TUES. MARCH 3, 1998: Loyalist gunmen entered the Railway Bar in Poyntspass, Co Armagh and shot dead two men, Damian Trainor (28) and Philip Allen (34). Two others were injured.
A nationalist man escaped a loyalist death squad murder attempt in Toomebridge, Co Antrim, when his attacker's gun jammed.
Josephine Hayden (51), a member of Cumann na mBan and the only woman political prisoner in the 26 Counties was rushed to hospital from Limerick prison at 11.30pm suffering from chest pains, dizziness, shortness of breath and nausea.
WED. MARCH 4, 1998: Three men battered down the door of the home in Kilbeg Walk in the loyalist Parkhall estate in Antrim town of a Protestant woman and her Catholic husband spraying gunfire through the hallway. The 29-year-old woman was wounded in the leg and her three-year-old daughter was struck in the eye by flying glass.
SUN. MARCH 8, 1998: Loyalists fired a petrol bomb at the house in Channel View, Larne, County Antrim of Bernie Shaw, a nationalist, whose girlfriend is a Protestant.
An MRC poll published in the Ireland on Sunday newspaper found that to the question 'Do you personally wish to see a United Ireland, 71% said Yes, 12% didn't know and 17% said they were opposed.
Republicans from all over Ireland travelled to Tureen, outside Tralee, Co. Kerry on March 8 last to mark the 75th Anniversary of the infamous Ballyseedy Massacre of March 6-7 1923 when eight men were blown to bits by a Free State army landmine.
MON. MARCH 9, 1998: The British Home Secretary announced that the extradition of Roisin McAliskey to Germany would not be proceeded with because it would be "unjust and oppressive" given her medical condition.
TUES. MARCH 10, 1998: At 12.40am five mortars were fired from a platform at the RUC barracks in Armagh city. One of the mortars detonated on impact and a sixth missile failed to fire. No damage was caused to the RUC base by the mortars, which were fired from the car park of a nearby rugby club. Nobody was injured in the attack and no claim of responsibility has been made.
It was announced on March 10, that Lieutenant-General Hew Pike who served as CO of 3 Para in occupied Ireland from 1980 to 1983 is to take over command of the British army in the Six Counties. British army and British Colonial police (RUC) members fired blank shots at Seán Murray, a west Belfast nationalist man, as he passed their vehicle in Slievegallion Drive.
WED. MARCH 11, 1998: Two loyalists — Stephen McClean (28) , Noel McCready (31), both from Banbridge, Co Down — were charged with the murders in Poyntzpass on March 3 of Damian Trainor and Philip Allen. Both had been members of the UDR (now the RIR) regiment of the British army.
THURS. MARCH 12, 1998: Masked men planted a device at the Derby House on the Stewartstown Road in a west Belfast bar was extensively damaged in the ensuing inferno and will likely have to be demolished. Four men entered the premises shortly before 4.30am when the fire started and planted a small device which had been used to trigger a quantity of flammable liquid creating a fireball inside the bar.
David Keys (26) a former member of the RIR and Ryan Robley (28) a former UDR member charged with the murders in Poyntzpass on March 3 of Damian Trainor and Philip Allen.
FRI. MARCH 13, 1998: In south Belfast the RUC recovered two machine guns, ammunition and magazines in Annadale flats during a search.
In Banbridge the RUC carried out two controlled explosions on a suspect vehicle in the centre of the town. It is understood a telephone warning was given at around 7.30pm but no codeword was used. It is still unclear who was responsible for the Banbridge alert.
Two machine guns, ammunition and magazines were found by the RUC in a flat in south Belfast.
SAT. MARCH 14, 1998: An explosive device was found on the doorstep of the home of Martin McAuley and his wife Christian in the nationalist Taghnevan estate in Lurgan, Co. Armagh as they returned home from a function. The couple's children Róisín (11), Orla (10) and six-year-old Peadar and a baby-sitter were inside asleep at the time. The device was disarmed and no one was injured.
A Co Antrim couple had a narrow escape when a device exploded at their front door in Carrickfergus. They had just recently moved into their house in the predominately loyalist town.
SUN. MARCH 15, 1998: David Keys (26), one of the four loyalists charged with the killings of two lifelong friends in a nationalist-owned bar in Poyntzpass, Co Armagh on March 3 was tortured and killed in his cell in the LVF wing of the H-Blocks a few days after asking to be transferred there. His body was discovered hanging by a sheet from the bars of his cell window, to give the impression of suicide.
TUES. MARCH 17, 1998: The pro-British death squad the LVF left a device outside St Comgall's Hall at around 9.30pm. A doorman who had been watching a video monitor spotted a person leaving the device in a blue plastic bag and immediately evacuated the St Patrick's Day revellers to safety.
An RUC man was injured and two people were arrested after clashes between loyalists and the RUC in Kilkeel, Co Down.
FRI. MARCH 20, 1998: A bomb containing five pounds of explosives was left by two masked men in the Northern Bank at Guildhall Square in Derry city. A warning had been given by a caller who gave a codeword and said the attack was on behalf of the Continuity IRA. The British army carried out a controlled explosion on the bomb.
SAT. MARCH 21, 1998: A 1,300lb bomb, packed into a Mitsubishi Panjero jeep, was found by 26-County police in a detached shed on a laneway between Cúchulainn Terrace and Legion Avenue in the Castleton area of Dundalk, Co Louth. Two men were arrested.
The home of the nationalist McCorry family in Belair park in Larne, Co Antrim was firebombed. Marie McCorry (18) sustained a burn to her right leg.
MON. MARCH 23, 1998: Two men — Derek Brady (24) and Kevin Murray (44) of Cox's Demesne, Dundalk, Co Louth — were charged before the Special Court in Dublin with possession of explosives at Dundalk, Co Louth on March 21.
The Provisionals' political organisation returned to the Stormont talks.
TUES. MARCH 24, 1998: Forkhill, Co Armagh joint British army/RUC base was attacked by at least four mortars. Some damage was caused to the base.
FRI. MARCH 27, 1998: A former RUC man, Cyril Stewart (52), was shot dead by the INLA in Armagh city.
The Orange Order said it would walk "all its traditional routes" during the marching season.
SUN. MARCH 29, 1998: Nationalist Brian Thompson and his family were forced to leave their home in Graymount Crescent, in the Greencastle area of Belfast, after two arson attacks and a petrol bomb attack.
The Rite Price carpet warehouse in York Street, Belfast was destroyed in an arson attack.
Four nationalist men from the Short Strand area of Belfast have been told by the RUC that they are on a loyalist death list which was found during a raid on a house in the Shankill Road area.
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