The 1994 Shankill Road killings took place on 16 June 1994 when the
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...
(INLA) shot dead three
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaig ...
(UVF) members – high-ranking member of the UVF Belfast Brigade staff
Trevor King
James Trevor King, also known as "Kingso" (1 July 1953 – 9 July 1994), was a British Ulster loyalist and a senior member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). He was commander of the UVF's "B" Company, 1st Belfast Battalion, holding the rank o ...
and two other UVF members, Colin Craig and David Hamilton – on the
Shankill Road
The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill.
The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast a ...
in Belfast, close to the UVF headquarters. The following day, the UVF launched two retaliatory attacks. In the first, UVF members shot dead a Catholic civilian taxi driver in
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...
. In the second, they shot dead two Protestant civilians in
Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement in North Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course. It surrounds Carnmoney Hill, and was formed from the merging of severa ...
, who they believed were Catholics. The
Loughinisland massacre
The Loughinisland massacre O'Brien, Brendan. ''The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin''. Syracuse University Press, 1999. Page 314. took place on 18 June 1994 in the small village of Loughinisland, County Down, Northern Ireland. Members of the U ...
, two days later, is believed to have been a further retaliation.
Background
The UVF had been considering calling a ceasefire soon, which they believed would be from a position of strength.
The
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...
had been in decline since the late 1980s after the feud with
Irish People's Liberation Organization
The Irish People's Liberation Organisation was a small Irish socialist republican paramilitary organisation formed in 1986 by disaffected and expelled members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), whose factions coalesced in the aftermat ...
in which the loss of their best operators in Belfast 1987 had left them weak and largely inactive. But in 1992 the INLA had somewhat of a resurgence in its campaign. On 14 April 1992, a
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
(BA) recruiting sergeant Michael Newman (33) was shot dead by two INLA volunteers outside an army recruiting office in
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
. It was a significant incident as Newman was the first serving member of British Armed Forces to be killed by the INLA since 1984 when they shot dead UDR soldier Colin Houston. It was also significant in that this was the first person the INLA had killed in England since the
Airey Neave
Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, (;) (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979.
During World War II he was the first British prisoner-of-war
...
killing. Two months later, on 18 June 1992, they struck in England again with two firebombs in stores in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
causing £50,000 worth of damage. On 14 January 1993 an INLA hit team fired rifle shots through the window of the home of UVF leader
John "Bunter" Graham
John "Bunter" Graham (born c. 1945) is a long-standing prominent Ulster loyalist figure.
It is unknown when Graham joined the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) but he quickly rose high in its ranks as a member of the "Brigade Staff" (Belfast leadership ...
at Belfast, seriously injuring him. In June 1993 they killed retired RUC officer, John Patrick Murphy.
Shootings
![Trevor King mural](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Trevor_King_mural.JPG)
On 16 June 1994, high-ranking UVF Commander volunteer
Trevor King
James Trevor King, also known as "Kingso" (1 July 1953 – 9 July 1994), was a British Ulster loyalist and a senior member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). He was commander of the UVF's "B" Company, 1st Belfast Battalion, holding the rank o ...
was standing on the Shankill Road approximately from "The Eagle" ("The Eagle" was the UVF's Belfast GHQ) and he was talking to fellow UVF members, David Hamilton (43) and Colin Craig (31). A car drove past them and as it did so, INLA gunmen inside the vehicle opened fire on the three men. The car was later found burning close to Divis tower. David Lister and Hugh Jordan claimed that
Gino Gallagher
Gino Gallagher (c. 1963 – 30 January 1996) was an Irish republican who was Chief of Staff of the Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican so ...
, who was himself shot dead in 1996 during an internal dispute, was the main gunman in the attack. However,
Jack Holland and
Henry McDonald said that Gallagher was inside the car which was scouting the area for UVF members, and not one of the gunmen. Colin Craig was killed on the spot. King and David Hamilton lay in the street, seriously wounded as panic and chaos erupted on the Shankill in the wake of the shooting. Presbyterian minister, the Reverend Roy Magee was in "The Eagle" discussing an upcoming
Combined Loyalist Military Command
The Combined Loyalist Military Command is an umbrella body for loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee.
Bringing t ...
(CLMC) meeting and the possibility of a loyalist ceasefire with the UVF Brigade Staff when the attack took place. He and the others raced out of the building after hearing the gunfire. He later described the scene he came upon outside.
"With some others, I ran down to where the men were. One was already dead and the others were in a very, very bad physical state. The road was in pandemonium at that stage. You could see that the leadership of the UVF was quite naturally very, very broken and disturbed about the shooting of their colleague. He revor Kingwas a senior commander".
King was rushed to hospital where he was put on a life-support machine. The shooting had left him paralysed from the neck down. He died on 9 July with Reverend Magee at his bedside. According to Magee, King himself made the decision to turn off the machine.
The killings were a blow for the
Northern Ireland peace process
The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political developm ...
and a morale boost for the INLA. The attack was the INLA's deadliest since the
Droppin Well bombing
The Droppin Well bombing or Ballykelly bombing occurred on 6 December 1982, when the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) detonated a time bomb at a disco in Ballykelly, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The disco, known as the Droppin ...
in 1982 which killed seventeen people, 11 British soldiers and 6 civilians.
Aftermath
The following day, the UVF launched two 'retaliatory' attacks. In the first, UVF members shot dead a Catholic civilian taxi driver in
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...
. In the second, they shot dead two Protestant civilians in
Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement in North Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course. It surrounds Carnmoney Hill, and was formed from the merging of severa ...
, who they believed were Catholics. Two days after the killings the UVF decided to launch another revenge attack when they killed six Catholic civilians in a bar while they were watching the Ireland vs Italy
1994 World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the countr ...
game opener in what became known as
Loughinisland massacre
The Loughinisland massacre O'Brien, Brendan. ''The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin''. Syracuse University Press, 1999. Page 314. took place on 18 June 1994 in the small village of Loughinisland, County Down, Northern Ireland. Members of the U ...
. The tit-for-tat attacks continued on and off for the spring and summer of 1994 until the
Provisional IRA
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...
ceasefire of 31 August 1994 and the CLMC ceasefire in October. The attacks on the Shankill were the INLA's deadliest attack of the 1990s.
When interviewed for
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
for research on the conflict,
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is a minor 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. Linked to the Ulster Volunte ...
leader
David Ervine
David Ervine (21 July 1953 – 8 January 2007) was a Northern Irish Ulster Loyalist politician who served as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2002 to 2007, and was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belf ...
suggested the INLA might have been working in cahoots with the Provisional IRA in targeting prominent Loyalists, as the month after in July the Provisional IRA killed three leading UDA men.
See also
*
Timeline of Irish National Liberation Army actions
This is a timeline of actions by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group. Most of these actions took place as part of its 1975–1998 campaign during "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland. The IN ...
Sources
*Jack Holland, Henry McDonald, ''INLA – Deadly Divisions''
CAIN project
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shankill Road killings, 1994
1994 in Northern Ireland
The Troubles in Belfast
Conflicts in 1994
Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland
Irish National Liberation Army
Military actions and engagements during the Troubles (Northern Ireland)
June 1994 events in the United Kingdom
1994 crimes in the United Kingdom