A Draft Chronology of the Conflict - 2000

2000

January 2000

Thursday 6 January 2000
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a new year statement in An Phoblact / Republican News. The statement warned that any move on decommissioning would depend on a dramatic reduction in the British military presence in Northern Ireland.

Friday 7 January 2000
There was a pipe-bomb attack on the home of a Catholic man at Andraid Close, in the mainly Loyalist Stiles Estate. The blast occurred shortly after 4.00am in the rear garden of the house, causing minor damage. No one was injured. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.

Monday 10 January 2000
Richard Jameson (46), a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), was shot dead outside his home near Portadown, County Armagh. The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) were responsible for the killing. The killing was part of a feud between the LVF and the UVF.

Wednesday 12 January 2000
Adams Meeting With Clinton
Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), held a meeting with Bill Clinton, the President of the United States of America (USA), at the White House in Washington, USA. Clinton urged Adams to make progress on decommissioning. David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), threatened to resign if the Irish Republican Army (IRA) failed to meet a February deadline on decommissioning.

Wednesday 19 January 2000
Peter Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, made a statement to the House of Commons on the Patten Report.

Monday 31 January 2000
Lee Clegg, then a Paratrooper in the British Army, had his conviction for shooting Martin Peake overturned by the Court of Appeal in Belfast. [Martin Peake (17) and Karen Reilly (18), both Catholic civilians, were shot dead by British Army paratroopers in Belfast on 30 September 1990. The two teenagers were travelling ('joy riding') in a stolen car at the time of the shooting.]

February 2000

Friday 11 February 2000
Assembly and Executive Suspended
Peter Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, suspended the 72 day-old power-sharing Executive and restored Direct Rule of Northern Ireland from Westminster as of midnight. The move followed reports from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) that it had "received no information from the IRA as to when decommissioning will start."

Tuesday 15 February 2000
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) announced that it was withdrawing from talks with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD).
Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), agreed and published the terms of reference for the Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974. [The Commission of Inquiry began its work in February 2000, with a minimal staff consisting of the Sole Member, Liam Hamilton, the former Chief Justice, a legal assistant, and a secretary. Subsequently, the Commission on Inquiry was asked to conduct similar Inquiries into the bombing of Kay’s Tavern, Dundalk, on 19 December 1975, and the shooting of Seamus Ludlow on 2 May 1976. The Inquiry was also asked to look into the shooting of Brid Carr in 1971; bombings in Dublin on 1 December 1972 and 20 January 1973; and other bombings within the State. These inquiries were to be dealt with separately.]

Saturday 19 February 2000
Two Protestant men, David McIlwaine (18) and Andrew Robb (19), were found stabbed to death, by the side of the road near Tandregee, County Armagh. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was believed to have been responsible for the killings. [There was some speculation in the media at the time that the killings were part of a feud between Loyalist paramilitaries however this turned out not to be the case.]

David Shayler, a former intelligence officer with MI5, alleged that British intelligence services believed that John Lennon, former member of the Beatles, had given funds to the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

March 2000

Friday 10 March 2000
The Belfast shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff lost a contract worth £400m to build the passenger ship Queen Mary II. The contract would have helped to secure the company's future.

Saturday 25 March 2000
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), defeated a challenge for the leadership of the UUP from Martin Smyth (Rev.), then Ulster Unionist MP. [Smith gained 43 per cent of the vote. Some commentators believed that the result further weakened Trimble's position which might later affect the outcome of the peace process.] Trimble failed to stop a motion linking any resumption of the Executive to the retention of the title of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).

Monday 27 March 2000
Bloody Sunday Inquiry
The Saville Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday began public hearings at the Guildhall in Derry. The hearings began with a statement by Christoper Clarke (QC), then counsel to the Inquiry.

Wednesday 31 March 2000
A Catholic businessman discovered a pipe-bomb attached to his car and removed the device and threw it into a nearby hedge in Dungannon. Meanwhile, a second pipe-bomb was discovered at the rear of a garden in Gray’s Lane off the Antrim Road in north Belfast. Both attacks were claimed by the Red Hand Defenders (RHD) a Loyalist paramilitary group.

