1985 in Northern Ireland

Centuries:	; ; 20th; 21st; ;
Decades:	1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s; 2000s;
See also:	1985 in the United Kingdom; 1985 in Ireland; Other events of 1985; List of years in Northern Ireland;

Events during the year 1985 in Northern Ireland.

Incumbents[]

Secretary of State - Douglas Hurd (until 3 September), Tom King (from 3 September)

28 February - 1985 Newry mortar attack: The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station in Corry Square at Newry, killing nine officers in the highest loss of life for the RUC on a single day.
3 July - Thousands of Loyalists demonstrate against a proposed Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) decision to re-route a church parade away from the 'Tunnel' (the Catholic Obins Street) area of Portadown.^[1]
6 July - RUC decide to allow a church parade through the area, but impose a ban on similar marches on 12 and 13 July.^[1]
7 July - Serious clashes occur in Portadown between Nationalist protesters and police as the parade of 2,500 Orangeman, passes through the Catholic Obins Street. Eight policemen are injured and three people arrested.^[1]
12–13 July - Further rioting in Portadown, this time between Loyalists and the RUC, as the Orange Order and Royal Black Institution parades are re-routed from the 'Tunnel' area. 52 policemen are injured and 43 people arrested during these two days of rioting.^[1]
15 November - Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, and the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, sign the Anglo-Irish Agreement at Hillsborough Castle, County Down. Treasury Minister Ian Gow resigns in protest at the deal.
23 November - A mass rally of Democratic Unionist and Ulster Unionist Party members against the Anglo-Irish Agreement is held outside Belfast City Hall under the slogan Ulster Says No.

24 October - Anne Devlin's play Ourselves Alone is performed for the first time.^[2]
Castleward Opera stages its first annual opera festival at Castle Ward, a National Trust house near Strangford in County Down, with a performance of Così fan tutte.
Gerry Anderson begins broadcasting on BBC Radio Foyle from Derry.
The last native speaker of Rathlin Island Irish dies.

Winners: Linfield

Winners: Glentoran 1 - 1, 1 - 0 Linfield

Derry City F.C. joins the League of Ireland, having been out of senior football since 1972.

30 March - The Irish rugby team wins the Triple Crown and Five Nations Championship at Lansdowne Road. They beat England 13.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Parades and Marches - Chronology 2: Historical Dates and Events". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 28 January 2010.
^ "Anne Devlin". Alan Brodie Representation. Archived from the original on 2003-12-11. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
^ "Glasgow 2014 - Alanna Audley-Murphy Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 24 October 2020.