JUNE, 2000

THURS. JUNE 1, 2000: A small high explosive bomb detonated on Hammersmith Bridge in London. No one was injured but structural damage was caused to the bridge.

SAT. JUNE 3, 2000: The RUC went to the doors of three nationalist men from Lurgan in North Armagh and told them that threats had been phoned in by the loyalist death squad the Red Hand Defenders to the Samaritans. The caller used a recognised codeword.

SUN. JUNE 4, 2000: A young nationalist man was walking along Blacks Road in the loyalist enclave of Suffolk towards the Stewartstown Road when he was attacked by two groups of about 20 men in all.

He was called a "Fenian bastard" and struck across the right side of his face. His assailant repeatedly hit him about the head and he fell to the ground where he was kicked in the ribs.

MON. JUNE 5, 2000: The Stormont Assembly resumed following the Provisionals' commitment to put their arsenal "beyond use".

A Lurgan man who had been threatened by the Red Hand Defenders on June 3 was driving past a parked RUC vehicle when one of three RUC men standing at the side of the vehicle formed his hands into the shape of a gun and made a shooting gesture. When the man approached the RUC man and asked him about his gesture, the RUC men got in the car and drove off.

TUES. JUNE 6, 2000: A bus containing GAA supporters travelling home from the Tyrone/Armagh championship was attacked in a planned ambush by loyalists in Portadown, Co Armagh who dragged a pallet across the road at Northway forcing vehicles travelling back to Lurgan to slow down. In one of several incidents, a bus driver was injured when a brick was hurled at him, smashing one of the vehicle's windows. A number of passengers were showered with glass during the attack.

In another incident, two cars travelling along the same route and carrying four women and six children were stoned.

One woman from Lurgan said her sister's car was attacked and the windscreen smashed.

WED. JUNE 7, 2000: An arson attack took place on a Catholic church on Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Co Armagh. Around midday someone entered St John's Church on Garvaghy Road and set fire to the church's board-display, destroying it and cracking six windows. The interior-porch was also damaged, mainly due to scorching and smoke.

The Belfast coroner John Leckey announced that there would not be an inquest into the killing of Portadown man Robert Hamill who died after being seriously beaten by a loyalist mob within yards of an RUC Land Rover. The coroner said the reason there would be no inquest was because "witnesses' lives would be in danger".

Nationalists and human rights groups from around the world had called for an independent inquiry into the death of Hamill on April 27, 1997.

Four buses with southern Irish registrations containing international visitors touring the north of Ireland were targeted in a sectarian attack when their vehicles were destroyed by fire in the early hours.

The back-packing tourists were evacuated from their hostel when three minibuses and a car parked outside were set alight. The tourists from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States were staying overnight at the Linen House Hostel in Kent Street, close to the loyalist Shankill Road. Around 150 guests were evacuated to the nearby Catholic parochial hall where they stayed for 30 minutes while the blaze was brought under control.

THURS. JUNE 8, 2000: Martin McGuinness, British Minister for Education in the Stormont Executive, stated that he was moving his office from a predominantly loyalist area in Rathgael, Bangor, Co Down to Stormont.

Anne Marie Cowen (47) and her daughter Marie (20) narrowly escaped injury when their home at Sherbey Drive in Annalong, Newcastle, Co Down was attacked by loyalists. A pipe bomb exploded at the rear of the house and blew the back door off the house and caused extensive damage to the kitchen, shattering the window.

SUN. JUNE 11, 2000: A large crowd from all over Ireland, as well as from England and the USA, attended the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown, Co Kildare. The oration was delivered by Cathleen Knowles McGuirk, Vice-President, Republican Sinn Féin.

MON. JUNE 12, 2000: St Mary's Catholic Church at Chapel Road, Cushendall, Co Antrim was badly damaged in a loyalist arson attack.

TUES. JUNE 13, 2000: A United States jury found three men -- Conor Claxton (27), Belfast, Martin Mullan (30), Dunloy, Co Antrim and Anthony Smyth (43), Belfast -- guilty of buying and smuggling weapons for use by the Povisionals. However, the court sitting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, cleared them on more serious charges of conspiracy to aid terrorists and to commit murder. Police intercepted 23 packages containing 122 guns and other weapons allegedly posted by the group who said they were for the Provisional's military wing.

Charles Windsor, the heir to the British throne, arrived in the occupied Six Counties .

THURS. JUNE 15, 2000: A fire broke out in St Joseph's Primary School in Ballymena, Co Antrim. A short time later, another fire was discovered at St Mary's School also in Ballymena. Scorch, smoke and water damage were reported in one classroom in each of the schools.