April 2000

Sunday 23 April 2000
It was rumoured that Peter Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, might quit his position to return to Britain to help the Labour Party fight the next general election.

Saturday 29 April 2000
Patrick Neville (31), a civilian from the Republic of Ireland, was found shot dead on a stairway in a block of flats near to his home in Inchicore, Dublin. It was believed that the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) was responsible for his killing. [His death was linked to the killing of Patrick Campbell on 10 October 1999.]

May 2000

Thursday 4 May 2000
Further Political Talks
Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, and Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), arrived in Northern Ireland for a further round of political talks as part of a review of the Good Friday Agreement.

Friday 5 May 2000
A Catholic couple were forced to leave their home in a Loyalist area of south Belfast following a sectarian pipe-bomb attack. The husband sustained minor leg injuries after the device, which was packed with nails, blew a hole in the back door of the house at Broadway Parade and exploded into the kitchen. His wife who also was in the kitchen escaped unhurt. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.

Saturday 6 May 2000
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) undertook to open some of its arms dumps for inspection and said it was prepared to "initiate a process that will completely and verifiably put IRA arms beyond use".

Monday 8 May 2000
Peter Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, offered to reduce the number of British Army soldiers in Northern Ireland if the Irish Republican Army (IRA) kept to its promise on decommissioning. Mandelson refused to discuss the precise number of troops that would be withdrawn from the region.

Tuesday 9 May 2000
Closure of Security Bases
Ronnie Flanagan, then Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), disclosed that five military installations were to close.

Wednesday 10 May 2000
Gerry Loughran was appointed as the head of the Civil Service in Northern Ireland. He was the first Catholic to serve in the post.

Sunday 14 May 2000
Cyril Ramaphosa, former secretary-general of the African National Congress (ANC), and Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, both of whom were appointed as arms inspectors arrived in Northern Ireland. The arms inspectors report to the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD).

Sunday 21 May 2000
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), stated that it was his belief that the offer by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to open its arms dumps to international inspection means that its 30-year war is over.

Friday 26 May 2000
Martin Taylor (35), a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), was shot dead while working on wall outside a house in Ballysillan, Belfast. The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) was believed to be responsible for his killing. The killing was part of a feud between the LVF and the UVF.

Saturday 27 May 2000
UUC Support Trimble
There was a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC), the policy-making body of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). David Trimble, then leader of the UUP, won a motion at the meeting which allowed him to re-enter the power-sharing Executive with Sinn Féin (SF). The motion was on whether to accept the IRA offer on disarmament as a basis for the return to Stormont. Of the members present 459 voted in favour of a return to Stormont while 403 voted against. [At a press conference following the UUC meeting it seemed that Trimble set out to offend Sinn Féin by remarking that the party had still to be politically "house-trained".]

Monday 29 May 2000
Edmund McCoy (28), a Catholic civilian, died several hours after being shot while in the Motte 'n' Bailey Bar, Dunmurry, near Belfast. [Republican paramilitaries were believed to have been responsible for the shooting but no group claimed responsibility.]

Tuesday 30 May 2000
Devolution Restored
The British government restored devolution to the Northern Ireland Assembly and the power-sharing Executive.

June 2000

Thursday 1 June 2000
There was an explosion in the early hours of the morning at Hammersmith Bridge in London. The explosion caused some damage to the bridge but no injuries. It was believed that the bomb attack was carried out by dissident republicans.

Saturday 3 June 2000
Ronnie Flanagan, then Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), announced that 500 British Army soliders were to be withdrawn from Northern Ireland. The latest reduction in troops was believed to bring the number down to 13,500, the lowest level since 1970. [Troop levels were increased again at the beginning of July 2000 in response to Loyalist violence at Drumcree.]

Monday 5 June 2000
The Northern Ireland Assembly met for the first time since it was suspended on 12 February 2000.

Thursday 8 June 2000
A Catholic mother and her 20 year old daughter escaped injury in a pipe-bomb attack on their home in Annalong, County Down. The two women were at home when the explosion rocked their terrace house shortly after 11.00pm. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.

Monday 26 June 2000
IRA Arms Inspected
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a statement to say that it had opened some of its arms dumps to be viewed by the independent weapons inspectors. Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari, then independent weapons inspectors, held a meeting with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, in Downing Street and confirmed that the inspection had taken place.

