2011 Timeline of Political and Paramilitary Developments in the North of Ireland

In Strabane, a man discovered a pipe bomb on the windscreen of his car. He later said it could have killed his two young sons.

The Observer reported that the security threat was at 'severe' level. David Ford of the Alliance Party said that the main active paramilitary groups had all improved their bomb-making capability over the previous year. He also said that the police had improved their detection rates against these groups, and that negotiation was difficult because 'those who are engaged in violent activities appear to have no political agenda'.

The funeral of Ronan Kerr took place. Both Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness attended, in a show of unity. At least one thousand people attended a protest against Kerr's death. On the same day, a man was arrested in Scotland in connection with the killing. A cache of arms had been located in the previous night in Coalisland, described as 'the most significant find in recent years'.

Gerry McGeough was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment over the shooting of off-duty UDR man Sammy Brush in 1981.

A suspect object discovered in the early morning in south Belfast caused a security alert. It was later determined that the bomb had been a trap for police officers who had been called to the scene by an emergency call about a woman in distress in the area. Police later said the bomb could have been triggered by a trip wire.

It was reported that during the last month, parcel bombs had been sent to Celtic manager Neil Lennon and two others, Trish Godman MSP and Paul McBridge QC. According to the BBC, 'sources close to the investigation indicated they were rudimentary and did not appear to have been made by someone with paramilitary training in bomb-making.'

Two men who had been arrested over the death of Ronan Kerr, Brian Carron and Sean McKiernan, were released without charge. A third man remained in custody.

A suspicious device was found in Tyrone.

Police investigating the death of Ronan Kerr arrested a 36-year-old woman.

A hoax alert closed businesses in west Belfast.

Martin McGuinness was quoted as saying that republicans opposed to the peace process had made little impact on the May 5th election.

Denis Bradley of the Consultative Group on the Past, which had previously caused controversy by suggesting all victims of the troubles including paramilitaries should be given compensation, said that victims of the Troubles felt they had been left behind.

A statue in memory of the UDR was unveiled in Lisburn.

In the early hours of the morning, a group of up to one hundred youths attacked houses in the Strand area of East Belfast. Sinn Féin called it a sectarian assault. Later, amid reports that rioters had shot at police and had themselves been shot, Chief Superintendent Alan McCrum claimed the trouble had been orchestrated by the UVF. It later emerged that one of those shot had been a 16-year-old boy.

At two in the morning, an 'explosive device' was thrown at a PSNI landrover in west Belfast. The police had been responding to reports of a stolen vehicle, which was found abandoned. Controlled explosions were carried out on the vehicle but it was found to be harmless.

Also in the early hours of the morning, a house in Tullyally was assaulted in what was believed to have been a sectarian attack.

In the evening, violence flared again in east Belfast.

It was reported that a nationalist residents' group, the Greater Ardoyne Residents' Collective, planned to hold a counter-rally on the twelfth in Belfast. Group spokesman Martin Og Meehan said: 'We are more than determined to express our opposition to triumphalist loyalist parades. We are standing up for the civil rights of the Ardoyne residents. Residents have repeatedly over a number of years said that these loyalist parades are not welcome. We are asking for a march within our own community. It will not infringe on the loyalist community.'

In the early hours of the morning, a petrol bomb was thrown at a police car in Newtownabbey.

Two men appeared in court accused of having a firearm with intent to endanger life, including former republican prisoner Tony Taylor.

It was reported that Marian Price would use a pardon obtained thirty years ago to have a charge linked to the killings of Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey thrown out.

A 17-year-old Catholic boy was hurt in a sectarian attack.

A 48-year-old woman was accused of involvement in the summer riots in east Belfast.

Shots were fired at a house in Derry.

Rasharkin Hibernian Hall was daubed in graffiti.

A 40-year-old man was arrested in Coalisland in connection with republican paramilitary activity. He was charged the following day.

Reverend David Latimer, a Presbyterian minister and former army chaplain, became the first ordained Protestant minister to address the Sinn Féin ard fheis.

It was reported that sections of the Orange Order had demanded two of its members who had attended the requiem mass for police officer Ronan Kerr should be disciplined.

A gate was opened in the 'peace wall' that divided Alexandra Park in north Belfast into Catholic and Protestant sections. The gate would only be open during day times and would be closed during the evening.

Two men were arrested in Tyrone over republican paramilitary activity.

A pipe bomb was found on the Antrim Road after a security alert. SDLP North Belfast MLA Alban McGuinness said that 'people who live and work in north Belfast are sick, sore and tired of these repeated security incidents.'

Real IRA member Michael Campbell was found guilty in Lithuania of supporting a terrorist group, illegal possession of weapons and attempted smuggling. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison after being caught in an MI5 sting.

Two Orangemen who had attended the funeral of Catholic policeman Ronan Kerr escaped being disciplined by the Orange Order.

A police raid was carried out on a member of the republican group éirígí in Newry. Spokesman Stephen Murney said that 'our comrade had his door kicked in, his home ransacked and his personal possessions rifled through by these thugs. They hit the door with the battering ram with such force it almost came off the hinges, the frame has also been badly damaged. Myself and a number of other local republicans were prevented from getting anywhere near the house by members of the PSNI armed with assault rifles. Unsurprisingly the PSNI left empty handed after nothing was found. I counted no less than ten Land Rovers and there were dozens of TSG gunmen involved in this attack on our community [...] The level of harassment being meted out to republicans in Newry is unbelievable.'

The Attorney General John Larkin announced his decision to open an inquiry into the deaths of ten people shot by paratroopers in west Belfast in 1971.

A forensic scientist told a court that Colin Duffy's DNA had been found on a glove tip, linking him to the shootings at Massereene in March 2009.

A house search carried out in Newry in the early hours of the morning, which led to two children being allegedly held at gunpoint and prevented from going to school, was criticised by republican group éirígí. The raid had not been connected to republican paramilitary activity.

Unionists walked out of a Belfast City Council meeting which discussed displaying a Christmas message in Irish on the side of the City Hall.

In the Massareene trial, it was alleged that the son of INLA leader Dominic McGlinchey had been the getaway driver. Two days later, Dominic McGlinchey Jnr denied the charges.

While the UVF supergrass trial adjourned for Christmas, the Massereene trial finished hearing evidence. Brian Shivers was referred to as an 'unlikely terrorist'.

December 2010	January 2011	February 2011	March 2011
April 2011	May 2011	June 2011	July 2011
August 2011	September 2011	October 2011	November 2011
December 2011	January 2012

