Divis Tower is a 61m tall tower in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. 20 floors tall, it was built in 1966 as part of the now-demolished Divis Flats complex. It is named after the nearby Divis Mountain

Divis

Divis is a large mountain and area of sprawling moorland to the north-west of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The mountain is 478 m tall, making it the highest of the Belfast Hills...

. The complex of 850 flats, housing 2400 residents was designed by architect Frank Robertson for the Northern Ireland Housing Trust.

Due to Provisional IRA activity in the area, the British Army constructed an observation post on the roof in the 1970s and occupied the top two floors of the building. At the height of the Troubles

The Troubles

The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...

, the Army was only able to access the post by helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

.

Divis Tower was a flashpoint area during the height of the Troubles. 9-year-old Patrick Rooney, the first child killed in the Troubles, was killed in the tower during the Northern Ireland riots of August 1969, when the RUC

Royal Ulster Constabulary

The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...

 fired a Browning machine gun

Browning machine gun

Any of the following designs by John Browning, a prolific weapon designer, may be referred to as a Browning machine gun:*M1895 Colt-Browning machine gun*M1917 Browning machine gun, a family of water-cooled machine guns in .30-'06...

 from its Shorland armoured car

Shorland armoured car

The Shorland is an armoured car that was designed specifically for the Royal Ulster Constabulary by a police support officer Ernie Lusty during the sixties for patrolling the border to prevent organised smuggling. They were reallocated to the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1970...

 into the flats. The RUC claimed that it was coming under sniper attack from the tower at the time. Patrick Rooney's death took place during a day of street violence in the area. Chairman of the enquiry into the riots, Mr Justice Scarman, found the use of the Browning machine gun "wholly unjustifiable".

In 1981, an Army sniper

Sniper

A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....

 killed INLA

Irish National Liberation Army

The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....

 member Emmanuel McClarnon from the top of Divis Tower on the night that Francis Hughes

Francis Hughes

Francis Hughes was an Irish volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army . Hughes was the most wanted man in Northern Ireland until his arrest following a shoot-out with the Special Air Service in which an SAS soldier was killed...

 died on hunger strike.

Following the IRA's statement that it was ending its armed campaign, the Army decided to dismantle the observation post. Dubbed a 'spy' post by Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

, removal of the observation post commenced on 2 August 2005.

In 2009 the top two floors of the tower floors were reinstated as residential properties. As part of a £1.1 million refurbishment program by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive

Northern Ireland Housing Executive

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is the public housing authority for Northern Ireland. It is the enforcing authority for those parts of housing orders that involve houses with multiple occupants, houses that are unfit, and housing conditions.- Origins :...

 8 extra flats were provided.
Divis Tower rises near the interface between Falls Road and Shankill Road. It is currently the sixth tallest building in Belfast.