July 2000

Sunday 2 July 2000
Violence At Drumcree
It was announced that three battalions of troops (2,000 soldiers) were to be drafted into Northern Ireland to help police the Loyalist marching season. The Northern Ireland Parades Commission announced that it was banning the Orange Order from parading along the mainly Nationalist Garvaghy Road, Portadown, County Armagh. The Commission said that the parade should return from Drumcree to Portadown by the outward route. There was rioting at Drumcree in Portadown when several hundred Loyalists threw bottles, stones, and other missiles at security forces. Loyalists also set fire to an armoured vehicle and fired ball bearings from a catapult at Drumcree Hill.

Monday 3 July 2000
Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers moved to clear Loyalists from Drumcree after coming under a barrage of stones, bottles, and firecrackers for the second night in a row. However violence continued at Drumcree and demonstrations and protests spread throughout Northern Ireland.

Wednesday 5 July 2000
The British Army erected a large steel barrier across the Drumcree road where the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) had come under attack from Loyalist rioters over the previous three nights. The structure, 20ft high and 30ft wide, was made up of huge steel containers filled with concrete and topped with barbed wire and had been put in place by Army engineers.

Tuesday 11 July 2000
Loyalists attempted to block roads across Northern Ireland as Orangemen at Drumcree continued their protest about not being able to parade through the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown, County Armagh.

Wednesday 12 July 2000
Andrew Cairns (22), a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), was shot dead while attending "eleventh night" bonfire celebrations in Boyne Square, Larne, County Antrim. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) were believed to have been responsible for the killing. The killing was part of a feud between the UDA and the UVF.

Saturday 15 July 2000
An 11 year old boy held an unexploded pipe-bomb for about an hour after it was found near a playground in Armagh. The boy was among a group of children who discovered the device beside a walkway on the Loyalist Ballinahone estate. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) said Loyalist paramilitaries could have hidden the bomb with the intention of using it that night or in the following days. It had been stored in a drainage hole in a wall beside the playground.

Wednesday 26 July 2000
A Loyalist pipe-bomb was found at an Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) hall in Galladuff, County Derry. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries. Local people alleged that the bomb was intended to raise tensions in the run up to a Loyalist parade through nearby town of Maghera.

Friday 28 July 2000
Last Paramilitary Prisoners Released
76 paramilitary prisoners were released from the Maze Prison. This brought the number released under the Good Friday Agreement to 428 in total.

August 2000

Tuesday 1 August 2000
Edward Somers (Sir), then one of the three judges on the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, announced that he was stepping down for personal reasons. [John Toohey was appointed to replace Somers.]

Thursday 10 August 2000
A pipe-bomb was discovered in Magherafelt, County Derry, and was diffused by the British army. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries. Loyalists also attacked 12 Catholic homes in Carrickhill and Ardoyne.

Sunday 13 August 2000
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) made safe a pipe-bomb on Drumlee Road in Ballymoney, County Antrim. The device had been pushed through the letterbox of a Catholic home. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.

Tuesday 15 August 2000
Johnny Adair, then a leader of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), claimed that Republicans were responsible for the pipe-bomb explosion that injured his hand. The incident happened on Beechpark Street in the Protestant part of the Oldpark district. [The claim was dismissed by security force personnel who said the pipe-bomb fragments recovered were from a type of device frequently used by Loyalists. It was further alleged that Adair and some men with him were carrying the device in the car in which they were travelling when it exploded prematurely.]

Wednesday 16 August 2000
A pipe-bomb was found near the Glenshane Pass on the main road between Belfast and Derry.

Friday 18 August 2000
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) defused a pipe-bomb in Cullybackey near Ballymena, County Antrim. Police ruled out a sectarian motive for a pipe-bomb attack in which a woman in her 80's escaped injury. The device was found by a neighbour on the windowsill of the house at Lowtown Terrace in Cullybackey at about 7.30am. The police said the fuse of the bomb had been lit but it did not explode.