January 2011
1st	The Real IRA released a statement in which it said 'in the year to come, the leadership of Óglaigh na hÉireann will strive to expand the theatre of our operations in line with our strategy. We will continue to target institutions and personnel in the military, political, policing, justice and commercial and economic fields.' The 32CSM described 2010 as 'a year which laid bare the harsh realities of our struggle'.
2nd	A man was kidnapped and assaulted with bats and sticks in Craigavon during the early hours of the morning. At one a.m., a house in Lisburn had been attacked with petrol bombs. The Irish Independent reported that gardaí expected more conflict between the Real IRA and Dublin drug gangs in the new year.
3rd	A New Year statement by all mainstream parties in Derry (SDLP, Sinn Féin, UUP and DUP) was published. The statement asked still-active republican paramilitaries to 'put away your weapons and join with us in making this a better city for all'.
4th	It was reported that loyalist paramilitaries had threatened a teenager with violence unless he paid them the drug debt of a friend who had committed suicide. It was not confirmed whether the men were genuine paramilitaries or criminals using the name of a paramilitary group.
6th	Part of the M1 motorway was closed during a security alert. Police carried out controlled explosions on a vehicle. A 43-year-old man was arrested in Maghera in connection with republican paramilitary activity.
8th	A petrol bomb was thrown at a car in Garvagh during the night, and the house belonging to a couple in a mixed marriage was also targetted. Police believed the motive behind both attacks was anti-Catholic sectarianism.
9th	It was reported that bullets had been sent in the post from Northern Ireland to Celtic manager Neill Lennon and player Niall McGinn. Lennon had been the subject of paramilitary death threats before. A security alert occurred outside a primary school in Ahoghill. It was later confirmed that pipe bombs had been found. An alert in Portstewart was declared a hoax.
10th	Two men were arrested in west Belfast, reportedly in connection with recent republican violence. Bomb-making equipment was said to have been found. The four RIRA men found liable for the 1998 Omagh bomb challenged the verdict in court.
11th	A man was charged over the Strand Road bombing in August 2010. Another man who threw a petrol bomb during the Apprentice Boys' parade was jailed for twelve months. It was reported that a father was suing the PSNI for assisting his wife's new parter, a loyalist paramilitary under threat of death from the UVF, to take his young son out of the country. Bullets sent to Celtic player Paddy McCourt were intercepted in a sorting office in Glasgow.
12th	Nine mortars were found at a 'bomb factory' in County Kildare A 17-year-old arrested as part of an inquiry into republican paramilitary activity was released without charge.
14th	A 51-year-old man, Seamus Victory, appeared in a Dublin court accused of the unlawful possession of explosives. Three men were arrested in Lurgan in connection with republican paramilitary activity.
15th	The Orange Hall near Aughnacloy was attacked, one of three Orange Halls in Tyrone to be vandalised over the weekend.
16th	A security alert in Antrim forced a number of people to leave their homes.
17th	A small bomb exploded in Derry city centre in the early hours of the morning. It was believed to be connected to Derry's award as the UK City of Culture. A Facebook page attacking the Celtic manager Neil Lennon was condemned as sectarian.
18th	David Murphy from Dundalk was sentenced to eleven years by a Dublin court for conspiracy to bomb the Crossmaglen police station in April 2010.
20th	A man was arrested in south Armagh following an investigation into republican paramilitary activity. A security alert at the Royal Mail sorting office in Belfast was declared a false alarm. A 46-year-old man who had been held over two security alerts in north Antrim was released without charge. Police were called to the York road area of north Belfast after a fight between a UDA leader and a friend of Andre Shoukri. The Belfast Telegraph reported that extra police might be drafted in over the weekend to deal with tensions.
21st	A viable bomb was found in Belfast's Malone Road area.
22nd	The Republic's opposition leader Enda Kenny told the Alliance Party that he would do his best to combat republicans opposed to the peace process. He said that attacks had risen by 70% in the last year. 'It is an indication of their determination to undermine the current peace process. The Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) has repeatedly stated that these groups are actually recruiting and training young men in particular without any previous terrorist experience and are engaging in serious criminal activity like weapons acquisition.' Petrol bombs were thrown at flats in north Belfast. Shots were fired at a house in Bangor.
23rd	A republican parade took place in Lurgan despite warnings from police.
24th	In Strabane, a man discovered a pipe bomb on the windscreen of his car. He later said it could have killed his two young sons.
25th	Controlled explosions were carried out on a device in north Belfast. Up to one hundred families had earlier been evacuated from their homes. Justice Minister David Ford warned there would be 'extremely serious consequences' if the police were not given more than £200m emergency funding to combat republicans opposed to the peace process. Two houses were attacked by gunmen in Dungiven. Two people were arrested over the murder of republican Kieran Doherty, including his aunt. Both were soon released without charge, and the aunt said she had no idea why she had been arrested.
26th	The PSNI said that a bomb found outside a Belfast shop the previous day had been intended to kill police officers attending a call three nights previously. Óglaigh na hÉireann were said to have phoned in warnings. A pipe bomb was found in Carnlough. A loyalist group later claimed it.
27th	A second viable device was made safe in north Belfast. Chief Constable Matt Baggott said that those responsible 'had the same recklessness and the same mindset as those that brought about the Omagh tragedy'. It later emerged that the second bomb had been found attached to a child's bike. It was reported that an Indian family had been forced out of their home in Derry after racist abuse. Three people were held after an arms find in Galway. A woman was subsequently released while the two men were charged three days later.
28th	A pipebomb was found in Ballycare. It was believed to have been an attempt by loyalists to intimidate Catholics who might have moved into the area. A security alert that had led to houses and businesses being evacuated in north Belfast was declared a hoax. Meanwhile in Garvagh, a security alert was ended after police found 'nothing untoward'. Youths allegedly set up an illegal checkpoint in County Down. It was initially believed to have been set up by republican paramilitaries.
29th	The PSNI investigated a number of suspicious objects in Lurgan. Rioters attacked the police with petrol bombs, paint bombs and fireworks. The alert was declared a hoax. The Belfast Telegraph reported more details on the attempted Óglaigh na hÉireann attack earlier in the week. It was claimed that the bombers had set up their initial bomb on Sunday 23rd and police had stood close by it, but the attack was aborted after a woman approached them. Óglaigh na hÉireann then disarmed the device. The PSNI received several 'vague' phone warnings and turned to a go-between with Óglaigh na hÉireann to help them discover the device. Although the location was revealed, Óglaigh na hÉireann did not inform police of a second explosive in the area. The second bomb, a trip-wire device, had been intended to catch pursuers if the first explosive had detonated. Masked men shot a teenager in the leg in a paramilitary-style attack that took place in north Belfast.
30th	Thousands of people attended what had been controversially declared to be the final Bloody Sunday march. On the same day it was reported that Dr Raymond McClean, who had treated the wounded on Bloody Sunday, had died. Officers were attacked while attending a fire in Larne.
31st	A 45-year-old man was shot in the legs in west Belfast.

February 2011
1st	Guns were found and three people were arrested during an investigation into republican paramilitary activity in Dublin.
2nd	In west Belfast, a man was shot in the ankles.
3rd	Two pipe bombs were found in north Belfast, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. A Catholic was targetted in what appeared to be a sectarian attack in Omagh. Irish speaker Caomhín Mac Giolla Mhín was interrupted during a speech to Belfast City Council by members of the DUP. The Anderstown News reported that 'checking that we were actually in 2011 and not the 1980s when DUP councillors tried all manner of means – including blowing toy trumpets – to stop Sinn Féin councillors from speaking Irish in the chamber, Cllr Mac Giolla Mhín finished his speech on dual language signage'.
4th	Homes were evacuated in Sion Mills after a call was received that a device had been left.
5th	A security alert in Larne led to a 'crude device' being found.
6th	The Observer reported that the security threat was at 'severe' level. David Ford of the Alliance Party said that the main active paramilitary groups had all improved their bomb-making capability over the previous year. He also said that the police had improved their detection rates against these groups, and that negotiation was difficult because 'those who are engaged in violent activities appear to have no political agenda'.
7th	It was reported that the republican prisoner Christopher Donaldson, who had gone to Strasbourg's Court of Human Rights over his right to wear the Easter lily in Maghaberry Jail, had lost his case.
8th	Three men were arrested over the booby-trap bomb found attached to a child's bicycle at the end of January. They would be released without charge next day.
9th	Two men were arrested after a firearm was found in a van in north Belfast by police investigating republican paramilitary activity.
10th	Gunmen attempted to abduct a man in Strabane and a viable bomb was found after a warning at a sorting office in Belfast. The Guardian reported that Irish republicans would meet Kurdish and Basque separatists in a peace summit aimed at encouraging armed groups to adopt political dialogue.
11th	A man was arrested and then released over a paramilitary-style shooting in Westrock Park the week before. Also, two men who had been arrested on the 9th in connection with a gun that had been found in a van were released pending further inquiries. On the same day, the victim of a punishment shooting won his legal challenge over having his compensation cut for not identifying his attacker.
15th	A suspicious object in west Belfast was declared a hoax. The Belfast Telegraph reported that the Irish-American 'Friends of Irish Freedom' had accused republican Carl Reilly of stealing money intended for political prisoners. Republican fundraiser Cathleen O'Brien said she had been harassed in New York by two men claiming to be from Óglaigh na hÉireann.
16th	A viable pipe bomb was found just after midnight in Magherafelt.
17th	Police on a drug raid in Ballyclare were attacked by youths who threw petrol bombs. Petrol bombs were also thrown in Tullyally. It was reported that the PSNI had been awarded an extra £200m to combat republican paramilitary activity.
18th	A man was detained in Wexford after bomb-making parts were discovered. Another man was detained in west Belfast. Republican Gerry McGeough was found guilty of an attempt to murder Samuel Brush, now a DUP councillor, in 1981. The former IRA man commented 'what else could you expect from a Diplock court'.
19th	Ballymena United player Denver Gage was reported to have been involved in singing sectarian songs. It was reported that Óglaigh na hÉireann had denied threatening Seamus Finucane, elder brother of Patrick Finucane and former IRA man who is now involved in community work.
21st	There were claims that UK police were targetting republican paramilitaries based in England. The new Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan, promised to target still-active republican paramilitaries. A report revealed the false information leaked by police after the McGurk bar bombing in 1971. The police chief Matt Baggott refused to condemn the actions of the RUC.
24th	A 74-year-old man arrested on suspicion of involvement in republican paramilitary activity was released without charge. The Belfast Telegraph quoted UDA Brigadier Jackie McDonald as saying he wanted to promote peace. It also reported that an amendment to the Justice Bill to define sectarian chants had failed.
25th	A 40-year-old man was arrested in north Belfast in connection with republican paramilitary activity. A family including a toddler narrowly escaped injury when a pipe-bomb exploded near their car. It was unclear whether the bomb had been attached to the car or had been in the road. It was implied that republicans opposed to the peace process were responsible.
26th	Shots were fired at a house in Strabane. The woman who lived there with her three-year-old son said she had no idea why the house was targetted.
28th	Loyalist Robert James Clarke was jailed for the sectarian killing of Alfredo Fusco in 1973. A man was shot in the legs at a house in west Belfast. In Lurgan, a man was arrested over a republican parade that had taken place on January 23rd in support of prisoner Martin Corey.

