IRA "fired first" in 1987 attack in Loughgall

[Evil Genius]

British have been fighting wars since year dot. And who have the Irish fought against apart from the Brits? Does that tell you something too?

Themselves? 

P.S. That certainly tells me something, like why the Irish people of a Nationalist persuasion are still fighting so hard amongst themselves on this thread!

[mylestheslasher]

I'd love to hear the theory of how we would have reached a fair political settlement without the ira campaign. The freedom loving brits would have come in and told off the unionists for being unfair and would have jolly well told them to be nice or else! Then big Ian would have stopped calling civil rights protestors fenians and pope rule and would have shared his power along with the ulster unionists and the traitor nationalists in their midst. There is zero evidence to support this outcome as a possibility and in fact all evidence points to the opposite, ie unionist policy was to keep the croppie down just like his ancestors did. They were just like the Israelis and if they had won I reckon Palestine would be more akin to what would have happened here.

[Forever Green]

What has that got to do with it?

It's the comedy value of a Brit hater being sucked into supporting a British club in a British sport. It's not relevant to the debate at all. It's just funny.

Carry on.

I don't hate Britain. I hate the British Army for the atrocities they have committed in this country and the way they have treated our own people. I feel very sad that there are Irishmen criticising the IRA for standing up to the British throughout the years. Sure, they made mistakes but it was a war and mistakes happen.
 

[Evil Genius]

Are there actually Irishmen criticising their own people for standing up to the British??? Just remember, you`s would still be second class citizens if it weren't for those men who had the balls to put up a fight. An army of 800 up against a very heavily armed force of 15,000 odd(not including loyalists), it is pretty obvious that the Provo`s got the better of the utter scum that is the British Army

Says the man with the logo of a British club in a British sport as his avatar.

What has that got to do with it?

Ever heard of Willie Maley? Or where he was born? And to whom?

"Utter scum", indeed...

"And if. You know. Your History. It's enough to make your heart go woahhhhhh" 

[Forever Green]

Are there actually Irishmen criticising their own people for standing up to the British??? Just remember, you`s would still be second class citizens if it weren't for those men who had the balls to put up a fight. An army of 800 up against a very heavily armed force of 15,000 odd(not including loyalists), it is pretty obvious that the Provo`s got the better of the utter scum that is the British Army

Says the man with the logo of a British club in a British sport as his avatar.

What has that got to do with it?

Ever heard of Willie Maley? Or where he was born? And to whom?

"Utter scum", indeed...

"And if. You know. Your History. It's enough to make your heart go woahhhhhh" 

Indeed I have and it doesn't change my opinion of the British Army. Quite a few Celtic players served in the British forces during the WW`s and that doesn't change my opinion of Celtic and my love for them.

[Evil Genius]

I'd love to hear the theory of how we would have reached a fair political settlement without the ira campaign. The freedom loving brits would have come in and told off the unionists for being unfair and would have jolly well told them to be nice or else! Then big Ian would have stopped calling civil rights protestors fenians and pope rule and would have shared his power along with the ulster unionists and the traitor nationalists in their midst. There is zero evidence to support this outcome as a possibility and in fact all evidence points to the opposite, ie unionist policy was to keep the croppie down just like his ancestors did. They were just like the Israelis and if they had won I reckon Palestine would be more akin to what would have happened here.

If you actually knew anything about the early years of the Civil Rights campaign in NI, you'd know that it actually helped produce a very significant and sustained process of reform, both in Westminster and  Stormont, over several years.

However as successive Unionist political leaders (O'Neill and Faulkner especially) rolled out these reforms, they were met by opposition from the extremes, pulling or pushing them back towards their old, entrenched positions.

Of course Paisley and his sectarian mob were to the forefront, but you'll find that they were just as enthusiastically joined at the other extreme by Republican agitators, for whom the establishment of a fair and peaceable NI was the last  thing on their agenda. Consequently, as the Paisleyites and (so-called) Loyalist Terrorists pushed otherwise moderate Nationalists into the arms of the extremists  in their own community etc, so Republican violence pushed otherwise moderate Unionists towards their  extremes, at the expense of the moderate centre.

