1975 in Northern Ireland

Incumbents

• Secretary of State - Merlyn Rees

Events

• 10 February – A Provisional IRA (PIRA) ceasefire begins; this ceasefire officially lasts until 23 January 1976.
• 20 February – A violent feud erupts between the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) and the Irish Republican Socialist Party and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).
• 1 May – Elections take place for the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention.
• 5 June – United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum takes place across the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland votes to remain in the European Communities with a slight majority.
• 17 July – The South Armagh Brigade of the PIRA killed four soldiers at Forkhill, County Armagh with a remote-controlled improvised explosive (Forkhill beer keg bombing).
• 31 July – Miami Showband killings: Three members of The Miami Showband, together with two paramilitaries, are killed in an Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) ambush in County Down as they return home to Dublin from playing at a dance in Banbridge.
• 13 August – Bayardo Bar Attack: The PIRA carried out a gun and bomb attack on the Bayardo Bar on the Shankill Road in Belfast, a bar frequented by UVF commanders. Four Protestant civilians and one UVF member were killed.
• 22 November – Drummuckavall ambush: The PIRA attacked a British Army observation post at Drummuckavall near Crossmaglen, County Armagh, killing three soldiers.
• 31 December – Central Bar bombing: The INLA carried out a bomb attack on a bar in Gilford, County Down, killing three protestant civilians.

Arts and literature

• 14 May – Patrick Galvin's We Do It For Love, a satire on The Troubles, opens at the Lyric Theatre.
• October – Stewart Parker's Spokesong opens at the Lyric (Belfast); his play I’m a Dreamer, Montreal is also written this year.
• The punk rock/new wave band which will become The Undertones is formed in Derry.
• William Peskett's poems The Nightowl's Dissection are published.

Sport

Football

• Irish League – Winners: Linfield

• Irish Cup – Winners: Coleraine 1 – 1, 0 – 0, 1 – 0 Linfield

• 16 August – Ballinamallard United F.C. established

Births

• 18 February – Keith Gillespie, international soccer player.
• 9 June – Brian Magee, boxer.
• 21 July – Cara Dillon, folk singer
• 24 July – Gordon Cooke, cricketer.
• 27 August – Kyle McCallan, cricketer.
• 4 September – Andrew Patterson, cricketer.
• 13 October – Oisín McConville, Armagh Gaelic footballer.
• 4 November – Warren Christie, actor.

Full date unknown

• Nick Laird, novelist and poet.

Deaths

• 23 February – Ernest Blythe, writer, journalist and theatre manager, member of 1st Dáil and Cabinet Minister (born 1889).
• 28 April – Billy McMillen, OIRA officer, killed in feud with the INLA (born 1927).
• 25 November – Moyna Macgill, stage and film actress, mother of Angela Lansbury (born 1895).

References

References

1. Lynn, Brendan. (9 March 2025). "Rees, Merlyn".
2. Melaugh, Martin. "A Chronology of the Conflict - 1975: The Irish Republican Army (IRA) Truce".
3. Melaugh, Martin. "A Chronology of the Conflict - 1975: 20 February 1975".
4. Melaugh, Martin. "A Chronology of the Conflict - 1975: Constitution Convention Election".
5. McKenna, Fionnuala. (9 March 2025). "Constitutional Convention Election (NI) - Thursday 1 May 1975".
6. Nelsson, Richard. (5 June 2015). "Archive: how the Guardian reported the 1975 EEC referendum". [[The Guardian]].
7. Moore, Cormac. (28 May 2025). "Cormac Moore: 50 years since the first Brexit vote and Ireland is still an afterthought". [[The Irish News]].
8. Melaugh, Martin. "A Chronology of the Conflict - 1975: 17 July 1975".
9. (22 April 2024). "Armagh: Man's convictions for murder of soldiers quashed". [[BBC News]].
10. (31 July 2015). "Miami Showband: Massacre devastated Northern Ireland live music scene". [[BBC News]].
11. (31 July 2025). "'Tough day' for survivors of Miami Showband massacre as commemoration events take place". [[RTÉ News]].
12. Melaugh, Martin. "A Chronology of the Conflict - 1975: 13 August 1975".
13. Lima, Linzi. (13 August 2025). "Commemoration marks 50th anniversary of Bayardo attack". [[BBC News]].
14. Melaugh, Martin. (9 March 2025). "A Chronology of the Conflict - 1975".
15. Flavin, Michael. (13 February 2025). "Leadership failings: the Irish republican socialist party, the Irish national liberation army and the Irish people’s liberation organisation, 1974–1992". [[Routledge]].
16. Sutton, Malcolm. "Sutton Index of Deaths - 31 December 1975".
17. "We Do It For Love". Irish Theatre Institute.
18. Maume, Patrick. (June 2017). "Dictionary of Irish Biography". [[Royal Irish Academy]].
19. Mullane, Dermot. (11 August 1975). "Troubles Satire". [[RTÉ News]].
20. Quinn, Andrew. (27 January 2013). "The Sunday Interview - Mickey Bradley from The Undertones". [[Derry Journal]].
21. "The nightowl's dissection / William Peskett".
22. "The nightowl's dissection :: William Peskett".
23. Abbink, Dinant. (2 February 2021). "Northern Ireland - Final League Tables 1890-1998".
24. (5 June 2025). "Ballinamallard begin celebrations for 50th-year re-formation". [[The Impartial Reporter]].
25. "Keith has always done his Best". [[BBC Sport]].
26. Wellings, Steve. (2012). "Irish Boxing Review".
27. "Celebrating 80 Years of Music". [[BBC NI]].
28. "Cara Dillon".
29. "Gordon Cooke".
30. "Kyle McCallan".
31. "Andrew Patterson".
32. "Free up some points with McConville". [[BBC Sport]].
33. (2 February 2023). ""We did a lot of soldiering together..." Oisin McConville and Tony McEntee on opposite sides as Wicklow host Sligo in National League". [[The Irish News]].
34. (4 January 2013). "Nick Laird: a life in writing". [[The Guardian]].
35. "Nick Laird". [[Queen's University Belfast]].
36. (17 February 2025). "Ernest Blythe, Ulster-Scots minister in post Civil War Dublin government was an Irish language enthusiast". [[News Letter]].
37. Sutton, Malcolm. "Sutton Index of Deaths - 1975".
38. Moore, Cormac. (29 April 2025). "Definite line on killing of Liam McMillen - On This Day in 1975". [[The Irish News]].
39. (26 November 1975). "Moyna M'Gill, 80 Actress, is Dead". [[The New York Times]].