Principal Events
| 1969 | |
| July | Civil rights march in Londonderry broken up by 'B Specials' |
| August | First British troops sent to Northern Ireland |
| 1970 | |
| June | Army imposes 24-hour curfew on Falls Road area, Belfast, conducts house-to-house search for terrorists;5 people killed. |
| 1971 | |
| 9 August | Internment without trial introduced |
| 4 December | Protestant terrorists kill 15 Catholics with a bomb in a Londonderry bar |
| 1972 | |
| 30 January | British paratroopers kill 13 Catholic demonstrators in Londonderry, on Bloody Sunday |
| 22 February | IRA bomb in a bar in Aldershot, England kill 7 British soldiers |
| March | Stormont Parliament dissolved. Britain imposes direct rule on Northern Ireland |
| 1973 | |
| 11 November | Power-sharing executive set up by Unionist, SDLP and Alliance parties |
| 6-9 December | Conference at Sunningdale in England between British and Irish governments and the 3 parties. Agree to a 'Council of Ireland'. |
| 1974 | |
| May | Strike by protestant Ulster Worker's Council forces abandonment of executive and Sunningdale proposals |
| 17 May | Car bombs in Dublin, planted by protestant terrorists, kill 22 people |
| 5 October | Four soldiers and one civilian were killed and 65 were injured when two pubs were bombed in southern England. |
| 21 November | IRA bombs in two pubs in Birmingham kill 21 |
| 1976 | |
| 4 January | 5 Catholics murdered in County Armagh |
| 5 January | 10 protestant workers killed on a bus, in reprisal |
| 21 July | British ambassador to Dublin killed by a bomb |
| 1978 | |
| 17 February | IRA bombs at the Le Mon café, Belfast, kill 12 |
| 1979 | |
| 22 March | British ambassador to the Netherlands killed |
| 30 March | Airey Neave, MP, killed by car bomb at the House of Commons |
| 27 August | Bomb kills 18 British soldiers at Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland. Lord Louis Mountbatten and 3 others killed by bomb on his boat at Sligo, Ireland |
| 1980 | |
| October | First IRA prisoners' hunger strike. Called off 18 December |
| 1981 | |
| 1 March | Bobby Sands begins hunger strike; he dies 5 May. 9 other IRA prisoners eventually starve themselves to death |
| 1982 | |
| 22 July | 11 British soldiers killed in two bombings in London, one under a bandstand in Regent's Park |
| 6 December | Irish national Army bombs disco in Ballykelly, killing 11 soldiers and 6 civilians |
| 1983 | |
| 17 December | Car bomb outside Harrods department store in London kills 5 people, wounds more than 80 |
| 1984 | |
| 12 October | IRA bomb in the Grand Hotel, Brighton, during the annual Tory party conference, kills 4, narrowly missing Margaret Thatcher |
| 1985 | |
| 28 February | IRA mortar attack on police barracks at Newry kills 9 policemen in a cafeteria |
| 15 november | Margaret Thatcher and Garrett Fitzgerald sign Anglo-Irish treaty |
| 1987 | |
| March | Gunfights between rival Republican terrorists kill 12 |
| 25 April | Ulster Chief Justice Maurice Gibson and his wife assassinated by a bomb |
| 8 May | 3 senior IRA men and 5 other terrorists killed in an ambush at Loughgall |
| 8 november | 11 civilians killed during an Armistice day service at Enniskillen |
| 1988 | |
| 6 March | 3 IRA terrorists shot by British SAS in Gibraltar |
| 16 March | 3 people killed by a protestant during the Gibraltar terrorists' funeral |
| 19 March | 2 British soldiers lynched during the funeral of the victims of the 16th March shooting |
| 2 May | 3 RAF men killed by bombs in Holland |
| 15 June | 6 British soldiers killed by car bomb at sports event |
| 1 August | 1 Soldier killed by bomb in army barracks in London |
| 20 August | 8 Soldiers travelling from Belfast airport killed by bomb |
| 30 August | 3 IRA gunmen killed by security forces |
| 31 August | 2 IRA suspects arrested crossing West german border from Holland, carrying explosives.
