Violence in 1969 – CCEA GCSE History

Increasing tensions
As time moved closer to Northern Ireland’s traditional
marching season
(July-August), there were increasing concerns about what would happen.

The Government in London was so worried about the deteriorating

situation in Northern Ireland that it had set up a special
Cabinet Committee
on Northern Ireland.
The Dublin administration sent an intelligence officer to Northern Ireland
to report what was happening to the minority nationalist community.
The Stormont Government feared that any more increases in the levels of
unrest/violence would overwhelm the police.
If that was not bad enough, there was growing evidence that paramilitary
groups were emerging within both communities:

Loyalist paramilitaries were being set up to stop nationalists gaining

further concessions.
Republican paramilitaries were being set up to protect their own
community.
The Summer of 69
• The unrest that had been feared made its appearance in July 1969.

• Trouble first occurred in Belfast, but the worst unrest broke out in Londonderry in the aftermath of the Apprentice Boys’ marches in August.

• The rioting that took place in Derry lasted for 50 hours and was christened the ‘Battle of the Bogside’.

• In the end the police were so exhausted that the decision was taken to order a small number of British troops on to the streets of Derry to help restore calm.

• The troops arrived on the 14th August 1969. However, violence continued elsewhere, especially in Belfast.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnJtieStDmA
Introduction

Following events at Burntollet and

Derry, Northern Ireland Civil Rights
Association (NICRA) marches and the
resulting counter-demonstrations
became even more confrontational.
Tensions in Belfast rose to the extent
that serious rioting broke out in the
summer of 1969.
Statement from the Taoiseach

Bad as things were, they were not helped by the decision of

Taoiseach
Jack Lynch to issue a statement on events north of the border. Lynch
stated that:

‘It is evident that the Stormont Government is

no longer in control of the situation. Indeed the
present situation is the inevitable outcome of
the policies pursued for decades by successive
Stormont Governments. It is clear, also, that the
Irish Government can no longer stand by and
see innocent people injured and perhaps
worse.’
Violence in Belfast

Whatever his intention, Lynch’s words - and his decision to send

both Irish soldiers and field hospitals to locations close to the
border with Northern Ireland – did not improve an already
tense situation.

The events of August 1969 were later to be seen as a turning

point in the development of what became known as the
‘Troubles’.

They were seen as directly responsible for:

1) The deployment of the British Army on the streets of
Northern Ireland in an attempt to restore law and order.
2) The eventual re-emergence of the IRA.
The Downing Street Declaration
(August 1969)

The Government in London also decided that it was time to get involved.
Following a two-day meeting between British Prime Minister Harold
Wilson and Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester Clark
on 19th August, a statement was issued that sought to provide
reassurance to both nationalists and unionists in Northern Ireland.
The statement – known as the Downing Street Declaration – stated that:
Northern Ireland should not cease to be a part of the United Kingdom
without the consent of the people of Northern Ireland. This was designed
to appeal to unionists.
Every citizen of Northern Ireland is entitled to the same equality of
treatment and freedom from discrimination as exists in the rest of the
United Kingdom irrespective of political views or religion. This was
designed to appeal to nationalists.
 More reforms
In the days and weeks that followed, a number of other reforms were announced.
These included the following:
•The introduction of one man one vote for local elections.
•An end to .
•The establishment of a committee to investigate policing in Northern Ireland (this
committee was chaired by Lord Hunt).
•The creation of a led by Lord Scarman to investigate recent disturbances in Northern
Ireland.
•The setting up of a new housing authority to look after the housing functions
previously undertaken by local councils.
•The implementation of a range of measures aimed at preventing discrimination in
public employment.
•The creation of a Ministry of Community Relations.
Alongside these reforms a number of actions designed to improve Northern Ireland’s
economy were also revealed.
These included:
•Additional investment grants.
•New work creation schemes costing £3 million.
The unionist response
Many members of the Unionist community were not satisfied by the
reassurances contained within the Downing Street Declaration.
Instead they focused on what they viewed as more and more concessions to
nationalists.
They were confirmed in their suspicions when the report of the committee set
up to investigate policing was published.
The Hunt Committee Report recommended that:
•The RUC become an unarmed police force.
•The B Specials be disbanded and replaced by a new force – the Ulster
Defence Regiment (UDR). This new part-time force would be controlled by
the British Army.
Some unionists were so angered by the Hunt Report that rioting broke out in
the Shankill Road area of Belfast.
The nationalist response

The nationalist response to the reforms announced

was more positive.
Following the frustrations of the O’Neill period, it
finally seemed as if the reforms sought by NICRA
and other groups were now within their grasp.
 Test Yourself
Study Source B below and answer the question which follows.
Source B: Speech by Prime Minister Terence O’Neill shortly after he resigned in
April 1969

‘I have been unable during my time as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland to

achieve all that I wanted. I hoped to improve relations between the two sides of
the community in Northern Ireland. However, my actions only raised Catholic
hopes and added to Protestant fears. The Unionist Party would never support
change. Unionists were suspicious that I was trying to improve relations
between Northern Ireland and the Republic.’