March 2011
1st	It was reported that IRA victims who had been seeking compensation from Libya's Gaddafi were putting their campaign on hold. Two men denied possessing a handgun and explosives that had allegedly been found in their car by police in November 2009.
2nd	Shots were fired at police investigating an abandoned car in Derry. The attack was blamed on republican paramilitaries. On the 4th, it was reported that the RIRA had claimed the shots, but had said that no civilians were in danger. However, a witness from Derry, Liam Kelly, said that five civilians (he and his family) had been in the firing line.
3rd	A security alert occurred in west Belfast after an abandoned cash box was found. Two men arrested in Lurgan over republican paramilitary activity were released.
5th	A 31-year-old man was arrested over the shots fired on police on March 2nd. Pipe bombs, ammunition and fireworks were found in Portglenone forest.
6th	PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris warned about the security threat from republican paramilitaries. He said that 'we really have only escaped fatalities by the skin of our teeth.'
7th	A man was held over the shooting on the 2nd. A house in Claudy was shot at in the early hours of the morning. Priest Rev. Arthur O'Reilly condemned the attack. A house in Donegal was fired upon by 'self-appointed vigilantes'. A hoax device was left outside a social club in west Belfast. It was alleged that the Continuity IRA might have been involved in the murder of drug dealer Hugh McGeough and his wife in Craigavon.
9th	A controlled explosion was carried out on an object taped to a lamp post in north Belfast. It was later determined to have been a hoax. Fireworks and a petrol bomb were thrown during trouble in east Belfast.
11th	In the early hours of the morning, a pipe bomb was thrown into the flat of DUP councillor John Smyth Jr.
13th	A man was shot in the legs in Strabane. Several children saw the man lying injured after the attack.
14th	A case appeared in court of a group of pensioners who had spent money gained by republican paramilitaries in a tiger kidnapping the previous November. Either the RIRA or Óglaigh na hÉireann carried out the original operation.
15th	The Belfast Telegraph reported that Óglaigh na hÉireann had threatened prison officers in a dispute over strip-searching at Maghaberry. A senior ONH member was said to have commented that 'if ONH prisoners are harmed, I am led to believe there are a number of prison officers whose details are known to ONH, up to and including governor level'. Darren Kernohan was found guilty of the April 2009 murder of Geoff Kerr. The killing had been blamed on a loyalist gang who had been believed to have been led by a British agent. An alert at Wellington Park in south Belfast was called an 'elaborate hoax'. Republican Bobby Tohill and three others were injured in a knife attack in west Belfast. A man appeared in court over the attack two days later.
16th	It was reported that a Polish family would be leaving Ballymena after a sectarian attack. A court heard that a man who was being investigated for burglary was found to be keeping pipe bombs and bullets for paramilitaries because he had been pressured to do so. Shortly before midnight, petrol bombs were thrown at a house in Coagh, County Tyrone.
18th	Two men were injured in a paramilitary-style shooting in west Belfast.
19th	A security alert in west Belfast was declared a hoax. A viable device was found in the Shanlieve Park area of north Belfast.
21st	Sectarian rioting occurred in the early hours of the morning outside Belfast's Odyssey complex. Hoax alerts occurred in west Belfast and Derry.
22nd	It was reported that the PSNI's 50/50 Catholic/Protestant recruitment policy would end on March 28th. Since 1998, the number of Catholics in the PSNI had risen from 8% to nearly 30%. Unionists welcomed the move while Sinn Féin criticised it. The Belfast Telegraph reported that children had been photographed posing as IRA members in a South Armagh community centre. The images had been taken six months previously. A security alert in Lurgan was called an 'elaborate hoax'.
25th	Martin McGuinness labelled a delay in opening a cancer unit in Derry as 'sectarian'. A 19-year-old found guilty of throwing a petrol bomb in July 2010 was given a suspended sentence.
26th	Celtic boss Neil Lennon was the target of another bomb hoax.
27th	A 'substantial device' was found near a courthouse in Derry following a telephoned warning. A number of people including pensioners and choirboys had to be evacuated from the surrounding area. Police in the Republic investigated a possible republican paramilitary link to the non-fatal shooting of three men in Dublin.
28th	A small bomb was found in west Belfast following an alert. It was reported that an ombudsman had ruled that a note found in the cell of a republican in Maghaberry during 2009 was planted by a prison officer. The note had led to the resignation of prisoner governor Steve Rodford. Shots were heard in north Belfast. A nun claimed to have heard a man say 'that's it finished now'.
29th	An alert in north Belfast caused a mass evacuation. After a number of controlled explosions had been carried out, it appeared that the alert had been a hoax. A man was arrested. A grenade launcher was found in County Leitrim.
30th	A convicted Loyalist killer, Philip Blaney, was jailed over a brawl at Mater Hospital. Lord Carlile, who had investigated the shooting of Real IRA member Kieran Doherty in February 2010, said he believed there had been no 'misbehaviour or infraction by anybody connected directly or indirectly with the public service' - e.g. that MI5 had not been involved. Doherty's family were disappointed with the verdict.
31st	A man was arrested over the murder of Loyalist Bobby Moffett. A suspicious object sparked an alert in Roslea. It was reported that paramilitary watchdogs the Independent Monitoring Commission and the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning had been dissolved.

April 2011
1st	A suspicious object found near the courthouse in Derry was declared a hoax. In West Belfast, a bomb scare ended without any device being found. It was reported that Gerry McGeough had been given a reference by an anonymous member of the Northern Ireland Executive ahead of his sentencing. McGeough had been found guilty of the attempted murder of an off-duty UDR soldier.
2nd	Ronan Kerr, a young Catholic who had recently joined the PSNI, was killed when a bomb exploded under his car. No group initially claimed the bombing, although republicans opposed to the peace process were suspected and condemned.
3rd	The Guardian reported that according to 'senior security sources', 'republican dissidents have perfected a new generation of weapons with which to launch a fresh terrorist offensive... the threat from the dissident republican terror groups has become more pronounced in recent weeks.' The PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott appealed for information on the killing of Ronan Kerr, calling republican paramilitaries opposed to the peace process 'a potent and dangerous minority'. The mother of Ronan Kerr paid tribute to her son. She urged Catholic members of the police not to be deterred, saying 'we don't want to go back into the dark days again of fear and terror.' Gerry Adams said that republicans were 'seething with anger' over the killing, while Martin McGuinness commented that '[the killers] are totally and absolutely out of step with where the vast majority of the people are at.'
4th	Two bomb alerts in County Armagh were declared 'elaborate hoaxes', and police came under attack from petrol bombers while investigating alerts in Lurgan. Secretary of State Owen Patterson addressed the House of Commons over the death of Ronan Kerr. He said 'these terrorists will not destablise the peace process'. Matt Baggott also met Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness. McGuinness stressed that he was standing 'rock solid together' with Robinson. The Irish Justice Minister, Alan Shatter, called the killing a 'barbaric atrocity'. Gerry Adams rejected claims that his party was not doing enough to combat republicans opposed to the ceasefire. A suspicious object was found beneath a vehicle outside a police station in north Belfast. A 41-year-old man was arrested in Armagh in connection with republican paramilitary activity. Sinn Féin councillor Peter Bateson drove a van away from a busy petrol station after being told that there was a suspected bomb strapped to it. The device was later revealed as a hoax. A hoax alert caused houses to be evacuated in west Belfast.
5th	The Belfast Telegraph reported the theory that a new group had been behind the killing of Ronan Kerr. An anonymous republican source was quoted as saying that 'it's interesting thus far that nobody has popped their head up to defend what happened or explain what happened. I don't think they anticipated the backlash.' On the same day, it was reported that social sites and graffiti had been seen in support of the killers of Ronan Kerr. A man was arrested in west Belfast over paramilitary activity. An Orange Hall in Newry was attacked.
6th	The funeral of Ronan Kerr took place. Both Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness attended, in a show of unity. At least one thousand people attended a protest against Kerr's death. On the same day, a man was arrested in Scotland in connection with the killing. A cache of arms had been located in the previous night in Coalisland, described as 'the most significant find in recent years'. Gerry McGeough was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment over the shooting of off-duty UDR man Sammy Brush in 1981. It was reported that Libyan rebels had apologised for Gaddafi's support of the IRA.
7th	As a second man was arrested over the killing of Ronan Kerr, a police report into the bomb found that it had lain undiscovered in the area for some hours and had posed a danger to passers-by including marathon runners and a child. The BBC quoted a young Catholic who said that Kerr's death would not deter him from joining the PSNI. Meanwhile the Orange Order declared that it would take no action against two of its members who had attended Kerr's funeral - attending a Catholic mass being prohibited by the Order. It was also reported that a member of the Orange Order, David Scott, had been given an award by a Catholic school. A man was shot in the leg in north Belfast. A security alert began in Newry during the evening. A second alert occurred in Lurgan. Two bomb warnings had been received.
8th	The Newry alert was still ongoing by evening. It was later confirmed that a bomb had been present in the suspicious van. Nonetheless, people had been removing police cones and driving directly past it. Police continued to question the two men arrested over the killing of Ronan Kerr, and were given a further five days to hold them. A third man was arrested. A police source suggested that republican paramilitaries were still targetting officers following the death of Ronan Kerr. The source said that 'there is nothing to suggest a lessening of operational tempo, there has been no diminution of activity.' Three people were arrested in Dublin following a police investigation into republican paramilitaries and criminal gangs. A 24-year-old woman admitted wasting police time with bomb hoaxes in Derry.
9th	It was reported that the bomb left under a bridge on the Belfast - Dublin road near Newry weighed 500 lb and 'could have caused carnage'. It was believed that the bomb had been abandoned because of increased police activity in the area, but had been on its way to a town. The Real IRA were later linked to the bomb.
10th	A peace rally was held in Omagh to mark the killing of Ronan Kerr.
11th	Police arrested a 34-year-old man on suspicion of involvement in republican paramilitary activity. He was subsequently released pending a report by the Public Prosecution Service. A petrol bomb was thrown at the Boys' Model School in north Belfast. It was reported that Gerry Adams had offered himself or any member of his party as a mediator with republicans opposed to the peace process. He said that 'the objective must be to get those groups to stop their activities if they want to get involved in republican politics and there are peaceful and democratic ways in which they can be involved.'
12th	A man was arrested in the Republic over the murder of the IRA informer Denis Donaldson. A bomb alert occurred in Belfast city centre. The Orange hall on Crumlin Road was damaged in a sectarian arson attack.
13th	Police were given more time to question suspects in the Ronan Kerr case. Meanwhile the Dalai Lama, who was visiting the Republic of Ireland, called the killing 'senseless.' A suspicious object was found near a nursing home in Larne. A 14-year-old boy was arrested over bomb hoaxes around Lurgan.
14th	The chief executive of the Police Ombudsman, Sam Pollock, resigned from his job after accusing senior civil servants of 'meddling'. He said that the body's independence had been undermined. Matt Baggott said that he was optimistic that police were gaining the upper hand in the confrontation with republican paramilitaries. A man was arrested over the Newry bypass bomb. Two men entered a house in Derry and shot a 24-year-old male in the leg.
15th	Police investigating republican paramilitary activity in Lurgan uncovered pistols, a shotgun and ammunition. It was confirmed that five pipe bombs had been found during alerts in Newry. Two men were arrested for writing graffiti in support of the killing of Ronan Kerr. Meanwhile, police were given longer to question a 33-year-old man over the killing.
16th	A security alert occurred at a church in Bangor.
18th	A hoaxer sparked an alert in Newry by phoning a paper claiming there was a bomb in the town. It was reported that increased security had been arranged at the courthouse in Derry. Sinn Féin called for a referendum on Irish unity in their manifesto.
19th	A suspect object discovered in the early morning in south Belfast caused a security alert. It was later determined that the bomb had been a trap for police officers who had been called to the scene by an emergency call about a woman in distress in the area. Police later said the bomb could have been triggered by a trip wire. It was reported that during the last month, parcel bombs had been sent to Celtic manager Neil Lennon and two others, Trish Godman MSP and Paul McBridge QC. According to the BBC, 'sources close to the investigation indicated they were rudimentary and did not appear to have been made by someone with paramilitary training in bomb-making.' Two men who had been arrested over the death of Ronan Kerr, Brian Carron and Sean McKiernan, were released without charge. A third man remained in custody.
20th	A blast bomb was thrown at a police patrol in Craigavon. No one was injured. A pipe bomb was found on Derry's Carnhill estate. Daniel Turnbull, accused of having weapons linked to republican paramilitaries, was denied bail. A security alert closed the road in Portadown. It was reported that a senior Loyalist had been stabbed in a supermarket in north Belfast.
21st	A 33-year-old man was charged over the death of Ronan Kerr. Police released a photo of the car involved in the Newry van bomb.
22nd	A number of 'significant' arrests related to republican paramilitary activity were made in South Armagh. The Belfast Telegraph reported that a group of former PIRA members had claimed responsibility for killing Ronan Kerr. The group was quoted as saying 'Irish republicans have continued to organise against the British presence in our country. We continue to do so under the name of the Irish Republican Army. We are the IRA.' Peter Robinson and Gerry Adams condemned the statement. The police issued a warning that more police officers could be targetted over the next days and weeks. A 'severe threa t' was anticipated over the Easter weekend, and extra security checkpoints and patrols were set up. The public was urged to be vigilant. According to The Belfast Telegraph there was a security threat from republican involving the Queen's visit to the Republic in May. A suspicious device was found in Tyrone.
23rd	Gavin Coyle of Omagh appeared in court accused of possessing firearms and explosives.
24th	A man was held after a petrol bomb attack in the village of Garvagh in which no one was hurt. It was reported that police investigating the bomb sent to Neil Lennon wanted to talk to a young couple. The Observer reported that according to 'the latest security assessment', 'attacking the mainland "now goes beyond an aspiration"'. Security concerns were heightened in the build-up to the Royal Wedding on April 29th, although no specific threats had been detected.
25th	The Real IRA made an Easter statement in which they said that they would continue to target police officers. In their view all PSNI members were 'serving the occupation and would be treated as such.' Those community leaders who attended Ronan Kerr's funeral 'will be unable to protect those who turn traitor. They are as liable for execution as anyone, regardless of their religion, cultural background or motivation'. They also condemned the English Queen's visit to the Republic in May, saying that 'The Queen of England is wanted for war crimes in Ireland and is not wanted on Irish soil.' The Tánaiste later said he was 'absolutely disgusted' by the RIRA's threats. Three men appeared in court over arms found in south Armagh.
26th	Police examined a suspicious object at Belfast's Musgrave Street PSNI station. A bomb alert at a Sinn Féin office in north Belfast was declared a hoax. Father Michael Canny offered to meet republican paramilitaries opposed to the peace process.
27th	Police attending a bomb alert in Ballymagroarty were attacked by members of the public. One hundred people had been evacuated during the alert, which turned out to be a hoax. Two controlled explosions were carried out on a suspicious package at Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey in County Antrim. The alert was identified as a hoax. A fifth device was found in Belfast by police investigating the parcel bombs sent to Celtic manager Neil Lennon.
28th	It was reported that the Real IRA had rejected Father Michael Canny's offer. A security alert was provoked by an abandoned drinks flask in west Belfast. The relative of three people killed in the 1993 Shankill Road bomb became the victim of a sectarian attack. It became known that the Ministry of Defence had lodged a planning application to improve security at the entrance to Palace Barracks in Holywood.
29th	A bomb partially exploded under a van in Maghera at three in the morning. However, a security alert in Larne was declared a hoax. A suspicious object in the grounds of the Andersontown Newspaper office sparked an alert. It was revealed to be a hoax.
30th	A man who had been found with four bomb timers on the 28th was charged.