Monday 21 August 2000
Loyalist Paramilitary Feud
Two men, Jackie Coulter and Bobby Mahood, were killed as the Loyalist paramilitary feud erupted into further violence. Coulter, who had Ulster Defence Association (UDA) connections and was an associate of Johnny Adair, died immediately at the scene. Mahood, who had been seriously wounded, died later in hospital. Loyalist sources said that Mahood had Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) connections but he opposed the Belfast Agreement and the policies of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). The killings were carried out by the UVF and were part of a feud between the UDA and the UVF.

In addition to the shootings there were also attacks on offices used by the two Loyalist parties closely associated with the UDA and the UVF. Troops were deployed on the streets of Belfast to try to control the situation. [Seven people were killed during the feud which officially ended on 15 December 2000.]

Tuesday 22 August 2000
Johnny Adair, then a leader of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), was arrested and returned to prison by the order of Peter Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The arrest was an attempt to calm the atmosphere following the escalation in the Loyalist paramilitary feud. Adair had been released early on licence under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement and was returned to prison because he was believed to have taken part "in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism".

Wednesday 23 August 2000
Samuel Rockett (21), a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), was shot dead while in his girlfriend's home in the Lower Oldpark area, north Belfast. The the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), was responsible for the killing. The killing was part of a feud between the UDA and the UVF.

September 2000

Monday 11 September 2000
A family escaped uninjured after a pipe-bomb was thrown at their home on the Ballysally estate in Coleraine, County Derry. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.

Tuesday 12 September 2000
British army bomb disposal experts defused a pipe-bomb thrown through the window of a house in the upper Shankill on Sunday night. The house on the Ballygomartin Road was unoccupied when the device and a petrol bomb were thrown through the living room window at around 11.00pm. A pipe-bomb was thrown at the home of a Loyalist politician during an outbreak of violence on the Loyalist Shankill Road area of Belfast. Billy Hutchinson, Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) Assemblyman, was at the scene of the attack when a device was thrown at his home in the Shankill area. Hutchinson's wife and father-in-law had to be moved from the house and other nearby homes were evacuated.

Thursday 14 September 2000
A pipe-bomb exploded at a house in Coleraine, County Derry, although the two occupants were uninjured. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) said that the motive for the attack was unclear.

Thursday 21 September 2000
South Antrim By-election
A 71 year old Protestant woman in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, escaped injury after she handled a pipe-bomb that had been put through her letterbox. A similar device was put through the letterbox of a house in north Belfast.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) won the Westminster by-election in South Antrim taking the seat from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). The area had previously been the second safest UUP seat. Willie McCrea (Rev.), who was a strong opponent of the Good Friday Agreement, won the seat by 822 votes to beat David Burnside the UUP candidate who was also an opponent of the Agreement. [Commentators speculated that UUP supporters who were in favour of the Agreement had stayed at home and decided not to vote in the election.]

Friday 22 September 2000
Dissident Republican paramilitaries fired an 'anti-tank rocket' at the headquarters of MI6, the British intelligence agency, in London. The attack caused damage to the building but no injuries. The "real" Irish Republican Army (rIRA) was thought to have been responsible.

29 September 2000
Patrick Quinn (32), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead while in The Depot Bar in Magherafelt, County Derry. [Republican paramilitaries were believed to have been responsible for the shooting but no group claimed responsibility.]

October 2000

Monday 2 October 2000
The Human Rights Act 1998 came into force. This Act gave effect to some (but not all) of the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The necessary legislation had been passed at Westminster in 1998 but the delay was to give lawyers and public organisations time to prepare. Under the Human Rights Act people are able to bring a case in local courts rather than having to go to Strasbourg where the European Court sits.

Thursday 5 October 2000
Johnston Brown, then a Detective Sergeant in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), survived an attempt on his life when a pipe-bomb and petrol canister were thrown at his County Antrim home. Brown had played an important role in securing the imprisonment in 1995 of Johnny Adair, then a leader of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).
Peter Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, warned hardline Ulster Unionists that if devolution failed they could face joint rule by London and Dublin. The warning came as those Unionists opposed to the Good Friday Agreement mounted yet another attempt to persuade David Trimble to set a deadline for IRA disarmament.