Had these two extremes not been allowed to prevail, I have no doubt that NI might well have emulated eg of the success of the Black Civil Rights movement (from a position of greater discrimination btw) in the USA. [Or for an alternative example of how a British Government might be persuaded to accede to peaceful calls for political reform, you might see the stunning success of Gandhi's non-violent campaign for independence for India.]

Anyhow, below is an extract from CAIN of some of the reforms which were introduced in NI between 1969 and 1971. Of course there were also many regressive steps during this period, but as I've pointed out, these last were invariably a result of pressure on the moderate centre from the violent extremes (plural):

1967
1 February 1967
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was formed. The Civil Rights Movement called for a number of reforms one of which was for 'one man, one vote', that is, a universal franchise for local government elections. At the time only rate-payers were entitled to votes, and there were other anomalies to do with additional votes for companies. The association also campaigned for the end to gerrymandering of electoral boundaries. Other reforms pressed for included: the end to perceived discrimination in the allocation of public sector housing and appointments to, particularly, public sector employment; the repeal of the Special Powers Act; and the disbandment of the 'B-Specials' (Ulster Special Constabulary) which was a paramilitary style reserve police force which was entirely Protestant in its makeup.
November 1967
The Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) was formed.


1968
Saturday 24 August 1968
First Civil Rights March
The Campaign for Social Justice (CSJ), the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), and a number of other groups, held the first 'civil rights march' in Northern Ireland from Coalisland to Dungannon. Loyalists organised a counter demonstration in an effort to get the march banned (a tactic that was to be used throughout the period of 'the Troubles') and in fact the planned rally was banned. Despite this the march passed off without incident. The publicity surrounding the march acted as encouragement to other protesting groups to form branches of the NICRA.

Friday 4 October 1968
A Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) delegation met with the march organisers and tried to have the march cancelled. Eventually it was decided to go ahead with the march.

Saturday 5 October 1968
Civil Rights March in Derry
[Considered by many as the start date of the current 'Troubles']

Friday 8 November 1968
Londonderry Corporation agreed to a Nationalist request to introduce a points system in the allocation of public sector housing.

Friday 22 November 1968
Reforms Package Announced
Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, announced a package of reform measures which had resulted from meetings in London with Harold Wilson, then British Prime Minister, and James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary. The five point reform plan included:

a nine member 'Development Commission' to take over the powers of the Londonderry Corporation;
an ombudsman to investigate complaints against government departments;
the allocation of houses by local authorities to be based on need;
the Special Powers Act to be abolished as it was safe to do so; and
some reform of the local government franchise (the end of the company votes).

Thursday 28 November 1968
The Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) became law and abolished university representation and the business vote in Stormont elections. It also created four new constituencies and a permanent Boundary Commission.

Saturday 30 November 1968
A Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) march in Armagh was stopped by Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) because of the presence of a Loyalist counter demonstration led by Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting. The Loyalist crowd then took over the centre of Armagh. [Both Paisley and Bunting were imprisoned in January 1969 for unlawful assembly during this counter protest.]

Monday 9 December 1968
Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, made a television appeal for moderate opinion in what became known as the 'Ulster stands at the Crossroads' speech. The speech gained a lot of public support. The Derry Citizen's Action Committee (DCAC) called a halt to all marches and protests for a period of one month.


Friday 20 December 1968
The People's Democracy (PD) announced that its members would undertake a protest march from Belfast to Derry beginning on 1 January 1969 [Burntollet etc].

1969
Sunday 5 January 1969
Terence O'Neill, then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, issued a statement on the events since 1 January 1969.

Monday 3 February 1969
Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, announced the dissolution of the Stormont parliament and the holding of an election on 24 February 1969.

Monday 24 February 1969
Stormont Election
An election to the Stormont parliament was held. The main feature of this election was the fragmentation of the Unionist party into 'Official Unionist' and 'Unofficial Unionist'. Of the 39 unionist candidates returned in the election 27 were in support of the policies of Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, while 12 were against or undecided.

Friday 28 February 1969
Terence O'Neill was re-elected as leader of the Unionist Parliamentary Party and thus was confirmed as Northern Ireland Prime Minister.