May 2011
3rd	It was reported that semtex and a horizontal mortar had been found during searches targetting republicans opposed to the peace process on the weekend of the 23rd. Irish President Mary McAleese criticised republicans opposed to the peace process, calling them 'the tail end of a very old, tired, failed culture of trying to resolve political problems through paramilitarism.' It was reported that canvassers representing the People Before Profit Alliance Party had been the victims of a sectarian attack. A bomb alert in Derry was declared 'an elaborate hoax'.
4th	Irish Security Minister Eamon Gilmore said that security arrangements for the Queen of England when she visited were 'very strong'.
5th	Gary Donnelly, a republican opposed to the peace process, refused to shake hands with Martin McGuinness outside a polling station. A gun was found following an investigation into a gorse fire. The age of the gun was not known.
6th	Petrol bombs were thrown at two houses in Coleraine.
8th	After UUP leader Tom Elliot lashed out at 'Sinn Féin scum' in relation to the murder of Ronan Kerr, Kerr's brother criticised Elliot calling his ideas 'prehistoric'. A suspicious car in Ballymena caused a security alert. A petrol bomb was thrown at a house in Enniskillen.
9th	A grenade was thrown at police investigating a security alert in Derry. A woman later said her child could have been killed by it.
10th	Police investigating the death of Ronan Kerr arrested a 36-year-old woman. A hoax alert closed businesses in west Belfast. Martin McGuinness was quoted as saying that republicans opposed to the peace process had made little impact on the May 5th election.
11th	A bomb alert closed Connolly station in Dublin. Security was very high in advance of the Queen of England and Barack Obama's visit to Ireland.
12th	Three men were detained in Dublin by gardaí investigating republican paramilitary activity. In Belfast, one man was arrested. The Belfast Telegraph reported that the number of bombing incidents had doubled in a year. Two men were arrested in connection to parcel bombs sent to Celtic manager Neil Lennon.
13th	57-year-old Marian Price was arrested as part of an investigation in republican paramilitary activity. Meanwhile a 36-year-old woman held over the killing of Ronan Kerr was freed.
14th	A man and a woman were arrested in County Armagh as part of an investigation into republican paramilitary activity. In north Belfast, a child discovered a viable pipe bomb. Masked youths attacked police in Drumbeg.
15th	Marian Price was charged over a republican rally held on Easter Monday. According to the Guardian, republicans opposed to the peace process were being detained as part of security measures in advance of the Queen's visit. Two viable devices were made safe in Dublin and Limerick.
16th	Streets in London were closed off after the first bomb warning from republicans in a decade. The threat was in response to the Queen's imminent visit to the Republic of Ireland. Two people, including an RSF press officer, were charged with 'encouraging acts of terrorism'.
17th	On the first day of the British Queen's four-day visit to Dublin, republicans opposed to the visit protested and it was reported that the previous evening, a bomb had been found on a public bus in Maynooth. The security involved in protecting the Queen was called 'the tightest in the history of the State.' It was reported that Marian Price had been placed in Maghaberry all-male prison. A bomb alert occurred in Belfast's Victoria Square shopping centre. Sinn Féin announced that two former IRA prisoners, Gerry Kelly and Pat Sheehan, would be joining the policing board. A petrol bomb was thrown at a car belonging to the father of a Catholic PSNI member in Derry.
18th	A suspect object sparked a security alert in the Creggan estate in Derry. A man was said to have picked up the object, which turned out to be a hoax.
19th	Twelve republican activists were arrested on their way to the convention centre in Dublin where the British Queen would be appearing. Bomb alerts occurred in Glynn and west Belfast. Four masked and armed men forced their way into a house in north Belfast, apparently to carry out a paramilitary-style assault.
21st	Masked men threw a bag containing a bomb into a bank in Derry. There was panic and people, including children, had to be evacuated. The bomb subsequently exploded, but no one was injured. It was reported that police were questioning a man about the bomb found on a Maynooth bus on May 16th.
22nd	An illegal protest was held demanding a parade for the Royal Irish Regiment in Belfast. A stone was thrown at a Free Presbyterian church in Rasharkin during a service. This was originally believed to be a sectarian attack but was later put down to an accident. At around midnight, someone believed to be a republican vigilante threw a petrol bomb at a house in Donegal. The attacker was dismissed by Sinn Féin, who said: 'No doubt some of these people would call themselves republicans. Republican is respecting the people and the people are sovereign. The people have spoken and the gardai and PSNI represent them.'
23rd	Shots were fired at a car and a van in Dungiven.
24th	In the Spotlight TV programme, Ronan Kerr's mother made a statement about the 'very personal attack' on her son. Footage was released of the bomb exploding in the Santander bank on May 21st.
25th	Michael Campbell appeared in a Lithuanian court accused of being a member of the RIRA. Security alerts occurred in Bangor and and west Belfast. A row developed over the appointment of Mary McArdle, a former IRA member involved in the killing of 22-year-old Mary Travers, to a top post at Stormont.
26th	Liam Rainey appeared in Belfast Crown Court following his extradition from the Republic over the kidnap of republican Bobby Tohill.
27th	Fourteen alerts brought traffic to a standstill across the North. A bomb was found in the university area. Two men were injured in paramilitary-style shootings.
28th	It was reported that a coronor had requested new tests on the remains of Gareth O'Connor, an alleged RIRA member, who had vanished while making his way to the Dundalk Garda station in 2003. His body was found two years later.
30th	The DUP criticised Sinn Féin for choosing former IRA man Sean McGlinchey to serve as Mayor of Limavady. McGlinchey had played a role in a car bombing that killed six people.
31st	Small bombs and a petrol bomb were thrown at police in Craigavon. Six hoax bombs were found at Belfast City Cemetery. The DUP denied claims in The Belfast Telegraph that they had made contact with Sinn Féin before their first official meeting in 2007.

