Extramural Activity

A banner and board reminding people of the deaths of Jimmy McCurrie and Bobby Neill, next to their memorial garden (in the right of the shot) on the Newtownards Road, with the cranes Samson and Goliath in the background. The two civilians died in the course of rioting and a gun battle around St. Matthew’s that was “the first major confrontation to occur in east Belfast during the troubles” (McKittrick et al., p. 50). It is not clear at what time each died. McKittrick (Lost Lives, ISBN 978-1840185041, amazon.co.uk, .com) gives the death of both as the 27th, and puts Neill’s death at 2 a.m. (and so strictly on the 28th??). Matt Baggott is the current Northern Ireland chief of police.