| 1968:Civil rights demonstrations erupt into sectarian rioting. Loyalists
and IRA people prepare for violent campaigns. |
1969:British troops arrive in Ulster to quell the growing violence.
At first they are welcomed on the Catholic Falls Road. But disappointment follows soon. |
| 1971:The government introduces internment, i.e. detention
without trial, in an effort to contain the IRA, but IRA recruitment increases. |
1972:Bloody Sunday in January. Pratroopers open fire on a crowd
of civil rights demonstrators in Londonderry, killing 13 men. |
| 1976:Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan win the Nobel Peace Prize
for their Peace Peoplecampaign against paramilitary violence. |
1981:IRA prisoners in the H-block of the Maze prison go on hunger
strike, demanding status of political prisoners. Their leader Bobby Sands dies after 66 days. |
| 1984:The IRA attempts to murder the Conservative cabinet under
M. Thatcher with a bomb at the Grand Hotel, Brighton, during a Tory conference. Five people
are killed, 34 injured. |
1993:The IRA resumes attacks on the British mainland. A bomb at
Bishopsgate causes huge damage. |
| 1994:The IRA calls its first ceasefire. The loyalist UDA
(Ulster Defense Association) and the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) follow soon after. |
1996:The IRA ends its ceasefire with a massive bomb
explosion in the Docklands, killing two people and injuring 100. The ceasefire is restored, but
occasional shootings and kneecapping go on. April 1998: Good Friday Agreement. December 1999: home rule
for Northern Ireland established. |