Elderly Catholic couple killed by IRA booby-trap in Londonderry |
| 12 September | Bombs demolish home of head of Northern Ireland civil service. Car bomb in belfast injures 12. |
| 19 October | Broadcasting ban begins against Sinn Fein and other groups linked to paramilitaries. |
| 24 November | 67-year-old Catholic and his 11-year-old granddaughter killed by IRA bomb; 8 other civilians wounded. As after 31st August bombing, and Enniskillen, the IRA apologizes. |
| 1989 | |
| 14 March | 18 policeman reprimanded in Northern Ireland for the death of five IRA suspects in 1982, in the shoot-to-kill or Stalker affair |
| 8 September | German wife of British soldier shot in Germany |
| 22 September | 10 Royal Marines killed by bomb in Royal Marines School of Music, near Deal, Kent |
| 19 October | Guildford Four released and convictions for the 1974 pub bomb overturned |
| 26 October | RAF corporal and his six-month-old child killed by two IRA gunmen in Germany |
| 1990 | |
| 12 January | 4 IRA men arrested in florida trying to buy Stinger anti-aircraft missiles from undercover FBI agents |
| 16, 20 June | Dutch police arrest 6 IRA terrorists involved in attacks on British troops in Germany |
| 25 June | Bomb in Carlton Club, London, kills porter |
| 20 July | Bomb in London Stock Exchange |
| 30 July | Ian Gow, Tory MP and close friend of Prime Minister Thatcher, killed by a car bomb |
| 19 September | IRA attempts to kill Sir Peter Terry, in Staffordshire. he was governor of Gibraltar when teh 3 IRA terrorists were shot by police. he and his wife were wounded. |
| 24 October | 7 Killed, 37 wounded ins eries of proxy car bombings in northern Ireland. hostages were forced to drive cars with bombs in them at terrorists' targets |
| 1991 | |
| 7 February | IRA squad launches mortar attack on 10 Downing Street from Whitehall, no casualties. |
| 18 February | Bombs exploded in Paddington and victoria stations, London. One killed. |
| 14 March | Birmingham Six freed after 16 years in jail; courts ruled their confessions were 'unsafe and unsatisfactory' |
| 30 April | Preliminary talks open at Stormont between Protestant and Catholic parties and British on power sharing |
| 1 June | 3 Soldiers killed by car bomb attack on army base at Glenanne, Armagh |
| 2 June | Senior civil servant, a woman loses both legs in bomb attack; IRA apologizes |
| 3 June | 3 IRA gunmen killed by police in ambush 30 miles west of Belfast |
| 17 June | Round-table talks on future of Northern Ireland open in Stormont |
| 3 July | Stormont talks abandoned because of protestant intransigence |
| 13 November | IRA shoots 4 men in Belfast, claiming they were members of protestant death-squads. Another man and six-week-old baby wounded. |
| 15 November | Two terrorist, a man and a woman, blow themselves up with their own bomb in St Albans |
| 1 December | Firebombs set off against shops in London |
| December | Car bomb severely damages Belfast opera house and Europe hotel |
| 1992 | |
| 6 January | 2 car bombs do great damage to centre of Belfast, and a firebomb set off in Oxford |
| 10 January | Bomb in whitehall damages government buildings |
| 17 February | Sinn Fein publishes a document setting out its political peace strategy. |
| 9 April | Gerry Adams loses his Westminster seat at general election. |
| 1 July | Ulster Unionists agree for the first time to talks with the Irish Government. |
| 1993 | |
| 7 April | Gordon Wilson whose daughter was killed in the 1993 Enniskillen bomb, meets IRA agents and urges a ceasefire. |
| 24 April | John Hume and Gerry Adams make joint statement after secret talks uncovered. In the statement, they said that the Irish people as a whole had a right to self-determination. |
| 23 October | An IRA bomb blows up a fish shop on the loyalist Shankill Road., killing 10 people. |
| 28 November | Secret communications between London and IRA revealed. |
| 15 December | John Major and Irish PM Albert Reynolds make Downing Street Declaration, accepting the principle of self-determination on the basis of consensus for all the people of Ireland. |
| 1994 | |
| 29 January | President Bill Clinton sanctions a visa for Gerry Adams to enter the USA. |
| 18 June | Loyalist gunmen kill six Catholic men in a bar at Loughlinisland, County Down. |
| 31 August | The IRA announces "a complete cessation of military activities". |
| 16 September | Broadcasting ban against Sinn Fein lifted by UK government. |
| 13 October | The Combined Loyalist Military Command announces a ceasefire. |
| 1995 | |
| 7 March | NI Secretary Patrick Mayhew reveals three-point plan to remove IRA weapons ahead of talks. |
| 10 May | The first official meeting in 23 years between Sinn Fein and a government minister. |
| 9 July | First major stand-off over the annual Drumcree parade. |
| 30 November | US President Bill Clinton makes his first visit to Northern Ireland to bolster the peace process. |
| 1996 | |
| 9 February | The IRA explodes the Docklands bomb London killing two and announce the end of the ceasefire, accusing London of having acted in bad faith. |