June 2011
1st	A man was arrested and then released in Craigavon in connection with republican paramilitary activity.
2nd	The High Court heard that a pipe bomb had been thrown at the Alliance Party's South Belfast headquarters by republicans opposed to the peace process. Stephen Radcliffe from Derry was accused of having guns in his flat. A man was arrested in south Armagh in connection with republican paramilitary activity. He was released without charge the following day. Relatives of the fifteen people killed in the McGurk's bar bombing of 1971 held a protest outside the Policing Board's headquarters. There was an explosion on Lecky Road, Derry, at eleven at night. It was unclear who had been the target.
3rd	A security alert occurred on the Stiles Estate in Antrim. Nothing was found. Meanwhile, a man appeared in court accused of creating a bomb hoax with baked beans cans. Thomas Christopher Nash admitted gun charges at a court in Belfast. An Enniskillen family found a 40-year-old mortar in their garden.
4th	A shotgun was found near a school in Belfast.
6th	A pipe bomb was found in a Homebase store in Newtownabbey.
7th	It was revealed that members of a tribunal investigating the killings of two RUC officers in 1989 had met with former PIRA leaders in recent weeks. At the same time, an investigation into the killing of IRA men at Clonoe in 1992 was underway. A man involved in the July 2010 rioting, Jarro Costa, publically apologised to the policewoman who was injured. Two men were arrested in connection with republican paramilitary activity in Derry. The incoming Presbyterian moderator Reverand Ivan Patterson weighed in to the ongoing controversy over the appointment of former IRA member Mary McArdle as a Stormont adviser. A viable pipe bomb was found during an alert in west Belfast.
8th	A Catholic secondary school in north Belfast was the target of a sectarian attack. A court ruled that a video clip of a 2008 Continuity IRA gathering in Tyrone could be used as evidence in a criminal trial. Aidan Quinn stood accused of managing the meeting. It was reported that an Orange Order parade passing the Ardoyne interface in north Belfast had been restricted.
9th	British Prime Minister David Cameron told the Northern Ireland Assembly that the increased number of Peace Walls was 'disappointing.' Since 2006 the number had increased from 37 to 48. It was reported that gardaí were investigating a link between the Dublin shooting of Liam Kenny and republican paramilitary activity. Kenny was a former member of Republican Sinn Féin who had left the group in July 2010 to join a splinter group in Limerick. It was suggested that he had become involved in a feud between the RIRA and the CIRA over control of an extortion racket in Dublin. A brother-in-law of Martin McGuinness, Marvin Canning, was charged in connection with a 32CSM rally on Easter Monday. Paul Maskey won the West Belfast seat for Sinn Féin after Gerry Adams had vacated it.
10th	It was reported that the new Sinn Féin Mayor of Belfast had upset unionists by removing Royal portraits from the Lord Mayor's parlour.
12th	The Orange Hall at Dunloy was sprayed with grafitti in what police described as a sectarian attack. Denis Bradley of the Consultative Group on the Past, which had previously caused controversy by suggesting all victims of the troubles including paramilitaries should be given compensation, said that victims of the Troubles felt they had been left behind. A statue in memory of the UDR was unveiled in Lisburn.
13th	It was reported that a TUV councillor in Limavady had displayed the Union flag for the second time a week despite the council's no flags policy. The next day, he insisted that the flag might return. A 28-year-old man was arrested over the Easter commemoration at Derry City Cemetery on April 25th. The home of a Nigerian family was attacked in what police were to call a hate crime.
14th	Ammunition found at a disused house in County Louth was linked to republicans opposed to the peace process. A man told police that he had been threatened by gunmen and told to leave Strabane.
16th	The Belfast Telegraph reported that an anonymous unionist politician had said 'elements of the UDA and UVF were looking at the dissident threat'. The Historical Enquiries Team officially blamed the IRA for the 1976 Kings Mill massacre. A man was charged over the 2010 Strand Road mortar.
17th	Lawyers for Colin Duffy and Brian Shivers failed to have the case against their clients over the Massereene killings halted. There was violence on the Orange Order's Tour of the North parade, when a feeder parade was prevented from walking down a particular road. Two bombs were discovered and made safe in Bray, County Wicklow. It was reported that according to a survey by the Northern Ireland Life and Times, 72% of people within Northern Ireland wanted to remain within the UK. According to the survey, the number of Catholics wanting to live in a united Ireland had dropped from 49% to 33% since 1998.
18th	An attack on a GAA hall during the previous night was treated as a hate crime. It was reported that the SDLP had called for new laws to combat sectarianism, following legislative changes in Scotland.
19th	At four in the morning, masked men attacked a car with two men inside it in Enniskillen. The Church of Ireland Primate Alan Harper apologised to the Consultative Group on the Past for comparing them to 'spoilt children who have not got their way'. A partially exploded device that triggered a security alert in Annalong, County Down, turned out to be a flare. Three men were arrested in Drogheda as part of an inquiry into republican paramilitary activity. Three other men were arrested in a follow-up operation in Westmeath.
20th	A security alert occurred on Lisburn Road in south Belfast.
21st	In the early hours of the morning, a group of up to one hundred youths attacked houses in the Strand area of East Belfast. Sinn Féin called it a sectarian assault. Later, amid reports that rioters had shot at police and had themselves been shot, Chief Superintendent Alan McCrum claimed the trouble had been orchestrated by the UVF. It later emerged that one of those shot had been a 16-year-old boy. At two in the morning, an 'explosive device' was thrown at a PSNI landrover in west Belfast. The police had been responding to reports of a stolen vehicle, which was found abandoned. Controlled explosions were carried out on the vehicle but it was found to be harmless. Also in the early hours of the morning, a house in Tullyally was assaulted in what was believed to have been a sectarian attack. In the evening, violence flared again in east Belfast.
22nd	During the east Belfast riots, a press photographer was shot in the leg. It was not known who had been the intended target. Both republicans and loyalists were said to have been firing guns, and republicans were blamed for shooting the photographer. During the day, talks took place between political and community leaders to try and defuse tensions. The area was much quieter the following night. A man was convicted of sending menacing Facebook messages to DUP MP Gregory Campbell who had criticised the cost of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry.
23rd	It was reported that the First Minister, Peter Robinson, had met with leaders of the UVF to discuss the recent violence.
24th	Ciaran Farrell denied providing a vehicle linked to the February 2010 car bomb attack in Newry.
25th	A search in Hackballscross, County Louth, uncovered what was believed to be bomb-making material. The Whiterock parade in West Belfast passed off peacefully. Derry's new 'peace bridge' officially opened in Derry.
27th	It was reported that gardaí believed the bomb material found in County Louth had been destined for an attack on Northern Ireland. The press also covered the cost of defending people involved in last year's rioting - £34,000.
28th 29th	Two men pleaded guilty to a sectarian attack on a man who had been wearing a Celtic shirt. Shots were fired at a house in north Belfast.
30th	Republican Damien McLaughlin was jailed over weapons possession. Another man was charged under the Malicious Communications Act over comments he had made on the internet about Ronan Kerr. A security alert in Strabane forced the evacuation of homes. An independent report accused the Police Ombudsman, Al Hutchinson, of weak leadership.