Using Source B and your contextual knowledge, give two reasons that explain why
some people in Northern Ireland were opposed to Terence O’Neill in the 1960s (4)
 Test Yourself

Explain: Increasing tension and violence in Northern Ireland during the summer of
1969 (9)
The emergence of paramilitary organisations
Paramilitary splits
‘I Ran Away’ was an accusation levelled at the IRA because of
its seeming failure to defend Catholics during the violence of
1969.

Since the ending of its border campaign in 1962, the IRA had
become more interested in Marxism

However, some of its younger members were unhappy with this

and wanted to take matters into their own hands, particularly
the defence of nationalist areas.

Towards the end of 1969, therefore, the IRA membership split

and two new groups emerged: the Official IRA (OIRA) and the
Provisional IRA (PIRA).
The Official IRA
(OIRA)
Paramilitary splits
‘ This group was made up mainly of older IRA members.

It was more interested in setting up an Irish Republic that would be

run along
Marxist lines.

While the OIRA was not as involved in the use of violence as the
Provisional IRA, until the group declared a ceasefire in May 1972 they
still regarded violence as an option.

Two years’ later there was a further division within the OIRA with the
more militant Irish Nationalist Liberation Army (INLA) being set up.

This group was supported by a political wing, the Irish Republican

Socialist Party (IRSP).
The Provisional IRA
(PIRA)
Members of the Provisional IRA believed that the OIRA
hadn’t done enough to protect the nationalist community
during the violence of the previous summer.

Made up of a younger membership, the PIRA saw itself as

the defender of the minority community within Northern
Ireland.
Towards the end of March 1970, the PIRA issued a
statement which set out its objectives. These were:

The protection of the Catholic population.

The achievement of civil rights.
The destruction of the Northern Ireland Government.
The creation of an Ireland free from British
imperialism
Loyalist paramilitaries
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) The Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
The Ulster Volunteer Force was by no means The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) was
a new organisation as it could trace its established in September 1971.
origins back to the campaign against the
Third Home Rule Bill The new group’s aim was to defend loyalist
. areas from attacks by nationalist
paramilitaries.
The UVF had re-emerged in the mid 1960s
and had grown in size as NICRA’s campaign The UDA soon became very popular and
for civil rights gained momentum. within a year could claim a membership in
excess of 30,000.
One of the main reasons for the group’s
revival was anger at the implications for Its size meant that the authorities saw it as
Protestants of O’Neill’s reform programme. too large to ban.

It believed that the ideal future lay in turning Although it remained a legal organisation for
back the clock to the days of absolute almost twenty years, the UDA was still
unionist control of Northern Ireland. involved in attacks on members of the
nationalist community.
It sought to oppose the actions of Republican
paramilitaries and to ensure that Northern When such attacks took place, they were
Ireland remained a part of the United claimed using a cover name, the Ulster
Kingdom. Freedom Fighters (UFF).

The UFF was outlawed in 1973.

Campaign and response
When the British Army was first ordered on to the streets of Northern Ireland it was
welcomed by members of the nationalist community.

They viewed them as their protectors from what was seen as the bias of Northern
Ireland’s police force, the
RUC
.

Their arrival was also considered to be a rejection by the British government of the
security policy followed by the Stormont administration.

The Army, however, soon found itself in a difficult situation.

As the PIRA campaign of violence to achieve its aims took off in the early part of
1970, it became clear that sooner or later the group would target the British Army as
the symbol of British
imperialism
in Ireland.

The Army decided to act to stop the PIRA growing too strong.
 One of its first strategies was the imposition of a military
curfew
on the nationalist Falls Road area of Belfast.

This curfew – which took place in early July and which lasted for thirty four hours –
was designed to allow thorough house-to-house searches for weapons and
ammunition.

Locally this became known as ‘The rape of the Falls’.

In many ways the curfew was a disaster for the Army.

Although some explosives, guns and ammunition were uncovered, the

inconvenience of the curfew and the damage caused during the searches meant that:

The Army’s positive relationship with the nationalist community was fatally
damaged.
PIRA membership increased.
Another… new Prime
Minister
Throughout the rest of 1970 and into 1971, Northern Ireland
witnessed growing levels of violence and destruction.
In response the Northern Ireland Government begged the new
Conservative Government in London to take a stronger line.
This did not happen, however, as the British Government did
not want to damage its relationship with the nationalist
community even further.
In the end James Chichester Clark became so discouraged
that he decided the only way to get his frustration across was
to resign as Prime Minister.
He did so on 20th March 1971.
Following a short leadership campaign within the Ulster
Unionist Party, Minister of Development Brian Faulkner
defeated William Craig for the Party leadership and was duly
appointed Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.