Tuesday 11 March 1969
The Parliamentary Commissioner Bill was introduced which would allow for the appointment of an Ombudsman to investigate complaints against Stormont government departments.

Wednesday 23 April 1969
The Unionist Parliamentary Party voted by 28 to 22 to introduce universal adult suffrage in local government elections in Northern Ireland. The demand for 'one man, one vote' had been one of the most powerful slogans of the civil rights movement.

Monday 28 April 1969
As he was unable to regain the confidence of the Unionist party Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, resigned to be replaced later by James Chichester-Clark.

Thursday 1 May 1969
James Chichester-Clark was elected as leader of the Unionist party and succeeded Terence O'Neill as the Northern Ireland Prime Minister. Brian Faulkner was appointed as Minister of Development. Chichester-Clark announced that he would continue the reforms began by Terence O'Neill.

Tuesday 24 June 1969
The Parliamentary Commissioner Act (Northern Ireland) became law. The act provided for a Commissioner to investigate complaints of maladministration against government departments.

Friday 29 August 1969
Following the visit to Northern Ireland by James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary, a communiqué on behalf of the Stormont and British governments was released. This communiqué set out a number of further reforms mainly in the area of government administration.

Thursday 9 October 1969
James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary, made a second visit to Northern Ireland between 9 and 10 October 1969. Following meetings between Callaghan and the Stormont government, plans for further reforms were agreed in a communiqué. The matters covered included: the establishment of a central housing authority; reforms to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, in light of the Hunt Report; reforms to the legal system; and the issue of fair employment.

Friday 10 October 1969
The Hunt Report was published. The Report recommends that: the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) should become an unarmed force; the Ulster Special Constabulary (the 'B Specials') should be disbanded; a new RUC Reserve should be set up; and a new locally recruited part-time force should be established under the control of the British Army [this force was to become the Ulster Defence Regiment, UDR].

Tuesday 11 November 1969
The act establishing a Ministry for Community Relations was passed.

Tuesday 25 November 1969
The Commissioner for Complaints Act (Northern Ireland) became law. The act allowed for the establishment of a Commissioner to deal with complaints against local councils and public bodies.
The Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) became law. The main provision of the act was to make the franchise in local government elections in Northern Ireland the same as that in Britain.

Thursday 27 November 1969
A Commissioner for Complaints, John Benn, was appointed to deal with matters related to local government and public bodies.

1970
Thursday 26 March 1970
The Police (Northern Ireland) Act became law. The act provided for the disarmament of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the establishment of an RUC reserve force. The Act established the Police Authority of Northern Ireland (PANI) which was meant to contain representatives from across the community.

Thursday 30 April 1970
The 'B-Specials' (the Ulster Special Constabulary) were officially disbanded. The USC had been replaced by the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) on 1 April 1970.

Friday 29 May 1970
The Macrory Report Review Body on Local Government in Northern Ireland (Cmd 546) dealing with local government structures was published. The main recommendation is the abolition of the old structure of local government and its replacement with 26 new district councils. The new system would also involve the creation of area boards to manage the health, education, and library services in Northern Ireland. It was envisaged that the control of the new system would rest with the Northern Ireland government. [Following the introduction of direct rule on 30 March 1972 much of the control of the main services passed effectively to Westminster. Elected councillors only had responsibility for a number of matters including refuse collection, public conveniences, crematoria and cemeteries ('bins, bogs and burials' as it was termed in Northern Ireland). The term 'the Macrory Gap was coined to highlight the lack of local accountability on the part of those controlling the centralised services.]

Monday 10 August 1970
Reginald Maulding, then British Home Secretary, threatened to impose direct rule on Northern Ireland if the agreed reform measures were not carried out.


Friday 21 August 1970
The Social and Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) was established.

Thursday 8 October 1970
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) proposed that a system of Proportional Representation (PR) should be used in elections in Northern Ireland. [PR was introduced on 30 May 1973 for local government elections.]

Sunday 11 October 1970
A claim of maladministration in housing allocation against Dungannon Rural District Council was upheld by the Commissioner for Complaints.

