1971 in Northern Ireland
Events during the year 1971 in Northern Ireland.
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Incumbents
- Governor - The Lord Grey of Naunton
- Prime Minister - James Chichester-Clark (until 23 March), Brian Faulkner (from 23 March)
Events
- 6 February – Gunner Robert Curtis becomes the first British Army soldier to be killed in The Troubles.[1]
- 15 February – Decimal Day: The United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland both switch to decimal currency.
- 10 March – 1971 Scottish soldiers' killings: Three young off-duty Royal Highland Fusiliers are lured from a bar in Belfast and shot by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
- 20 March – Maj. James Chichester-Clark resigns as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. He is succeeded on 23 March by Brian Faulkner.
- 16 July – The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) announces that it is withdrawing from the Parliament of Northern Ireland.
- 9 August – Internment without trial is introduced in Northern Ireland.[1] In Operation Demetrius, over 300 republicans are 'lifted' in pre-dawn raids. Some loyalists are later arrested. Twenty people die in riots that follow.[2]
- 9–11 August – Ballymurphy massacre: Members of 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of the British Army kill 10 civilians in the Springfield Road area of west Belfast during Operation Demetrius; the victims are found by an inquest held in 2018–21 to be "entirely innocent".[3]
- 12 August – British troops begin clearing operations in Belfast following the worst rioting in years. Taoiseach Jack Lynch calls for an end to the Stormont administration.
- 27 September – Prime ministers Edward Heath, Jack Lynch and Brian Faulkner meet at Chequers to discuss the Northern Ireland situation.
- 30 October – The Democratic Unionist Party is founded by the Rev. Ian Paisley.
- 19 November – Taoiseach Jack Lynch has talks with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harold Wilson in Dublin.
- 4 December – The McGurk's Bar bombing, carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force in Belfast, kills fifteen people, the highest death toll from a single incident in the city during The Troubles.
Arts and literature
- 5 March – Ulster Hall, Belfast, becomes the first place in which Led Zeppelin play their iconic song "Stairway to Heaven".
- Paul Muldoon publishes his first poetry collection Knowing My Place.
- Frank Ormsby publishes his first poetry collection Ripe for Company.
- Blackstaff Press established in Belfast.
Sport
Births
- 31 January – Patrick Kielty, comedian and television presenter.
- 1 February – Alan Fettis, footballer.
- 5 June – Susan Lynch, actress.
- 25 June – Neil Lennon, footballer.
- 13 July – Eamonn Magee, boxer.
- 2 August
- Michael Hughes, footballer.
- Anthony Tohill, Gaelic footballer.
- 10 September – David Humphreys, Ireland international rugby union footballer.
- 12 December – Naomi Long, née Johnston, Alliance Party leader and MLA.
- Full date unknown – Darran Lindsay, motorcycle road racer (killed in practice 2006).
Deaths
- 24 January – St. John Greer Ervine, dramatist and author (born 1883).
- 15 May – Billy Reid, volunteer in Provisional Irish Republican Army, killed in gunfight with British Army (born 1939).
- 14 June – Gerard Dillon, artist (born 1916).
- 27 July – Charlie Tully, footballer (born 1924).
See also
References
- Edwards, Aaron (2011). The Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Banner 1969–2007. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-525-0.
- "1971: NI activates internment law". BBC News. 1971-08-09. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
- "Ballymurphy inquest: 10 innocent people killed without justification, coroner finds". news.sky.com. Sky News. 2021-05-11. Retrieved 2021-05-11. The exact source of the bullet that killed one man could not be traced. There is an 11th death by heart attack.
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