Saturday 7 October 2000
David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), delivered a strong speech in defence of power-sharing at the annual conference of the UUP. Most delegates give him a standing ovation but there was a significant section of the delegates who booed.

Monday 9 October 2000
The BBC Panorama programme named four men living in the Republic of Ireland which it claimed were responsible for the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998 in which 29 people died.

Thursday 12 October 2000
There was a pipe-bomb attack on the home of a father-of-two in east Belfast. No-one was injured when the device exploded under the man’s car in Bathgate Drive. Army bomb disposal experts had sealed off the area following a telephone warning to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) at 8.30pm. It is understood the man and his teenage son were at home at the time of the attack.

Friday 13 October 2000
Joseph O'Connor (26), believed to have been a member of the "real" Irish Republican Army (rIRA), was shot dead in Ballymurphy, west Belfast. [Most commentators blamed the (Provisional) IRA for the killing and speculated on the possibility of a Republican paramilitary feud.]

Saturday 14 October 2000
A Catholic father-of-six and his two teenage sons all escaped uninjured when a bomb exploded in their car. The explosion happened shortly before 9.00pm at Blackstaff Way, off the Grosvenor Road, in west Belfast. The man said he was with his two sons, aged 17 and 18, for a driving lesson in the Kennedy Road Industrial Estate. He tried to adjust the driver's seat, with one of his sons sitting in it, when he found a jar containing liquid and a pipe. He said it started to "fizz" and the three of them immediately fled from the vehicle just seconds before the device exploded. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.

Wednesday 25 October 2000
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) announced that it would permit a further inspection of some of its arms dumps. The IRA also stated that its representative would hold more talks with General John de Chastelain, then head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD).

Thursday 26 October 2000
A pipe-bomb was discovered underneath an Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer's car close to the courthouse in Antrim. A fuse had been lit but had burned out without detonating the pipe-bomb. Loyalist paramilitaries were blamed for the attack on the officer who was a witness in a Northern Ireland arms trial.

Saturday 28 October 2000
David Greer (21), a member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), was shot dead in Mountcollyer Street in north Belfast following a brawl between members of rival Loyalist paramilitary groups. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was responsible for the killing. The killing was part of a feud between the UDA and the UVF.

There was another meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC), the policy-making body of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). At the meeting Jeffrey Donaldson, then Lagan Valley MP, put forward a motion calling on David Trimble, then leader of the UUP, to leave the Executive if the Irish Republican Army (IRA) failed to decommission. Trimble proposed a different motion that would commit him to preventing Sinn Féin (SF) ministers from taking part in the meetings of the cross-border bodies established under the Good Friday Agreement, until the IRA had fully engaged with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). Trimble won the motion by 445 votes to 374. Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), attacked Trimble for the latest moves.

Tuesday 31 October 2000
Bertie Rice (63), an election worker for the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), was shot in the chest at his home in Canning Street in north Belfast. He died later in hospital. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) was blamed for this killing. Later in the day, Tommy English (40), a former Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) politician, was shot dead at his home in Ballyfore Gardens in Newtownabbey, County Antrim. Loyalist sources said this was in retaliation for Bertie Rice's death, and blamed the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) for the killing. The killings were part of a feud between the UDA and the UVF.

?? October 2000
Justice Henry Barron was appointed as Sole Member of the Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings. Barron was appointed to succeed Justice Liam Hamilton who was forced to step down due to illness.

November 2000

Wednesday 1 November 2000
Mark Quail (26), a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), was shot dead in front of his girlfriend at their flat in Ballyronan Park, Rathcoole, in north Belfast. The shooting was believed to have been carried out by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in retaliation for the killing on Tuesday of the Loyalist politician Tommy English by the rival UVF. The killing was part of a feud between the UDA and the UVF and brought to seven the number of men killed since August.

Friday 10 November 2000
The Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings wrote a letter to Peter Mandelson, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, seeking assistance with matters related to the Inquiry. [Further correspondence took place throughout 2001 but no information was supplied by the British government until 26 February 2002.]

Tuesday 14 November 2000
Clifford Shearing (Prof.), a former member of the Patten commission on police reform, strongly criticised the British government for "gutting" the Patten report in its proposed legislation. The criticism appeared in an article in the Guardian (an English newspaper) in which Shearing wrote: "The Patten report has not been cherry picked, it has been gutted".