| February | The Mitchell Report sets out proposals for how to tackle decommissioning amid political talks. |
| 30 May | Elections are held for representatives to possible peace talks. Sinn Fein gets its highest ever vote of 15.5%, although the party remains excluded. |
| 15 June | IRA bombs Manchester, destroying a large part of the city centre. |
| 7 July | Second Drumcree stand-off. Police eventually allow march which is followed by major riots. |
| 1997 | |
| 12th February | Last British soldier to die in combat is killed in Ireland. |
| April | IRA hoax bomb alerts cause chaos across England targeting motorways and Grand National horse race. |
| 1 May | Tony Blair becomes prime minister as Labour wins the general election. |
| 20 July | IRA announces a renewal of its ceasefire after government resumes contacts with Sinn Fein. |
| September | Unionists boycott talks because Sinn Fein has been admitted. |
| 13 October | Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams meets Prime Minister Tony Blair for the first time. |
| 1998 | |
| 129th January | Bloody Sunday enquiry is announced. |
| 10th April | The Good Friday Agreement is signed. |
| 30th April | IRA statement says agreement falls short. "There will be no decommissioning by the IRA," it declares. |
| 7th May | Dissident republicansform the "Real IRA". |
| 22 May | Referendum on Good Friday Agreemnet is held; 71% support the agreement. |
| 25 June | First elections to Northern Ireland Assembly. UUP and SDLP are largest parties. Antiagreement DUP comes third. |
| 15 August | Real IRA bombs OImagh twon centre, killing 29 people and two unborn babies. |
| 3 September | US President Bill Clinton's second visit to Northern Ireland to bolster the peace process. |
| 11 September | First paramilitary prisoner relased under the Good Friday Agreement. |
| 30 September | First significant demolition of secuirty installations and checkpoints since the Good Friday Agreement. |
| 1999 | |
| February | Disagreement between parties over arms decommissioning continues to prevent start of power-sharing. |
| 1 April | Sinn Fein says it cannot deliver IRA arms before the executive sits, despite unionist demands. |
| July | An attempt to nominate ministers at the assembly collapses as the UUP boycotts the meeting over IRA arms. US Senator George Mitchell is brought back to build confidence between the unionists and republicans. |
| 9 September | Pattern report recommends wholesale reform of Northern Ireland policing. |
| November | IRA announced it will talk to the international arms decommissioning chief. |
| 29 November | Assembly meets and nominates executive ministers as power-sharing begins. |
| 2000 | |
| 11 February | NI Secretary Peter Mandelson suspends assembly because of no arms decommissioning. |
| 27 March | Bloody Sunday Inquiry opens for hearings in Londonderry. |
| 6 May | The IRA announces it will open some arms dumps to inspection. |
| 29 May | Unionists agree a return to Stormont on basis of arms being dealt with while assembly functions. |
| 26 June | Weapons inspectors confirm they have inspected some IRA arms dumps and concluded arms cannot be removed without their detection. |
| 20 September | Dissident republicans launch a rocket propelled grenade at MI6 headquarters, London. |
| 2001 | |
| 4 March | Dissident republicans car bomb BBC Television Centre in London. |
| May | Tension begins to grow between parties ahead of the general election. |
| 7 June | Sinn Fein and Democratic Unionists gain at General Election. |
| 1 July | First Minister David Trimble quits - but nominates a standin to create a six-week negotiating space. |
| 6 August | Arms chief Gen John de Chastelain says the IRA has a plan to put arms "beyond use". |
| 10 August | Government technically suspends assembly as a tactic to extend negotiations. |
| 16 August | Three Irish men are arrested in Colombia and accused of being IRA men, training Marxist rebels. |
| 3 September | Children caught in clashes outside Holy Cross Catholic girl's school, north Belfast, in a row between loyalists and nationalists. |
| 21 September | Second technical suspension of the assembly amid little progress. |
| 22 October | Gerry Adams admits one of three IRA suspects held in Colombia was the party's Cuba representative. |
| 23 October | IRA announces first act of decommissioning, witnessed by the arms chief, triggering a return to power-sharing. |
| 3 November | Amid unionist splits over the IRA's move, David Trimble requires support of other parties to be re-elected as first minister. |
| 4 November | Royal Ulster Constabulary becomes Police Service of Northern Ireland. |
| 2002 | |
| March | IRA suspected of involvement in break-in at Castlereagh police headquarters. |
| 8 April | IRA announces second tranche of arms put "beyond use" amid growing distrust between parties. |
| 1 May | NI Secretary John Reid says IRA has to show that "the war is over". |
| 4 October | Police raid Sinn Fein's Stormont offices in investigation into republican intelligence gathering. |
| 14 October | NI Secretary John Reid suspends devolution as power-sharing unravels over IRA allegations. |
