1981 in Northern Ireland

← 1980 1979 1978 1981 in Northern Ireland → 1982 1983 1984
Centuries:	20th 21st
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	1981 in the United Kingdom 1981 in Ireland Other events of 1981 List of years in Northern Ireland

Events during the year 1981 in Northern Ireland.

Incumbents

• Secretary of State - Humphrey Atkins (until 14 September), Jim Prior (from 14 September)

Events

• 16 January - Northern Ireland civil rights campaigner and former Westminster MP,
  Bernadette McAliskey is shot and injured by Loyalist paramilitaries at her home in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.^[1]
• 21 January - The first DMC DeLorean sports car is produced in Dunmurry.
• 6 February -
  Attacks on shipping in Lough Foyle (1981-1982): Liverpool-registered coal ship Nellie M is bombed and sunk by a Provisional Irish Republican Army unit using a hijacked pilot boat in Lough Foyle
  .
• 1 March - Bobby Sands begins the 1981 Irish hunger strike in the Maze Prison (Long Kesh) near Lisburn.
• 9 April -
  Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
  .
• 5 May - Bobby Sands dies on the 66th day of his hunger strike in the Maze Prison.
• 12 May
  • Hunger striker Francis Hughes, previously the most wanted man in the North, dies on the 59th day of his hunger strike in the Maze Prison (joined hunger strike March 15).
  • A British Army sniper kills Irish National Liberation Army member Emmanuel McClarnon from the top of Divis Tower.^[2]
• 21 May - Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O'Hara both die on the 61st day of their hunger strike in the Maze Prison (joined hunger strike March 22).
• 2 June - Completion of St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, after 82 years.^[3]
• 11 June - Hunger striker Kieran Doherty is elected Teachta Dála (TD) for Cavan–Monaghan in Dáil Éireann in the 1981 Irish general election.
• 8 July - Hunger striker Joe McDonnell of the Provisional IRA dies (joined hunger strike May 9).
• 13 July - Hunger striker Martin Hurson dies (joined hunger strike May 29).
• 1 August - Hunger striker Kevin Lynch dies (joined hunger strike May 23).
• 2 August - Hunger striker Kieran Doherty, TD, dies on the 73rd day of his hunger strike (joined hunger strike May 22).
• 8 August - Hunger striker Thomas McElwee dies (joined hunger strike June 8).
• 20 August - Hunger striker Micky Devine dies (joined hunger strike June 22).
• 3 October - Hunger strike officially ends.
• 22 October – The case of
  gay sex is in contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights
  .

Arts and literature

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Sport

Football

• Irish League

Winners: Glentoran

• Irish Cup

Winners: Ballymena United 1 - 0 Glenavon

Motorcycling

• Robert Dunlop enters his first professional race, where he was fully sponsored, at Aghadowey.

Births

• 17 January - Warren Feeney, footballer.
• 20 January -
  Christine Bleakley
  , television presenter.
• 20 January - Nathan Connolly, musician with Snow Patrol.
• 16 March - Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
• 27 March - Terry McFlynn, footballer.
• 31 March - Gerard McCarthy, actor.
• 23 April - Jenny McDonough, hockey player.
• 29 April - George McCartney, footballer.
• 17 July - Andy Maxwell, rugby player.
• 10 September - Alan Blayney, footballer.
• 31 October - Liam McKenna, singer (Six).

Full date unknown

• Lucy Caldwell, playwright and novelist.

Deaths

• 21 January -
  Northern Ireland House of Commons for 23 years (born 1894
  ).
• 5 May - Bobby Sands MP, volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (born 1954; died in 1981 Irish hunger strike).
• 8 July - Joe McDonnell, volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (born 1951; died in 1981 Irish hunger strike).
• 2 August - Kieran Doherty TD, volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (born 1955; died in 1981 Irish hunger strike).

Full date unknown

• Muriel Brandt, artist (born 1909).
• Séamus Ó Néill, writer (born 1910).
• Jackie Vernon, footballer (born 1918).

See also

• 1981 in Scotland
• 1981 in Wales

References

1. ^ "1981: Gunmen shoot civil rights campaigner". On This Day. BBC. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
2. ^ Sutton, Malcolm. "An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland - 1981". CAIN. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
3. ^ "1981 To 1990". Belfast Cathedral. Archived from the original on 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2012-07-20.