Wednesday 15 November 2000
Ten homes had to be evacuated after a pipe-bomb was discovered outside a house in Glendun Close in Portrush, County Antrim, following a telephone warning. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) said they had not established a motive for the attack but added they did not believe it was sectarian. British Army (BA) explosives experts defused the device.

Saturday 25 November 2000
A pipe-bomb was defused after it had been left at a side entrance to a Catholic-owned public house in Coleraine. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.

December 2000

Sunday 3 December 2000
A Catholic couple and their 12 year old daughter escaped injury after a pipe-bomb was thrown at their home in Harper's Hill, Coleraine, County Antrim. A Catholic man and his two sons escaped injury after a pipe-bomb was thrown at their house on the Old Glenarm Road in Larne, County Antrim. Both attacks were carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.

Monday 4 December 2000
John Hume, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), stepped down as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) at Stormont. Hume was then a Member of Parliament (MP) and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and said that he needed to reduce his workload.

Tuesday 5 December 2000
Trevor Kell (35), a Protestant civilian who worked as a taxi driver, was shot dead shortly after being lured by bogus call to a house in Hesketh Road, off Crumlin Road, north Belfast. [It is not known which paramilitary organisation was responsible for his killing.]

Wednesday 6 December 2000
Gary Moore (30), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead while renovating houses in Devenish Drive, Monkstown, Newtownabbey, County Antrim. [Loyalist paramilitaries were responsible for the killing but it is not known which group carried out the shooting.]

Several families were evacuated from their homes in the Ballymoney area when a pipe-bomb was discovered on the windowsill of a house. The occupant of the house was not at home at the time of the incident.

Thursday 7 December 2000
There were two pipe-bomb attacks on the homes of Catholic families in Coleraine, County Derry. As a result of these attacks, and earlier ones, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) requested the deployment of British Army (BA) patrols in the town. A 30 year old man was alone in the kitchen of his home on Lilic Avenue when a pipe-bomb exploded in the back garden after bouncing off the kitchen window. The attacks were carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.

Tuesday 12 December 2000
Clinton Visit to Ireland
Bill Clinton, the President of the United States of America (USA), arrived in Ireland for his third visit as President. Bill Clinton was accompanied by the First Lady Hillary Clinton. The first part of the visit included Dublin and Dundalk [Bill and Hillary Clinton then travelled to Northern Ireland.] While in Dublin Hillary Clinton held a reception for 40 women involved in Irish political life at the American ambassador's residence.

Wednesday 13 December 2000
Clinton Visit to Belfast
Bill Clinton, the President of the United States of America (USA), travelled to Northern Ireland as he continued his visit to the island. The President was accompanied by the First Lady Hillary Clinton. He gave a keynote address at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. He urged all the parties to reach a compromise: "We have to keep going. I do not think reversal is an option." Hillary Clinton addressed a gathering of community activists and politicans at the Grand Opera House, Belfast.

Friday 15 December 2000
End of Loyalist Feud
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) issued a statement to announce an "open-ended and all-encompassing cessation of hostilities". This marked the end of the Loyalist feud which had erupted in violence in August and had claimed the lives of seven men. The feud had also driven hundreds of families from their homes. The statement added: "We fully recognise the pain and suffering that has been inflicted on our community and we resolve that under no circumstances will such events be repeated."
Sinn Féin (SF) began a High Court case to challenge David Trimble's refusal to nominate their attendance at North-South Ministerial Council meetings. [At the time Trimble was First Minister of the Executive and was attempting to put pressure on SF on the issue of the decommissioning of Irish Republican Army (IRA) weapons.]

Monday 18 December 2000
James Rockett (29), a member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), was found shot Tyndale Gardens, Ballysillan, north Belfast. [It was believed that the UDA was responsible for the killing which was part of an internal UDA dispute.]

Tuesday 21 December 2000
A bomb was thrown at a house in Hillview Road, Carrickfergus, County Antrim, around 12.35am while a couple and their two children were asleep. A window was broken, and there was damage to the front door and porch. There were no injuries.