 1988: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Downpatrick, County Down.

1989

4 January 1989: Two RUC officers were injured in an IRA booby-trap bomb attack in the New Barnsley area of Belfast.
15 January 1989: An former RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA while parked outside his girlfriends house in Ballintra
Ballintra
Ballintra is a village in the parish of Drumholm in South Donegal, Ireland just off the N15 between Donegal town and Ballyshannon. The village is geographically situated in a limestone area and this natural resource is quarried locally for the building and civil engineering industries.Ballintra...

, County Donegal. Two IRA volunteers fired into the car through the front windscreen, shooting him 23 times. Shortly after the killing the IRA announced that it had stood down one of its units which operated along the Fermanagh-Donegal border.
28 January 1989: An RUC officer was killed when an IRA unit launched a drogue-bomb at a stationary patrol vehicle in Sion Mills
Sion Mills
Sion Mills is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland on the River Mourne. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 2,050 people. It lies within the Strabane District Council area...

, Tyrone. The device was thrown from the roof of a nearby building as the car stopped on a routine inquiry. A second officer was badly injured in the attack.
31 January 1989: A British soldier was killed when an IRA unit detonated a remote control bomb which was hidden in a drainpipe as a British Army foot-patrol passed in the Falls area of Belfast.
6 February 1989: IRA volunteer James Joseph Connolly (20) was killed when a bomb he was planting under an RUC officers car exploded accidentally.
20 February 1989: The IRA bombed a British Army barracks at Ternhill
Ternhill
Ternhill is a village in Shropshire, England, notable for its Royal Air Force training base which was the site of a bombing by the Provisional IRA on 20th of February 1989 in which one person was injured...

in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, England. One person was injured.
22 February 1989: A British soldier was shot dead when a military bus came under gun attack from an IRA unit in the Waterside area of Derry. Lance Corporal Norman Duncan, aged 27, was shot by an IRA Unit as he drove from Ebrington Barracks in Derry to the nearby Ebrington Primary School to collect the children of British soldiers in a school bus. As the bus stopped at a junction a man jumped out of a nearby car, walked over to the bus and fired 15 shots at the driver, hitting him six times in the head and abdomen.
26 February 1989: A man was shot in the head by the IRA in an alley in the Lenadoon area of Belfast. The man was an estate agent and was accused of being an informer for providing the IRA with safehouses which were bugged by the security forces.
27 February 1989: An former RUC officer was killed in an IRA booby trap bomb attack at his home in east Belfast. The IRA also accused the man of being involved with loyalist paramilitaries. The RUC denied this.
7 March 1989: The IRA carried out a machine gun attack on a building in Coagh, which they claimed was used by loyalists to plan attacks. Three civilians were killed. The IRA claimed that one of the people killed, Leslie Dallas, was a UVF member but that the other two men had been "caught up in the confusion". The security forces and the UVF denied Dallas was a UVF member.
8 March 1989: Two British soldiers were killed and six other badly wounded when their vehicle struck a massive IRA landmine on the Buncrana Road in Derry. The second vehicle in the patrol was completely destroyed.
14 March 1989: An off duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA while at his workplace in Dungannon, County Tyrone.
16 March 1989: A senior UVF member was shot dead by the IRA while at his home in the Skegoneill area of Belfast. An IRA unit entered his home and shot him 15 times at close range.
20 March 1989: Two high ranking RUC officers, Superintendent Bob Buchanan and Chief Superintendent Harry Breen, were ambushed and killed
1989 Jonesborough Ambush
The Jonesborough ambush took place on 20 March 1989 near the Irish border outside the village of Jonesborough, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Two senior Royal Ulster Constabulary officers, Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan, were shot dead in an ambush by the...

by the IRA near the Irish border outside Jonesborough, County Armagh. They were shot dead by a six man unit using four rifles. There were at least 25 strikemarks on their unmarked car.
4 April 1989: IRA volunteer Gerard Casey (29) was shot dead by the UDA/UFF as he slept beside his wife in their Rasharkin
Rasharkin
Rasharkin , is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is south of Ballymoney, near Dunloy and Kilrea. It had a population of 864 people in the 2001 Census, after 30 years of gradual decline from a peak of 1,000 in 1971.-History:...