Thursday 12 November 1970
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) was formed. [The NIHE gradually took over control of the building and allocation of public sector housing in Northern Ireland. The responsibility for public sector housing had previously rested with local government and the Northern Ireland Housing Trust (NIHT). There had been many allegations of discrimination in the provision and allocation of housing by the various local government councils in Northern Ireland and this was the main reason for setting up the Housing Executive.]

1971
Wednesday 20 January 1971
It was announced that an independent commissioner would decide on the boundaries of the new district council areas.

Thursday 25 February 1971
The Housing Executive (Northern Ireland) Act became law. The Act provided for the establishment for a central authority for public sector housing in Northern Ireland and to also oversee the provision of grants for improvement to the private sector. James Chichester-Clark, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, held a meeting with William Conway, then Catholic Cardinal of Ireland; the first such meeting since 1921.

Thursday 4 March 1971
The first meeting of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive was held at Stormont. [The headquarters and regional offices of the NIHE were to be the target of paramilitary attacks on many occasions during 'the Troubles'.]

Tuesday 23 March 1971
Brian Faulkner succeeds James Chichester-Clark as Northern Ireland Prime Minister after defeating William Craig in a Unionist Party leadership election. [Faulkner's tenure of office was to prove very short.] The Local Government Boundaries (Northern Ireland) Act became law. The Act provided for the appointment of a Boundaries Commissioner to recommend the boundaries and names of district council and ward areas.

Thursday 13 May 1971
The decision to appoint a Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland was announced.

Wednesday 22 June 1971
A system of committees to oversee control of key government departments was proposed by Brian Faulkner, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister. This system was seen as a way of providing a role for opposition parties at Stormont. [The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) initially welcomed the proposal but events were to result in the withdrawal of the SDLP from Stormont.]

Friday 16 July 1971
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) withdrew from Stormont because no inquiry had been announced into the shooting dead of Seamus Cusack and Desmond Beatty in Derry on 8th July 1971.

Tuesday 16 November 1971
The report of the Compton inquiry was published. Report of the enquiry into allegations against the security forces of physical brutality in Northern Ireland arising out of events on the 9th August, 1971. (November 1971; Cmnd. 4832). The report acknowledged that there had been ill-treatment of internees (what was termed 'in-depth interrogation') but rejected claims of systematic brutality or torture.

Friday 31 December 1971
Edmund Compton, then Northern Ireland Ombudsman, was replaced by John Benn.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

...[Or for an alternative example of how a British Government might be persuaded to accede to peaceful calls for political reform, you might see the stunning success of Gandhi's non-violent campaign for independence for India.]

The Indian Independence Movement  (IIM) culminated with Gandhi and non-violence and civil resistance, but there was militancy in the early decades of the 20th century; so it's not true to say that India's freedom was won through non-violence alone -- the militancy-through-to-pacifism of the IIM was a continuum, with the last stages only eschewing militancy.

[muppet]

...[Or for an alternative example of how a British Government might be persuaded to accede to peaceful calls for political reform, you might see the stunning success of Gandhi's non-violent campaign for independence for India.]

The Indian Independence Movement  (IIM) culminated with Gandhi and non-violence and civil resistance, but there was militancy in the early decades of the 20th century; so it's not true to say that India's freedom was won through non-violence alone -- the militancy-through-to-pacifism of the IIM was a continuum, with the last stages only eschewing militancy.

They also had sex in India at the time so it would be untrue to say freedom was won without sex.

[Myles Na G.]

I'd love to hear the theory of how we would have reached a fair political settlement without the ira campaign. The freedom loving brits would have come in and told off the unionists for being unfair and would have jolly well told them to be nice or else! Then big Ian would have stopped calling civil rights protestors fenians and pope rule and would have shared his power along with the ulster unionists and the traitor nationalists in their midst. There is zero evidence to support this outcome as a possibility and in fact all evidence points to the opposite, ie unionist policy was to keep the croppie down just like his ancestors did. They were just like the Israelis and if they had won I reckon Palestine would be more akin to what would have happened here.