July 2011
1st	Inver Orange Hall in Roslea was destroyed in an arson attack. PSNI Superintendent Simon Walls warned against 'tit-for-tat action', saying 'reprisals are not the way forward. They only result in raising tensions among communities, as well as depriving local people of facilities.' There was trouble during the 'mini Twelfth' parade in east Belfast, but police didn't believe loyalist paramilitaries were involved.
2nd	A man was abducted from his home in the Shankill Road area and badly beaten. A house in Newry was damaged in a pipe-bomb attack.
3rd	The car of DUP MLA Ian McCrea was burnt out outside his family home. Martin McGuinness said 'those who carried out this attack are attempting to heighten tensions as we reach the height of the marching season and this action must be condemned'.
4th	A pipe bomb was discovered in Glengormley. The Orange Order blamed 'the MTV generation' for riots over the previous days. The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning issued its final report. It did not provide a list of decommissioned weapons.
5th	The Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities reported that racist bullying had replaced sectarian bullying in schools. During the night, the office of the Alliance Party leader David Ford was targetted by arsonists.
6th	Police examined a suspect vehicle in Lurgan. A security alert also occurred at a police station in east Belfast.
7th	It was reported that a nationalist residents' group, the Greater Ardoyne Residents' Collective, planned to hold a counter-rally on the twelfth in Belfast. Group spokesman Martin Og Meehan said: 'We are more than determined to express our opposition to triumphalist loyalist parades. We are standing up for the civil rights of the Ardoyne residents. Residents have repeatedly over a number of years said that these loyalist parades are not welcome. We are asking for a march within our own community. It will not infringe on the loyalist community.'
8th	Two youths were charged in connection with the riots of the previous month. A Catholic church in Ballymena was attacked with paint around midnight in an apparent attempt to raise sectarian tensions during the time of the marching seasons. Two men were arrested in Dublin during an investigation into republican paramilitary activity.
9th	Police removed Union and paramilitary flags from the vicinity of a Catholic church in Ballyclare. They would later apologise for their handling of the situation. Six men left their homes in Derry after threats from paramilitaries. The father of one of the men said 'we have contacted all the dissident groups in Derry and they have all denied that they have issued any threat. We're asking anyone out there if there is a threat, could they tell us what group has said them and for what reason? We don't know why they've been threatened to be executed, they haven't been threatened before.' Two men believed to be linked to the RIRA were arrested in Portugal.
10th	Rioting occurred in Ballyclare, believed to involved loyalists, and trouble was also reported in Magherafelt, Carrickfergus, Larne and Ballyduff. Six police officers were injured. The Drumcree Parade, which had been rerouted away from the Garvaghy Road, passed off peacefully.
11th	Political leaders called for calm on the eve of the Twelfth, with Pete Robinson saying 'violence and rioting' was not the answer. However, twenty-two police officers were injured during riots during the night in Belfast, and a bus was hijacked.
12th	A second night of rioting hit the Ardoyne area of Belfast. Police said that children under the age of ten had been involved. DUP MP Nigel Dodds blamed 'militant republicans' for the violence. In all, twenty-six people were arrested. Members of the Crumlin Star football team were assaulted and stabbed in an apparent anti-Catholic sectarian attack during the trouble. It was reported that the security threat from republican paramilitaries to Britain had increased, according to a government assessment. Their 'counter-terror strategy' stated that support for these paramilitaries was low, but the number of attacks had increased from 22 in 2009 to 40 in 2010, with 16 attacks so far within 2011; many more had been disrupted by security forces.
13th	A thirteen-year-old boy was among those charged with rioting the previous day. Two people were charged with attacking police in Limavady. Police were attacked with petrol and paint bombs in Derry, Belfast and Portadown.
14th	Three men were charged over the riots on the Twelfth. Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness met to discuss the recent violence. They said people needed to be less complacent. The Guardian published the views of an anonymous CIRA member, who said that 'speaking to Sinn Féin at this moment of time, you are speaking to British ministers in a puppet government. When the time comes for anybody to speak to the British, I believe they will speak to them in Westminster. I see no merit in speaking to Sinn Féin, former republicans who now have openly and publicly stated that they are informers.' The Belfast Telegraph reported that Sinn Féin had criticised the Greater Ardoyne Residents' Collective for allegedly stirring up the violence that erupted in Ardoyne on the twelfth. The GARC denied this, saying 'we could see that the PSNI was set on confrontation.'
15th	An eleventh man was arrested as part of the latest investigation into republican paramilitary activity. Loyalists rioted in Portadown during the evening, and several immigrant families were driven from their homes. Meanwhile, police displayed petrol bombs seized by residents of Gobnascale who had been trying to put a stop to the rioting.
19th	Five people were arrested in Cork during an investigation into republican paramilitary activity. A bomb disposal team was also called after three men were stopped in a car in Dublin. A man was charged over the rioting on the Twelfth. Vandals painted an orange sash on a cow and farmer statue in Clough.
21st	It was reported that a mortar bomb had been found in Ardoyne. A sectarian knife attack occurred in Derry.
22nd	A bomb was found in east Belfast near the Oval football ground.
23rd	Violence occurred during the early hours of the morning at an interface area in north Belfast. A man was charged with possessing explosives and guns on behalf of republican paramilitaries.
25th	Public order charges against republican Garry Donnelly were dropped 'without prejudice'. Two republicans staging a dirty protest over conditions in Maghaberry Jail, William Wong and Michael Johnston, won High Court permission to challenge the denial of legal and family visits. Two men appeared in court accused of rioting on the Twelfth. Late in the evening, a masked man threw an 'explosive device' at a house in Derry. No one was injured. Vigilantes were blamed.
26th	Five people were arrested over the death of Ronan Kerr. Police released footage of rioting on July 12th. Republican prisoner Brendan Lillis was denied his application for release on compassionate grounds. At Willowbank Park off the Falls Road, gunmen called out the names of some men they were looking for and then fired shots. Sinn Féin said the incident stemmed from a fall-out between republican paramilitaries and local youths.
27th	Four men arrested in connection with the death of Ronan Kerr were released. A petrol bomb was thrown at a house in Enniskillen.
28th	Martin McGuinness criticised the arrests over Ronan Kerr's death. Chief Constable Matt Baggott defended the actions of the police. Meanwhile, a 23-year-old woman who had been arrested as part of the investigation was released. A pipe bomb was made safe outside Ballymena. It was reported that Sinn Féin had the highest income of all political parties.
29th	Daryl O'Donnell was fined for saying on Facebook that DUP MP Gregory Campbell should 'get a bullet in the head'. Houses were evacuated in the New Lodge area of north Belfast in what turned out to be a hoax alert. The number of people charged over the riots in Belfast on the Twelfth rose to twenty-three.
30th	A pipe bomb was found after a security alert in Annacloy, County Down. A man was detained over the murder of Loyalist Bobby Moffett but then released.

August 2011
2nd	Two men were arrested after a security alert in a car park in Randalstown. A man was arrested over sectarian internet sites directed against Celtic manager Neil Lennon. In west Belfast, a 68-year-old man was arrested and subsequently charged with having firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life. Meanwhile in Derry, four people were arrested and a rifle was found. Two days later, the man from west Belfast and two of those arrested in Derry were charged.
3rd	The Belfast Telegraph ran a story that republican paramilitaries had been planning a mortar attack on police.
4th	A Facebook page called 'Crown Forces Watch' was taken down after soliciting photographs of PSNI officers and details of security operations. The page had claimed that 'over the past few days in East Tyrone and South Derry the Crown Forces the PSNI/RUC have launched a massive harassment and intimidation Campaign aimed at Irish Republicans' and 'the aim of this group is to keep people updated on the attacks intimidation and ongoing harassment by the Crown Forces'. DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson called for the death penalty for those convicted of killing from political motives. A man was charged over the seizure of thirteen guns in Portadown. Three men were charged in connection with July rioting in Ballyclare.
5th	In the early hours of the morning, a petrol bomb was thrown at a police car in Newtownabbey. Two men appeared in court accused of having a firearm with intent to endanger life, including former republican prisoner Tony Taylor. It was reported that Marian Price would use a pardon obtained thirty years ago to have a charge linked to the killings of Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey thrown out. A 17-year-old Catholic boy was hurt in a sectarian attack. A 48-year-old woman was accused of involvement in the summer riots in east Belfast. Shots were fired at a house in Derry. Rasharkin Hibernian Hall was daubed in graffiti.
6th	During a security alert in Stranmillis, south Belfast, a 'suspected firearm' was found. A man was arrested in west Belfast over the killing of loyalist Bobby Moffett. Police were attacked with bricks while responding to a callout in Ballymena.
8th	A man was shot in the ankle by a gang in west Belfast.
9th	A man was shot in the arm and leg in Derry city centre. He had earlier been told he had twenty-four hours to leave the city. Republican prisoner Brendan Lillis was removed to hospital. His family had campaigned for his release on compassionate grounds. The Belfast Telegraph reported that a senior republican warned inmates at Maghaberry might take 'drastic action' as their hunger strike, which began on the seventh, escalated. The strike was intended to 'bring attention and focus minds on the conditions that currently exist in Maghaberry'.
10th	Shots were believed to have been fired on Quarry Street, Derry, late at night. Meanwhile a man was shot in the leg in Belfast. A man was arrested in Craigavon over republican paramilitary activity.
11th	Three people were arrested at the Alliance Party Headquarters after republicans staged a protest in support of prisoners.
13th	During the Apprentice Boys' Parade, petrol bombs were thrown at police and three vehicles were hijacked. Martin McGuinness criticised republicans opposed to the peace process, saying that 'the attacks on the Memorial Hall were motivated entirely by sectarianism and whoever carried them out should know that such behaviour goes against everything about Irish republicanism.' A man appeared in court charged with possessing firearms and explosives including an AKM assault rifle, a Beretta pistol, a mechanism for an improvised grenade launcher and 46 bullets.
14th	Petrol bombs were thrown at police in Derry.
15th	A court heard that DNA linked businessman Raymond Wooton to an arms cache found in west Belfast.
16th	A home was attacked with petrol bombs in Derry.
18th	Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, were arrested as part of a police investigation into republican paramilitary activity. They were released without charge the next day. IRA man Brendan Lillis was controversially released from prison on compassionate grounds.
19th	A court heard that soil evidence had emerged to link Colin Duffy to the 2009 killings of soldiers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey.
20th	A 55-year-old man from Newry was arrested as part of a police investigation into republican paramilitary activity.
22nd	Masked men walked into a Newry branch of Santander and dropped what was later confirmed to be a viable bomb. It was reported that Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay had lodged complaints about an anti-Catholic Facebook page run by a loyalist flute band.
23rd	Two men were arrested in Belfast over the bomb left in a van on Newry bypass in April.
24th	A former car thief who had been giving information to the police about RIRA use of stolen cars was the victim of a pipe bomb attack.
26th	A man was jailed for making a hoax bomb that sparked an alert.
28th	A hoax bomb alert occurred at a leisure centure in Ballyclare. It was reported that sectarian slogans had been daubed on the GAA club at Rasharkin during the night. It was also reported that shots had been fired into flats in Larne.
30th	Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Féin accused the PSNI of being vindictive after a visa was denied to a man, Brian Campbell, who had been detained over the killing of Ronan Kerr before being released without charge.
31st	It was reported that a Catholic teenager from Derry, Aaron McGregor, who had signed for Rangers had received on-line sectarian abuse.