home. It is alleged by the IRA and Father Raymond Murray that there was collusion between security forces and loyalists in his death.
12 April 1989: A civilian was killed when the IRA detonated a car-bomb at Warrenpoint RUC barracks. The IRA said one of its members had accidentally triggered a microswitch device which caused the bomb to explode early. The bomb was meant to go off an hour later after a smokebomb had detonated first to clear the area.
21 April 1989: The IRA shot dead a civilian in his taxi on the Crumlin Road in Belfast. The IRA originally claimed he was a loyalist paramilitary however it has since emerged that the attack was planned by Sandy Lynch, a British Agent who had penetrated the IRA. He had tipped off the security forces of the attack and an SAS team where lying in wait for the IRA unit. The IRA escaped because they killed the man further up the road than expected. Lynch was later kidnapped by the IRA and was being interrogated in a house in Belfast when he was rescued by the RUC. One of those arrested in the operation was Danny Morrisson.
24 April 1989: A 400 lb (181.4 kg) IRA van-bomb failed to explode in the Turf Lodge area of Belfast. Despite a warning from the IRA that there was a primed and unexploded bomb on a main road the RUC refused to close the street and only responded to the incident 13 hours later.
4 May 1989: A Prison Officer was killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb attached to his car in Loughgall, County Armagh. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
4 May 1989: A British soldier was killed in an IRA landmine attack on a British army foot patrol just outside Crossmaglen, County Armagh. Three other soldiers were wounded. Seamus Mallon
Seamus Mallon
Seamus Frederick Mallon born 17 August 1936, in Markethill, County Armagh, is an Irish politician and former Deputy Leader of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party in Northern Ireland...

MP criticised both the IRA and the British Army for "turning south Armagh into one huge warzone".
10 May 1989: A British soldier was badly injured losing both his legs and his right eye when the IRA carried out a remote-controlled bomb attack on his patrol on the Falls Road in Belfast.
13 May 1989: The IRA launched a mortar attack on 13 May 1989 against a British Army observation post in Glassdrumman, South Armagh. The attack involved the first use of the Mark-12 mortar.
19 June 1989: A bomb exploded at a British Army base in Osnabrück
Osnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Nobody was injured, but the explosion caused damage estimated at £75,000.
27 June 1989: An RUC officer was killed in an IRA booby trap bomb attack in Strabane
Strabane
Strabane , historically spelt Straban,is a town in west County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It contains the headquarters of Strabane District Council....

,Tyrone.
1 July 1989: An off-duty RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Garvagh, County Londonderry. Two IRA men shot at him as he sat in his parents house.
2 July 1989: A British soldier was killed in an IRA booby trap bomb attack outside his home in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

, Germany. He was killed when an IRA bomb exploded as he opened the door of his Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

car.
3 July 1989: A triple IRA bomb attack at Belfast Harbour Airpot damaged two aircraft and a control tower.
7 July 1989: A number of RUC officers were injured in an IRA landmine attack in Red Arch Bay, County Antrim. One officer died of his wounds 18 days later.
15 July 1989: The IRA bombed the Headquarters of a British phone company in Belfast. The IRA telephoned in a 20 minute warning to a local radio station. There were no civilian casualties.
18 July 1989: The IRA kidnapped and killed a civilian near Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...

. They claimed he was an informer who had aided the RUC in their arrest of Raymond McCreesh
Raymond McCreesh
Raymond Peter "Ray" McCreesh was an Irish republican hunger striker and a volunteer in the South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Background:...

. They also said he regularly met his RUC handler in the Downshire Arms Hotel in Banbridge.
12 August 1989: An IRA bomb wrecked a bar in Derry, just hours before the annual Apprentice Boys parade
Apprentice Boys of Derry
The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership of over 80,000, founded in 1814. They are based in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland. However, there are Clubs and branches across Ireland, Great Britain and further afield...

.
7 September 1989: A civilian was shot dead on the grounds of Unna-Messen British Army base in West Germany. She had been driving a car with a British registration and was the wife of a British soldier. The IRA admitted it carried out the killing saying it mistook the person for a soldier. It did not apologise and warned civilians to "keep well clear of military personnel."
16 September 1989: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper during an attack on Coalisland British Army Base, Tyrone. The soldier was fixing a radio mast on the roof when an IRA volunteer fired up to 30 shots at him. His body dangled from a safety line until he was eventually cut down.
22 September 1989: Eleven British Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

were killed and 22 other soldiers injured when the IRA bombed their barracks
1989 Deal barracks bombing
The Deal barracks bombing was an attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on a Royal Marines barracks in Deal, England. It took place at 8:27 am on 22 September 1989, when the IRA exploded a time bomb at the Royal Marines School of Music building...

in Deal
Deal, Kent
Deal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...

, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, England.
4 October 1989: A civilian was shot dead by the IRA on Cavehill Road in Belfast. The Sunday Tribune reported that he had been killed by mistake, and that a loyalist paramilitary was the intended target. The IRA's Belfast Brigade issued an apology and confirmed it had been a case of mistaken identity.
8 October 1989: An RUC officer was killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb attached to his car outside his home on Dalboyne Gardens, Lisburn. The officer was a Superintendent and the sub-divisional commander for Newcastle, County Down.
9 October 1989: A British soldier (who was also a member of Ulster Resistance
Ulster Resistance
Ulster Resistance was a paramilitary movement established by unionists in Northern Ireland on 10 November 1986 in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement.-Origins:The group was launched at a three thousand-strong invitation-only meeting at the Ulster Hall...

) was shot dead by the IRA in Kilrea, County Londonderry. He was shot a number of times in the head as he waited for collection by his employer.
18 October 1989: A member of Ulster Resistance
Ulster Resistance
Ulster Resistance was a paramilitary movement established by unionists in Northern Ireland on 10 November 1986 in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement.-Origins:The group was launched at a three thousand-strong invitation-only meeting at the Ulster Hall...

was shot dead by the IRA at his home near Lurgan
Lurgan
Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...

, County Down. Three IRA volunteers entered his shop, which sold loyalist regalia, and shot him a number of times at close range.
20 October 1989: An RUC officer was shot dead during an IRA ambush of an RUC armoured patrol near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh. Another soldier was badly wounded having been shot multiple times. The IRA unit pulled out in front of the RUC vehicle in a lorry and opened fire with a DShK
DShK
The DShK 1938 is a Soviet heavy machine gun firing the 12.7x108mm cartridge. The weapon was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armour-plate shield...

heavy machine gun. The car was hit 66 times. The killed officer was also a member of the Orange Order.
26 October 1989: A British soldier and his baby daughter were killed by the IRA in a gun attack in Wildenrath
Wildenrath
Wildenrath is a township within the municipality of Wegberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town is situated on the Bundesstraße 221 between Wassenberg and Arsbeck on the edge of the Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park and close to the border with the Netherlands.For 40 years, the town was the...

, West Germany. The IRA said in a statement that it "profoundly regretted" the death of the child and that its volunteers had no way of knowing of her presence in the car.
26 October 1989: An IRA unit launched a multiple mortar attack on a military base at Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
17 November 1989: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA outside Drumad British Army base, Armagh town. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
18 November 1989: Three British soldiers were killed after entering a derelict cottage which had been booby-trapped by the IRA in County Down. The bomb contained almost 400 kg of explosive. A fourth soldier was badly wounded.
18 November 1989: Two British soldiers were wounded when an IRA carbomb exploded at an Army barracks in Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...

, England.
13 December 1989: Two British soldiers were killed and one wounded during the Attack on Derryard checkpoint
Attack on Derryard checkpoint
The attack on Derryard checkpoint was a raid carried out on 13 December 1989 by a Provisional Irish Republican Army unit against a British Army permanent vehicle checkpoint manned by soldiers of the King's Own Scottish Borderers . It occurred near the Northern Ireland–Republic of Ireland border at...

, near Rosslea
Rosslea
Rosslea or Roslea is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, near the border with County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. It stands on the River Finn and is beset by small natural lakes. Roslea Forest is nearby...

, County Fermanagh. The attack was the only recorded use of a military flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...

by the IRA.
18 December 1989: The IRA planted a 270 kg car bomb in Rathfriland
Rathfriland
Rathfriland is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a hilltop Plantation of Ulster settlement between the Mourne Mountains, Slieve Croob and Banbridge. It had a population of 2,079 people in the 2001 Census.-History:...

, County Down, outside the homes of members of the British security services. The device only partially exploded causing moderate damage.
22 December 1989: Two IRA members were arrested while transporting explosives in Newgale, England.