If you actually knew anything about the early years of the Civil Rights campaign in NI, you'd know that it actually helped produce a very significant and sustained process of reform, both in Westminster and  Stormont, over several years.

However as successive Unionist political leaders (O'Neill and Faulkner especially) rolled out these reforms, they were met by opposition from the extremes, pulling or pushing them back towards their old, entrenched positions.

Of course Paisley and his sectarian mob were to the forefront, but you'll find that they were just as enthusiastically joined at the other extreme by Republican agitators, for whom the establishment of a fair and peaceable NI was the last  thing on their agenda. Consequently, as the Paisleyites and (so-called) Loyalist Terrorists pushed otherwise moderate Nationalists into the arms of the extremists  in their own community etc, so Republican violence pushed otherwise moderate Unionists towards their  extremes, at the expense of the moderate centre.

Had these two extremes not been allowed to prevail, I have no doubt that NI might well have emulated eg of the success of the Black Civil Rights movement (from a position of greater discrimination btw) in the USA. [Or for an alternative example of how a British Government might be persuaded to accede to peaceful calls for political reform, you might see the stunning success of Gandhi's non-violent campaign for independence for India.]

Anyhow, below is an extract from CAIN of some of the reforms which were introduced in NI between 1969 and 1971. Of course there were also many regressive steps during this period, but as I've pointed out, these last were invariably a result of pressure on the moderate centre from the violent extremes (plural):

1967
1 February 1967
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was formed. The Civil Rights Movement called for a number of reforms one of which was for 'one man, one vote', that is, a universal franchise for local government elections. At the time only rate-payers were entitled to votes, and there were other anomalies to do with additional votes for companies. The association also campaigned for the end to gerrymandering of electoral boundaries. Other reforms pressed for included: the end to perceived discrimination in the allocation of public sector housing and appointments to, particularly, public sector employment; the repeal of the Special Powers Act; and the disbandment of the 'B-Specials' (Ulster Special Constabulary) which was a paramilitary style reserve police force which was entirely Protestant in its makeup.
November 1967
The Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) was formed.


1968
Saturday 24 August 1968
First Civil Rights March
The Campaign for Social Justice (CSJ), the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), and a number of other groups, held the first 'civil rights march' in Northern Ireland from Coalisland to Dungannon. Loyalists organised a counter demonstration in an effort to get the march banned (a tactic that was to be used throughout the period of 'the Troubles') and in fact the planned rally was banned. Despite this the march passed off without incident. The publicity surrounding the march acted as encouragement to other protesting groups to form branches of the NICRA.

Friday 4 October 1968
A Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) delegation met with the march organisers and tried to have the march cancelled. Eventually it was decided to go ahead with the march.

Saturday 5 October 1968
Civil Rights March in Derry
[Considered by many as the start date of the current 'Troubles']

Friday 8 November 1968
Londonderry Corporation agreed to a Nationalist request to introduce a points system in the allocation of public sector housing.

Friday 22 November 1968
Reforms Package Announced
Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, announced a package of reform measures which had resulted from meetings in London with Harold Wilson, then British Prime Minister, and James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary. The five point reform plan included:

a nine member 'Development Commission' to take over the powers of the Londonderry Corporation;
an ombudsman to investigate complaints against government departments;
the allocation of houses by local authorities to be based on need;
the Special Powers Act to be abolished as it was safe to do so; and
some reform of the local government franchise (the end of the company votes).

Thursday 28 November 1968
The Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) became law and abolished university representation and the business vote in Stormont elections. It also created four new constituencies and a permanent Boundary Commission.

Saturday 30 November 1968
A Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) march in Armagh was stopped by Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) because of the presence of a Loyalist counter demonstration led by Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting. The Loyalist crowd then took over the centre of Armagh. [Both Paisley and Bunting were imprisoned in January 1969 for unlawful assembly during this counter protest.]

Monday 9 December 1968
Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, made a television appeal for moderate opinion in what became known as the 'Ulster stands at the Crossroads' speech. The speech gained a lot of public support. The Derry Citizen's Action Committee (DCAC) called a halt to all marches and protests for a period of one month.


Friday 20 December 1968
The People's Democracy (PD) announced that its members would undertake a protest march from Belfast to Derry beginning on 1 January 1969 [Burntollet etc].