September 2011
1st	A man from Tyrone was charged with 'allowing his home to be used for terrorism'.
2nd	Thomas Christopher Nash was jailed for hiding guns and bullets for republican paramilitaries. It was reported that the number of sectarian crimes had increased, but a police spokesman said this reflected a more pro-active approach by police. A petrol bomb was thrown at a house in Antrim. It was the latest in a number of attacks.
3rd	A security alert that closed a street in Newtownards was declared a hoax.
4th	A 40-year-old man was arrested in Coalisland in connection with republican paramilitary activity. He was charged the following day.
5th	Emmet Doherty, who admitted throwing a petrol bomb during the riots on 12th July, was jailed for four years.
6th	Alleged top RIRA man Kevin Barry Murphy appeared in court. A UVF supergrass trial began, with Robert Stewart testifying. Mark Haddock, one of the state's most high-profile agents within the UVF, was also present. He and others stood accused of killing UDA member Tommy English during a feud. Stewart claimed that when Haddock ordered the shooting he told the assassins to 'try to miss the kids'. Both loyalists and republicans criticised the way the trial was being held. Republican Terry Harkin said that ''back in the 1980s republicans and republican socialists correctly branded this sham as a series of show trials'. Loyalist Ken Wilkinson said that justice had been 'abused'. Sean Megaw was accused of possessing a gun used for a republican paramilitary shooting.
7th	It was revealed that witness Robert Stewart in the supergrass trial was an alcoholic. The following day it was reported that he had changed his story regarding the English murder during the investigation. Stewart's brother David was also due to testify. Aiden Francis Grew, who had once been in court on a charge of RIRA membership (from which he was acquitted) and whose two brothers were killed by the security forces was found guilty of cigarette smuggling.
8th	Three people, including former Sinn Féin councillor Brendan McConville, appeared in court over the shooting of PC Stephen Carroll. Patrick Quinn, a teenager who was once kneecapped by republican paramilitaries, was jailed for five years over his part in the 2010 Ardoyne riots.
9th	Reverend David Latimer, a Presbyterian minister and former army chaplain, became the first ordained Protestant minister to address the Sinn Féin ard fheis.
10th	The Maze/Long Kesh prison opened for tours.
12th	It was reported that a man who had been arrested over the killing of Denis Donaldson five years ago was still being questioned by gardaí at Monaghan.
13th	During the UVF supergrass case it was said that Robert Stewart got 'the deal of the century'.
14th	The Real IRA were blamed for two bombs, one that targeted a doctor and the other a police officer. Nobody was injured. DUP MP Gregory Campbell commented that 'it would seem likely that dissident republicans have targeted people by these devices which have been placed outside, or at homes'. Dr Keith Munro stated that 'there is no viable argument for behaviour like this - for people who are completely independent - we are not police, we are doctors trained in the speciality of forensic medicine.'
15th	It was reported that sections of the Orange Order had demanded two of its members who had attended the requiem mass for police officer Ronan Kerr should be disciplined. A gate was opened in the 'peace wall' that divided Alexandra Park in north Belfast into Catholic and Protestant sections. The gate would only be open during day times and would be closed during the evening. Two men were arrested in Tyrone over republican paramilitary activity.
16th	Just after midnight, two police were injured when a bomb was thrown at them in Newtownabbey. A laser was shone into a police helicopter flying over east Belfast. During the UVF trial, Robert Stewart admitted making a mistake about whether one of the accused had a lisp.
17th	A man was arrested for possession of a gun and ammunition, and a teenager was charged over the rioting in July. The Continuity IRA claimed a rocket attack on police at Craigavon.
19th	Petrol bombs and other missiles were thrown at police investigating a hoax bomb alert in Lurgan.
20th	A man was shot in the legs in the Markets area of Belfast. Police who went to investigate were attacked with fireworks.
21st	A court heard that Peter Carr of Derry had been filmed on CCTV throwing a petrol bomb during the Apprentice Boys' parade in August. It was reported that a Moroccan living in Strabane had been ordered at gunpoint to leave the country.
22nd	Eight people suspected of republican paramilitary involvement were arrested in the Republic.
23rd	A ninth person was arrested in the Republic.
24th	Four men appeared in court accused of firearms and explosives offences.
26th	A bomb was found during a security alert in Derry, and three republicans were arrested. They were charged on the 28th.
29th	The men who were arrested on the 26th were accused of having a bomb in their car. Martin McGuinness, who was standing for Irish President, told a rally in Derry that his 'heart went out' to the relatives of dead British soldiers and RUC officers.
30th	It was reported that the Presbyterian minister who addressed the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, Reverend David Latimer, had been targeted by sectarian graffiti.

October 2011
1st	A bomb alert that had begun the previous evening uncovered a bomb in Belfast city centre. Homes and commercial premises had been evacuated overnight. Police later said the bomb could have lain there for days.
2nd	Searches were carried out in Ardoyne which police said were linked to republican paramilitaries. There were reports of a suspicious device in the Glen estate area of Derry.
3rd	Two men were arrested in Derry in connection with republican paramilitary activity. They were released the following day.
4th	A security alert in the Beechmount area of Belfast ended with nothing being found. Ballymoney Orange Hall was damaged in a petrol bomb attack.
5th	It was reported that eleven prisoners at Maghaberry Prison had been charged with damaging their cells on May 6th, including Colin Duffy. A man was shot in both ankles in west Belfast. One of the men arrested on the 26th of September claimed he had found the device on the road and was taking it to a priest. The police countered that they had been watching him for twenty minutes before the arrest.
6th	The former Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward accused the government of gambling with the peace process through public spending cuts.
7th	A homecoming parade for troops returning to Belfast went ahead despite a bomb scare.
10th	A court heard that men arrested in Keady last April 'had gone to bury guns'. A child was injured in a sectarian attack in east Belfast.
11th	Republicans were blamed after the punishment shooting of a man in Ballymurphy.
12th	A bomb exploded at the City of Culture office in Derry. It was the second attack on the office in a year. The Real IRA were held responsible. Earlier in the day, a pipe bomb was found on the windowsill of a Polish couple's house in Steeple, Antrim. Stuart Rankin, who was already accused of making bomb threats, was charged with fifty more similar offences. A laser was shone at a police helicopter flying over County Down.
13th	Around 250 people took part in a rally against the bombing of the City of Culture office in Derry.
14th	It was reported that RIRA men Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly would face civil retrials over the Omagh bomb.
15th	DUP candidate John Smyth Junior appeared in court accused of making explosives with intent to endanger life, in connection with the pipe bomb found on the windowsill of a Polish couple's house on the 12th.
17th	A pipe bomb was found on the Antrim Road after a security alert. SDLP North Belfast MLA Alban McGuinness said that 'people who live and work in north Belfast are sick, sore and tired of these repeated security incidents.'
18th	A pipe bomb was found at an offenders' hostel. It was believed the bomb might have been connected to people who objected to sex offenders being housed in the hostel. Former Police Ombudsman Sam Pollock revealed that he had resigned over the way controversial cases such as informers had been handled.
19th	Shots were fired at a house in Larne.
20th	A senior police officer spoke out against republican vigilantes who were responsible for 'a reckless campaign of attacks and intimidation' . The Peace and Reconciliation Group said twenty young people had been forced out of Derry since August. A pipe bomb was found at an alert in Lawrencetown. Police said the following day it had been an attempt to kill a retired officer.
21st	Real IRA member Michael Campbell was found guilty in Lithuania of supporting a terrorist group, illegal possession of weapons and attempted smuggling. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison after being caught in an MI5 sting. Two Orangemen who had attended the funeral of Catholic policeman Ronan Kerr escaped being disciplined by the Orange Order.
23rd	Two men were arrested after a petrol bomb was thrown into a house in Campsie. A man was bundled into a car and shot in the legs in north Belfast.
25th	The Guardian printed a statement from the RIRA in which the organisation claimed the several recent bombings in Derry. The statement said that "the IRA has recently carried out a number of bomb attacks on the banking establishment. Such attacks are an integral part of our strategy of targeting the financial infrastructure that supports the British government's capitalist colonial system in Ireland. The impetus to carry out this type of attack is directly linked to pressure from working-class communities in Ireland as a whole. At a grassroots level, working-class communities are suffering most from the effects of cuts to essential services and poverty is now endemic. Families who have lost income as a result of the financial crisis – caused by the bankers – are being intimidated and some are being evicted from their homes." Of the bombing of the UK City of Culture offices, they said "the IRA has also carried out bombing operations against the so-called UK City of Culture offices in Derry city centre. It should be obvious that our objection is focused on the political exploitation of Derry's name and culture. Republicans view this charade as an elaboration of the well-choreographed 'peace process' which resulted in former IRA personnel serving as British ministers. This time, the whole nationalist community is expected to join in celebrations of their place within the United Kingdom and thereby realise the Thatcherite policy of regarding the six counties as being 'as British as Finchley'. Expressions of Irish identity within the context of 2013 will be effectively 'licensed' by the organisers under the banner UK City of Culture." The RIRA denied any threat to Martin McGuinness, asking why they would turn him into a 'so-called martyr'. However, SDLP MP Mark Durkan had said of the City of Culture bomb that "those responsible for this bomb have shown complete and utter contempt for the people of Derry. [...] City of Culture is one of the opportunities we have. It has been strongly supported across our city."
26th	A gun was found in a school playground in Antrim, and a petrol bomb was thrown at a house in Ballymoney.
28th	In his acceptance speech, new Irish President Michael D. Higgins affirmed he would continue the work of building bridges between North and South.
29th	A police raid was carried out on a member of the republican group éirígí in Newry. Spokesman Stephen Murney said that 'our comrade had his door kicked in, his home ransacked and his personal possessions rifled through by these thugs. They hit the door with the battering ram with such force it almost came off the hinges, the frame has also been badly damaged. Myself and a number of other local republicans were prevented from getting anywhere near the house by members of the PSNI armed with assault rifles. Unsurprisingly the PSNI left empty handed after nothing was found. I counted no less than ten Land Rovers and there were dozens of TSG gunmen involved in this attack on our community [...] The level of harassment being meted out to republicans in Newry is unbelievable.'
31st	Twenty-six people were charged over a sit-down protest at the scene of a disputed Orange Order march on July Twelfth the previous year. They were accused of 'obstructing lawful activity in a public place'. The PSNI confirmed that a special unit would be set up to police Derry during its City of Culture year. They said it was nothing to do with the Real IRA threat, but Chief Superintendent Stephen Martin commented that 'it doesn't help those efforts or the image of the city when bombs explode, and it ruins the prospect that can be created.'

