Review of 1997
2 February: In the biggest ever march in Derry an estimated
50,000 people take to the streets to commemorate the 25th
anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
12 February: The IRA kills a British soldier, Stephen Restorick,
in a single shot sniper attack in South Armagh.
13 February: Amnesty International issues an Urgent Action appeal
for the case of Roisin McAliskey.
3 March: Loyalists plant a bomb outside Monaghan's Sinn Féin
offices.
14 March: A loyalist death squad enters the home of a Belfast man
John Slane and shoot him dead in front of his son.
23 March: A daring escape by republican prisoners in Long Kesh
are scuppered following the discovery of a 40 foot tunnel.
18 April: The IRA brings large tracts of England to a standstill
with a series of bomb scares affecting road, rail and air
facilities.
27 April: Portadown Catholic Robert Hamill is beaten by a
loyalist gang as RUC look on. He dies twelve days later from his
injuries.
2 May: The electoral landscape of the Six Counties is transformed
as Sinn Féin takes two Westminster seats, Gerry Adams winning
West Belfast and Martin McGuinness Mid-Ulster.
12 May: Bellaghy GAA member, Sean Brown, is murdered by loyalist
gunmen.
18 May: Catholic William Harbinson is beaten to death by
loyalists.
7 June: Sinn Féin takes a seat in Leinster House as Caoimhghín O
Caolain tops the poll in Cavan/Monaghan.
11 June: Former republican prisoner Patrick Kelly dies weeks
after his release. His condition had deteriorated severely while
being held in an English prison due to lack of medical help.
16 June: The IRA kill two members of an RUC patrol in Lurgan.
6 July: Nationalists on Portadown's Garvaghy Road are beaten off
their street by the RUC to facilitate a pre-Twelfth Orange
Parade. Rioting erupts throughout the Six Counties lasting a for
a full week in places.
9 July: Loyalist Brian Morton killed as a bomb he was preparing
explodes prematurely.
15 July: Loyalists kill Catholic teenager Bernadette Martin as
she lies asleep in a friend's house in the County Antrim village
of Aghalee.
21 July: The IRA calls a new ceasefire. Putting the blame for the
conflict at the British government's door., in a statement it
expresses its commitment to enhance the search for a democratic
peace settlement.
27 July: The body of a Castlewellan teenager is discovered. James
Morgan had been kidnapped by loyalists and subjected to one of
the most brutal deaths of the past 30 years.
7 August: Nationalists in Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh,
attacked by the RUC before a Black Preceptory march.
8 August: Saoirse relaunched with Martin Meehan as Chairperson.
15 August: Irish language signs at Queens University are removed
by the Students Union causing uproar among Gaeilgeoirí and
nationalists.
25 August: The report of the McCracken Tribunal is
published.indicting a number of politicians - including Charles
Haughey
29 August: Direct ruler Mo Mowlam formally invites Sinn Féin to
peace talks at Stormont.
17 September: The parties in the Stormont peace talks agree to
negotiate on the substantive issues.
3 October: Lurgan man Colin Duffy is released after three months
in prison when RUC charges against him prove groundless.
1 November: Mary McAleese wins the presidental election.
13 November: Gerry Kelly pours cold water on reports that Sinn
Féin has split.
11 December: A SF delegation led by Gerry Adams meets Tony Blair
in Downing Street
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