1969
Sunday 5 January 1969
Terence O'Neill, then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, issued a statement on the events since 1 January 1969.

Monday 3 February 1969
Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, announced the dissolution of the Stormont parliament and the holding of an election on 24 February 1969.

Monday 24 February 1969
Stormont Election
An election to the Stormont parliament was held. The main feature of this election was the fragmentation of the Unionist party into 'Official Unionist' and 'Unofficial Unionist'. Of the 39 unionist candidates returned in the election 27 were in support of the policies of Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, while 12 were against or undecided.

Friday 28 February 1969
Terence O'Neill was re-elected as leader of the Unionist Parliamentary Party and thus was confirmed as Northern Ireland Prime Minister.

Tuesday 11 March 1969
The Parliamentary Commissioner Bill was introduced which would allow for the appointment of an Ombudsman to investigate complaints against Stormont government departments.

Wednesday 23 April 1969
The Unionist Parliamentary Party voted by 28 to 22 to introduce universal adult suffrage in local government elections in Northern Ireland. The demand for 'one man, one vote' had been one of the most powerful slogans of the civil rights movement.

Monday 28 April 1969
As he was unable to regain the confidence of the Unionist party Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, resigned to be replaced later by James Chichester-Clark.

Thursday 1 May 1969
James Chichester-Clark was elected as leader of the Unionist party and succeeded Terence O'Neill as the Northern Ireland Prime Minister. Brian Faulkner was appointed as Minister of Development. Chichester-Clark announced that he would continue the reforms began by Terence O'Neill.

Tuesday 24 June 1969
The Parliamentary Commissioner Act (Northern Ireland) became law. The act provided for a Commissioner to investigate complaints of maladministration against government departments.

Friday 29 August 1969
Following the visit to Northern Ireland by James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary, a communiqué on behalf of the Stormont and British governments was released. This communiqué set out a number of further reforms mainly in the area of government administration.

Thursday 9 October 1969
James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary, made a second visit to Northern Ireland between 9 and 10 October 1969. Following meetings between Callaghan and the Stormont government, plans for further reforms were agreed in a communiqué. The matters covered included: the establishment of a central housing authority; reforms to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, in light of the Hunt Report; reforms to the legal system; and the issue of fair employment.

Friday 10 October 1969
The Hunt Report was published. The Report recommends that: the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) should become an unarmed force; the Ulster Special Constabulary (the 'B Specials') should be disbanded; a new RUC Reserve should be set up; and a new locally recruited part-time force should be established under the control of the British Army [this force was to become the Ulster Defence Regiment, UDR].

Tuesday 11 November 1969
The act establishing a Ministry for Community Relations was passed.

Tuesday 25 November 1969
The Commissioner for Complaints Act (Northern Ireland) became law. The act allowed for the establishment of a Commissioner to deal with complaints against local councils and public bodies.
The Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) became law. The main provision of the act was to make the franchise in local government elections in Northern Ireland the same as that in Britain.

Thursday 27 November 1969
A Commissioner for Complaints, John Benn, was appointed to deal with matters related to local government and public bodies.

1970
Thursday 26 March 1970
The Police (Northern Ireland) Act became law. The act provided for the disarmament of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the establishment of an RUC reserve force. The Act established the Police Authority of Northern Ireland (PANI) which was meant to contain representatives from across the community.

Thursday 30 April 1970
The 'B-Specials' (the Ulster Special Constabulary) were officially disbanded. The USC had been replaced by the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) on 1 April 1970.

Friday 29 May 1970
The Macrory Report Review Body on Local Government in Northern Ireland (Cmd 546) dealing with local government structures was published. The main recommendation is the abolition of the old structure of local government and its replacement with 26 new district councils. The new system would also involve the creation of area boards to manage the health, education, and library services in Northern Ireland. It was envisaged that the control of the new system would rest with the Northern Ireland government. [Following the introduction of direct rule on 30 March 1972 much of the control of the main services passed effectively to Westminster. Elected councillors only had responsibility for a number of matters including refuse collection, public conveniences, crematoria and cemeteries ('bins, bogs and burials' as it was termed in Northern Ireland). The term 'the Macrory Gap was coined to highlight the lack of local accountability on the part of those controlling the centralised services.]