| 17 October | Tony Blair tells the IRA it cannot continue "half in, half out" of the process duringa keynote speech. |
| 2003 | |
| April | After months of paralysis London and Dublin propose a blueprint on the way forward. |
| 1 May | Prime Minister Tony Blair postpones assembly elections, citing the lack of clarity over the IRA's position and accused the IRA of refusing to completely rule out all paramilitary-related behaviour. |
| September | Independent Monitoring Commission charged with scrutinising paramilitaries begins work. |
| 1 October | Parties move towards a new political deal. |
| 21 October | Third act of IRA arms decommissioning. Unionists reject it as not sufficiently open. |
| November | Martin McGuinness tells the Bloody Sunday Inquiry he was an IRA commander in the 1970s. |
| 26 November | Assembly elections see Ian Paisleys Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein emerge the winners. |
| 2004 | |
| 20 February | IRA implicated in attempted abduction of a dissident republican from a Belfast bar. |
| March | First substantial talks since assembly elections see no breakthrough. |
| 26 April | Three Irish men suspected of being members of the IRA are acquitted of training Marxist rebels in Colombia. |
| September | Intensive talks at Leeds Castle. Republicans led by Gerry Adams reportedly say IRA will accept arms witnesses. |
| 23 November | Bloody Sunday Inquiry finally closes, ahead of the publication of its report in 2005. |
| 24 November | Ian Paisley says the IRA can become an "old boys association" if it deals with arms. |
| 29 November | Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams meets NI chief constable Hugh Orde for the first time. |
| 8 December | Proposed political deal unravels over photos of IRA arms, with Sinn Fein saying that photographing IRA arms was unacceptable because unionists might use them to humiliate republicans. DUP said it could not agree a deal without the pictures. |
| 20 December | Record £26.5m stolen from Northern Bank in Belfast. IRA accused. |
| 2005 | |
| 30 January | Robert McCartney killed outside Belfast pub - IRA men accused. |
| 2 February | The IRA scraps its offer to complete all arms decommissioning after being blamed for the bank robbery in December and the latest breakdown in the peace process. |
| 14 February | SF President Gerry Adams urges people to help the McCartney family. |
| 20 February | Irish minister links SF and IRA leadership. |
| 17 March | McCartney family meet President George W Bush. |
| 18 March | No talks possible until IRA position resolved says NI Secretary. |
| 6 April | Gerry Adams appeals to IRA ahead of general election. |
| 26 September | The arms decommissioning body cofirms that the IRA has put al its weapons beyond use. Unionists remain sceptical without any photographic proof. |
| 8 December | Court proceedings against three men accused of spying for the IRA at Stormont are dropped. |
| 2006 | |
| 11 January | Legislation that would have allowed on-the-run fugitives to return to NI is shelved in the face of widespread opposition. |
| 6 April | Northern Ireland Assembly members are given until 24 November to set up a power-sharing executive. |
| 15 May | Stormont assembly sits for first time since its suspension in 2002. |
| 30 May | UVF paramilitary critically ill after shooting. |
| 29 June | The UK and Irish prime ministers restate the 24 November deadline is the last chance for politicians to restore devolution. |
| 14 August | Thousands line the streets of west Belfast for a parade marking the 25th anniversary of the republican hunger strikes. |
| 4 October | The IRA has changed radically and some of its most important structures have been dismantled, according to the IMC. |
| 9 October | DUP leader Ian Paisley and Irelands most senior Catholic cleric describe their first formal talks as positive. |
| 11 October | Three days of intensive multiparty talks, aimed at brokering a deal to restore devolution, begin at St Andrews in Scotland. |
| 13 October | The Ulster Defence Association meets for secret talks with international peacemakers. |
| 24 November | A transitional assembly is installed. However, a debate is interrupted as Michael Stone tries to enter to Stormont. |
| 28 December | Sinn Fein announces it is calling a special meeting of its executive to discuss the issue of republican backing for policing. |
| 2007 | |
| 28 January | Sinn Fein members vote to support policing in Northern Ireland for the first time in the partys history. |
| 30 January | Tony Blair confirms an assembly election on 7 March. The transitional assembly at Stormont is dissolved. |
| 7 March | The Northern Ireland electorate goes to the polls to elect 108 members to a new Stormont Assembly. |
| 26 March | Devolved government to return to Northern Ireland after DUP and Sinn Fein leaders hold breakthrough meeting. |
| 31st July, Midnight. | Operation Banner comes to an end after 38 years, ending the British Armys security support role. |
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