Nick Maxwell

1992 Albert Reynolds was elected leader of Fianna Fáil. 1922 At Clones railway station, Co. Monaghan, the IRA attacked a group of Ulster Special Constables travelling from Newtownards to Enniskillen. Four Specials and an IRA commander were shot dead. News of the incident sparked off fresh sectarian violence in Belfast, including the killing of six … Read more

1932 The Army Comrades Association (ACA), latterly the National Guard or Blueshirts, was formed by Commandant Edward Cronin as a benevolent society for ex-members of the Free State Army. 1923 Dr T.F. O’Higgins, father of Minister for Home Affairs Kevin O’Higgins, was shot dead by the anti-Treaty IRA at his home in Stradbally, Co. Laois. … Read more

1971 Five men working for the BBC were killed when an IRA bomb, intended for the security forces, exploded as they made their way in a Land Rover to inspect a transmitter on Brougher Mountain, Co. Tyrone. 1996 The IRA detonated a bomb in Canary Wharf, one of London’s two main financial districts, killing two, … Read more

1933 The eighth Dáil Éireann assembled: Eamon de Valera formed his second government, with a one-seat majority. 1929 James Connell, County Meath-born Fenian, Land Leaguer and writer of the British Labour Party anthem The Red Flag, died. 1926 The Plough and the Stars by Seán O’Casey opened in the Abbey Theatre. During the fourth performance … Read more

1992 The Maastricht Treaty, the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU), was signed by the then twelve member states of the European Communities. It was ratified by referendum in the Republic of Ireland in June by 69.1% to 30.9%. 1991 An IRA mortar bomb exploded in the garden of 10 Downing Street as Prime … Read more