FRI. JUNE 16, 2000: Nationalist workers employed by Dennys food processing plant in Portadown downed tools when placards carrying sectarian slogans were erected adjacent to the main factory entrance. The placards which carried offensive slogans referring to the murder of Catholic man, Robert Hamill, as well as other slogans such as "Para-Shoot to Kill" were later removed. Denny's factory is located between the loyalist Edgarstown estate and the nationalist Obins Street area, and is only 100 yards away from the family home of Robert Hamill. The workers also demanded that the factory management permit vehicle access from the mainly nationalist Obins Street area. Over previous nights there were a number of incidents where loyalist gangs threw missiles at Catholics leaving the factory, and vehicles belonging to a Catholic-owned haulage firm which services the plant were also damaged. As a result of the stoppage, the management said that they would concede to the workers' demands.

SAT. JUNE 17, 2000: Three RUC members and a British soldier were injured when violence flared during an Orange Order parade in Lurgan, Co Armagh. Dozens of nationalists clashed with security forces who fired plastic bullets during the annual mini-Twelfth of July march through Lurgan's town centre. Hundreds of troops and police in riot gear had sealed off flashpoint areas but trouble broke out in the William Street area. The RUC said three policemen and one British soldier were injured in the affray and one man was arrested. They said around 25-30 petrol bombs were thrown at Crown Forces who fired three plastic bullets during the hour-long riot.

Shots were fired at three houses at Legahory Court in Craigavon, Co Armagh.

MON. JUNE 19, 2000: A partly-exploded device was found in a holdall near a wall about 800m from Hillsborough Castle, the residence of British direct-ruler, Peter Mandelson. It contained home-made explosives and a detonator.

TUES. JUNE 20, 2000: The largest loyalist death squad, the UFF, threatened to break its ceasefire and attack nationalists. The Ulster Freedom Fighters/Ulster Defence Association issued a statement saying it would carry out actions from midnight in defence of the "beleaguered Protestant community". The warning was delivered by hooded and armed UFF men at a secret location in the loyalist Shankill Road area of west Belfast. The statement issued by the second battalion of the west Belfast brigade said various interface areas had endured "a systematic or orchestrated campaign of intimidation from nationalists" since the ceasefires. However, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive confirmed that, while 21 Catholic families had complained of intimidation in the past month, there had been no case of complaint from the Protestant community.

Nationalist and loyalist crowds clashed in the Springfield Road area of West Belfast following the decision by the British Parades Commission to allow an Orange parade through the mainly nationalist area on Saturday and the UFF statement threatening Catholics. The incidents took place in the Lanark Way/Springfield Road area just hours after the loyalist UFF threatened to end its ceasefire.

WED. JUNE 21, 2000: A father and son were injured when an device exploded in a garden shed behind a house in Glenalina Crescent in the nationalist Ballymurphy area. The two men were treated at the Royal Victoria Hospital for injuries to the lower limbs, hand injuries and multiple puncture wounds.

The Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 was renewed by the 26-County administration.

FRI. JUNE 23, 2000: Republican Sinn Féin placed a picket on the Concert Hall in Dublin where a British army band gave a concert along with the Free State army's No 1 Band.

SAT. JUNE 24, 2000: Clashes between nationalist residents and the British army/RUC followed a Orange Order parade on the mainly nationalist Springfield Road in west Belfast. A large Crown Forces presence was in place to allow the march pass from Workman Avenue towards the Whiterock area. Provisional spokesperson Gerry Kelly was hit by an RUC baton as he and other members of the Provisionals tried to hold back the nationalist crowd as they protested when sectarian music was relayed by a public address system as the march passed down the Springfield Road. The Orange Order had been ordered by the Parades Commission not to allow bands to play during the disputed area of the march.

Hundreds of members of the Orange Order took part in a protest rally following a security alert in Portadown. Police delayed the start of the march for just a few minutes but the parade eventually passed off without incident.

MON. JUNE 26, 2000: It was reported that the Provisionals' military organisation had opened some of its dumps to international inspectors Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari, who then reported to the London and Dublin administrations that the weapons and explosives therein could not be used without their detection.

Two brothers -- John O'Brien (30) and James O'Brien (31), both of Glenalina Crescent -- were charged in connection with an explosion in a garden shed in Ballymurphy, Belfast on June 21 in which their father and brother were injured. They were charged at Belfast Crown Court with possessing three improvised grenades.

The Orange Order parade for July 2 on Garvaghy Road was banned by the British Parades Commission.

WED. JUNE 28, 2000: The Circus bar on the Antrim Road in Belfast was gutted in an arson attack by the British-backed loyalist death squad the UFF.

FRI. JUNE 30, 2000: A device exploded on the Newry railway line, damaging a section of the rail.
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