November 2011
1st	Council workers cutting grass in the mainly nationalist Lagmore estate in Lisburn reportedly suffered sectarian abuse.
2nd	Arrests were made in Coleraine after youths put images of themselves burning [Remembrance Sunday] poppies on Facebook. Two men were arrested in west Belfast during a probe into republican paramilitary activity. They were released two days later.
7th	A court saw CCTV footage of the Massereene attack in March 2009. Colin Duffy and Brian Shivers stood accused of the killing of two British soldiers. Duffy, who was connected to the attacks by DNA evidence, was not accused of being one of the gunmen.
8th	At the Massareene trial, one of the gunmen was said to have shown 'no remorse'.
9th	At the Massareene trial, the court heard that the gun had been used in two previous attacks. A 32-year-old man was arrested in Derry on suspicion of involvement in republican paramilitary activity.
10th	During her final engagement as Irish President, Mary McAleese described the peace process as one of her 'greatest joys'. The Sunday World apologised for saying that Gerry Kelly had been the IRA Chief of Staff. It was reported that Creggan community worker Seamus Heaney, whose brother had been an IRA man killed by the SAS, had been criticised by republicans for inviting Derry's police commander to his community centre.
11th	A rally was held after Creggan community centre was paint-bombed and daubed with graffiti including the words 'RUC station'. RIRA supporters were blamed for the vandalism.
12th	A security alert in Derry city centre was declared a hoax.
13th	A security alert in west Belfast led to nothing being discovered.
14th	Justice Minister David Ford announced that the number of attacks by republicans opposed to the peace process had fallen. There had been 40 in 2010 but only 25 in 2011 so far.
15th	A man was shot in both legs in the village of Ballyarnett. In the Banbridge area, a 53-year-old man was arrested in connection with republican paramilitary activity. The Attorney General John Larkin announced his decision to open an inquiry into the deaths of ten people shot by paratroopers in west Belfast in 1971. Two security alerts in west Belfast were declared hoaxes.
16th	It was reported that the PSNI were considering using mini drones 'to combat crime and the dissident republican threat'. The Massereene trial heard that the DNA in the getaway car was 'six trillion times more likely to come from Colin Duffy than anyone else'. The DNA was found on a seatbelt buckle and a mobile phone. The previous day, Duffy's barrister had questioned why a glove said to hold Duffy's DNA had not been photographed inside the car. The Belfast Telegraph reported that sections of the Orange Lodge were appealing against the exoneration of members of the Orange Order who had attended the funeral of Catholic police officer Ronan Kerr.
18th	MP Peter Lilley condemned a proposed memorial to two IRA members who had blown themselves up in St Albans, England, in 1991. The wreath-laying went ahead in St Albans the next day. Sinn Féin councillor Anne Brolly called for 'sectarian' flags to be taken down in Limavady. Meanwhile it was reported that Scottish sectarian crimes had risen by 10% over the last year, and most of the victims were Catholics.
19th	The man arrested in Banbridge on the 15th was released unconditionally.
20th	A man was shot in a 'paramilitary-style' attack in Derry.
21st	A forensic scientist told a court that Colin Duffy's DNA had been found on a glove tip, linking him to the shootings at Massereene in March 2009.
22nd	Two men were arrested over the shooting of man in Derry on the 20th. The Guardian reported that a new book about the Orange Order, by Jonathan Tonge, had found that 60% of Orangemen thought that Catholics were IRA sympathisers. Nine out of ten believed Protestants were discriminated against.
23rd	At a cross-border police conference, the Garda Commissioner and the PSNI Chief Constable said that the republican paramilitaries still represented a severe threat and 'were involved in all sorts of criminal activity north and south of the border'. Republican protesters disrupted a meeting of the West Belfast Policing Partnership.
24th	A man from Dungannon was arrested on suspicion of involvement in republican paramilitary activity. The Department of Justice announced that all visits to Maghaberry Prison would be suspended on the 24th and 25th of November due to a planned protest by republicans opposed to the peace process. According to the protesters, 'the two core issues (strip searching and controlled movement) which had been dealt with within the August 2010 agreement remain unresolved... The failure to both implement the original agreement and to deal constructively with the issue of strip searching and controlled movement within the republican landings is clear evidence that the attempted criminalisation policy of republican prisoners adopted in the 70's and 80's is very much at work today.'
25th	A bomb alert in the Bush Manor area of Antrim was declared a hoax. A man appeared in court accused of twenty public order offences related to rioting in August 2011.
26th	Matt Baggott became the first senior PSNI officer to speak at a high-level meeting of the Catholic Church. On the same day, Peter Robinson told a DUP conference that sectarian divisions must end.
29th	The Sinn Féin lord mayor of Belfast was criticised for refusing to present a Duke of Edinburgh Award to an army cadet. It was reported that former acting assistant chief constable of the PSNI, Mark McDowell, who had disagreed with the term 'collusion', had been re-employed to assist the PSNI in dealing with their past.
30th	Gardaí announced that they would be investigating claims by the Continuity IRA that they shot dead David Darcy in Ballyfermot the previous day. Gardaí described Darcy as 'a hardworking individual with no criminal links' and father to two teenage children.

December 2011
1st	Martin Kelly was found guilty of shooting dead Óglaigh na hÉireann member Andrew Burns in February 2008. Kelly had known it was 'an IRA operation' but denied being a member of any organisation. A protest was held over the Belfast mayor's decision not to present an award to an army cadet.
2nd	A house search carried out in Newry in the early hours of the morning, which led to two children being allegedly held at gunpoint and prevented from going to school, was criticised by republican group éirígí. The raid had not been connected to republican paramilitary activity. Unionists walked out of a Belfast City Council meeting which discussed displaying a Christmas message in Irish on the side of the City Hall.
3rd	The Apprentice Boys' Lundy's Day parade in Derry passed without serious incident.
4th	A petrol bomb was thrown at a house in Carrickfergus.
5th	The Sinn Féin mayor of Belfast, Niall O Donnghaile, apologised for refusing to give an award to a fifteen-year-old army cadet.
6th	Ciaran Anthony Farrell, brother of Marian (Mairéad) Farrell, was given a suspended sentence for his role in the 2010 bombing of Newry courthouse. A pipe bomb was thrown into a house on the Poleglass estate in west Belfast, forcing the evacuation of several houses. The family who lived in the house said they would not be intimidated.
7th	In a debate at Westminister, Northern Ireland Minister Hugo Swire claimed that republicans opposed to the peace process might use the centenary celebration of the 1916 Rising 'to further their own regressive agenda'. In the Massereene trial, a solicitor for Colin Duffy said he had told Duffy not to answer questions during police interviews because he believed his own conversations with Duffy were being monitored by police. The defence team were trying to prevent Duffy's interviews being used as evidence so no inference could be drawn from his silence. However, the following day the interviews were ruled admissable.
8th	Former IRA hunger striker Brendan McFarlane's artwork was exhibited in Belfast City Hall. A man was shot twice in the leg in north Belfast.
9th	A security alert in Derry resulted in several controlled explosions being carried out. Organisers of a march to mark the fortieth anniversary of Bloody Sunday spoke up in defence of the march, saying that 'justice didn't go away with the end of the Saville Inquiry'. However, some relatives of the victims of Bloody Sunday claimed that certain elements were trying to 'hijack' the march.
10th	A security alert in Creggan ended with nothing being found.
12th	A shot was fired at a man in north Belfast at seven in the morning. A bomb was found in Keady after someone phoned in a warning the previous night. It had been left close to a police station.
13th	In Derry, a man was arrested on charges of 'supporting terrorism'. The arrest was believed to be in connection with the 32CSM's 2011 Easter march. He was freed the next day on bail. Two men were shot in the leg in Derry. One was later named as Ruairi Canning, a nephew of Martin McGuinness. His father was facing charges relating to republican paramilitary activity. At the Massareene trial, Brian Shivers' girlfriend testified that she and her boyfriend had been 'disgusted and appalled' by the attacks. Guns and ammunition were discovered in Derry.
14th	The barrister for Colin Duffy said that the evidence against him was 'tenuous'. A judge ruled that soil samples that were to be presented as scientific evidence could not be used in court. A Historical Enquires Team found that a UVF member involved in the killings of the Miami Showband in 1975 had been tipped off to lie low afterwards by a senior RUC officer.
15th	It was reported that a man had been charged with 'aggravated trespass, criminal damage and possession of fireworks' in connection with the protest at Maghaberry Prison on November 25th. At the Massareene trial, the judge ruled that Colin Duffy had a case to answer despite defence claims that the evidence wasn't strong enough. Republicans opposed to the peace process carried out a 'dirty protest' against the Alliance Party headquarters in which they smeared its windows with excrement.
16th	Despite controversy, a 'Happy Christmas' sign in Irish was put up on Belfast City Hall. Sharon Wooton, accused of 'perverting the course of justice' in regards to the killing of Stephen Carroll in March 2009, was allowed to change her legal team. Meanwhile, one of the men arrested in September over the Derry car bomb was denied bail.
19th	The Belfast Telegraph reported that republican prisoners at Maghaberry were planning to intensify their protest. Colin Duffy was one of the protesters and had been charged with criminal damage.
20th	A 58-year-old man was arrested in Fermanagh over explosives charges. In the Massareene trial, it was alleged that the son of INLA leader Dominic McGlinchey had been the getaway driver. Two days later, Dominic McGlinchey Jnr denied the charges.
21st	Shots were fired at a house in Short Strand. While the UVF supergrass trial adjourned for Christmas, the Massereene trial finished hearing evidence. Brian Shivers was referred to as an 'unlikely terrorist'.
22nd	A house was petrol-bombed in Kilfennan. Twenty-six people were found guilty over a protest at an Orange march on July 12th 2010. It was reported that the interface gates at Northumberland Street in Belfast would open on Sundays from Christmas Day onwards. The gates are already open during the week.
23rd	A road was closed during a security alert in Dungannon, County Tyrone.
24th	The First Minister Peter Robinson gave his Christmas message. He said that 'this year we saw for ourselves that evil criminals want to shatter peace. They will not win.'
26th	The Guardian ran an interview with police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan in which she called for a single body to investigate violence that occurred during the conflict.
29th	A bomb alert in Strabane was revealed to be an 'elaborate hoax'. A GAA club in Derry was set on fire in an arson attack. MLA Martina Anderson said that the attack had been carried out by 'people who are running around our community, have attacked community workers and the talk in the Creggan community is this is the same organisations and personnel who are involved who have now attacked a GAA club'. Republican Action Against Drugs denied any involvement.