1972

After the government agrees that Ireland will join the European Economic Community, a referendum campaign follows at home. Labour and other left-wing groups oppose entry into the Common Market. The ruling Fianna Fail party urges people to vote 'Yes' . Fine Gael unites with Fianna Fail in campaigning for EEC entry. Ireland says 'Yes' to Europe by 1,041,880 votes to 211,888. In the American presidential campaign, Senator George McGovern leads the Democratic Party challenge. Vice-President Agnew and President Nixon go for re-election. Richard Nixon looks forward to four more years in office.Few people comment on a small break-in during the campaign... at the Democratic Party offices in Washington's Watergate Building... Unemployment hits hard in the West of Ireland. Thousands of people travel to England to look for jobs. The search for work divides many families across the Irish Sea. With their husbands abroad, many Irish mothers bring up their children alone. CALCUTTA: A group of nuns tends to the sick and dying. Mother Theresa returns to Ireland where she began her religious life 54 years ago. Derry, 30 January. Thirteen unarmed civil rights marchers are shot dead by British paratroopers. The Bloody Sunday deaths provoke immediate reactions of fury and disbelief. In Dublin, a crowd burns down the British Embassy in Merrion Square. A British inquiry into the killings is quickly established... ...and quickly concludes that at worst, firing 'bordered on the reckless'. No British soldier is ever convicted or even disciplined for his actions. Lord Widgery's report is widely dismissed as a whitewash. The Provisional IRA bombs a Belfast restaurant. 2 people are killed - 130 more are injured. The Official IRA strikes directly against a Parachute Regiment base. The 'no-warning' bomb kills five cleaning women, a gardener and a priest. Muhammad Ali, the former world heavyweight champion comes to Dublin to fight in Croke Park. Ali's opponent, Al 'Blue' Lewis, lasts until the eleventh round. A young man from Belfast wins the world snooker title. Alex Higgins is 23 years old. George Best runs into trouble at Manchester United. He is disciplined after repeated absences from the club. The 1972 Olympic Games open in Munich. Northern Ireland's Mary Peters wins gold in the pentathlon. Swimmer Mark Spitz wins a record seven gold medals. 17 year-old gymnast Olga Korbut wins a total of four medals. On 5 September, Arab extremists break into the Olympic Village. They shoot two Israeli athletes dead and take nine others hostage. West German authorities begin negotiations to free the athletes. The gunmen demand the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel and a safe passage out of West Germany. 17 hours after the beginning of the siege, the gunmen and their hostages are taken to a military airport. A shootout ends in disaster. All nine Israelis and a German policeman are killed. Five of the eight-man Arab gang also die. When another Arab gang hijacks a German airplane, the three surviving gunmen are freed. As the U.S. withdraws its last ground combat troops from Vietnam, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces win victories over the South. America continues its bombing raids and napalm attacks. Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. President to visit China. Mao Tse-Tung welcomes the President to the People's Republic. Ireland makes two constitutional changes in December. References to the 'special position of the Catholic Church' are removed. Another referendum reduces the voting age from 21 to 18. London imposes direct rule on Northern Ireland. Fifty years of Unionist domination come to an end. Republican and loyalist vigilantes set up 'no-go' areas. After secret peace talks fail, a brief IRA ceasefire collapses. 'BLOODY FRIDAY' 21 July. The Provisional IRA inflicts a new savagery on the people of Belfast . With minimal warning, it explodes 22 bombs in 75 minutes. Numerous hoax warnings add to the chaos on Belfast's...