Monday 10 August 1970
Reginald Maulding, then British Home Secretary, threatened to impose direct rule on Northern Ireland if the agreed reform measures were not carried out.


Friday 21 August 1970
The Social and Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) was established.

Thursday 8 October 1970
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) proposed that a system of Proportional Representation (PR) should be used in elections in Northern Ireland. [PR was introduced on 30 May 1973 for local government elections.]

Sunday 11 October 1970
A claim of maladministration in housing allocation against Dungannon Rural District Council was upheld by the Commissioner for Complaints.

Thursday 12 November 1970
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) was formed. [The NIHE gradually took over control of the building and allocation of public sector housing in Northern Ireland. The responsibility for public sector housing had previously rested with local government and the Northern Ireland Housing Trust (NIHT). There had been many allegations of discrimination in the provision and allocation of housing by the various local government councils in Northern Ireland and this was the main reason for setting up the Housing Executive.]

1971
Wednesday 20 January 1971
It was announced that an independent commissioner would decide on the boundaries of the new district council areas.

Thursday 25 February 1971
The Housing Executive (Northern Ireland) Act became law. The Act provided for the establishment for a central authority for public sector housing in Northern Ireland and to also oversee the provision of grants for improvement to the private sector. James Chichester-Clark, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, held a meeting with William Conway, then Catholic Cardinal of Ireland; the first such meeting since 1921.

Thursday 4 March 1971
The first meeting of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive was held at Stormont. [The headquarters and regional offices of the NIHE were to be the target of paramilitary attacks on many occasions during 'the Troubles'.]

Tuesday 23 March 1971
Brian Faulkner succeeds James Chichester-Clark as Northern Ireland Prime Minister after defeating William Craig in a Unionist Party leadership election. [Faulkner's tenure of office was to prove very short.] The Local Government Boundaries (Northern Ireland) Act became law. The Act provided for the appointment of a Boundaries Commissioner to recommend the boundaries and names of district council and ward areas.

Thursday 13 May 1971
The decision to appoint a Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland was announced.

Wednesday 22 June 1971
A system of committees to oversee control of key government departments was proposed by Brian Faulkner, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister. This system was seen as a way of providing a role for opposition parties at Stormont. [The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) initially welcomed the proposal but events were to result in the withdrawal of the SDLP from Stormont.]

Friday 16 July 1971
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) withdrew from Stormont because no inquiry had been announced into the shooting dead of Seamus Cusack and Desmond Beatty in Derry on 8th July 1971.

Tuesday 16 November 1971
The report of the Compton inquiry was published. Report of the enquiry into allegations against the security forces of physical brutality in Northern Ireland arising out of events on the 9th August, 1971. (November 1971; Cmnd. 4832). The report acknowledged that there had been ill-treatment of internees (what was termed 'in-depth interrogation') but rejected claims of systematic brutality or torture.

Friday 31 December 1971
Edmund Compton, then Northern Ireland Ombudsman, was replaced by John Benn.

Good post.

[mylestheslasher]

You stopped at 1971, why not consider 73 too

The Ulster Workers' Council (UWC) strike was a general strike that took place in Northern Ireland between 15 May and 28 May 1974, during "The Troubles". The strike was called by loyalists and unionists who were against the Sunningdale Agreement, which had been signed in December 1973. Specifically, the strikers opposed the sharing of political power with nationalists, and the proposed role for the Republic of Ireland's government in running Northern Ireland

The strike was organised and overseen by the Ulster Workers' Council and Ulster Army Council, which were formed shortly after the Agreement's signing. Both of these groups included loyalist paramilitaries such as the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).[1] These groups helped to enforce the strike by blocking roads and intimidating workers.[1][2][3][4] During the two-week strike, loyalist paramilitaries killed 39 civilians, of which 33 died in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

[Rossfan]

Stormont(1) should have been abolished in 1969.
Instead of that it was left in existence and the Brit army ( which MIGHT if left alone have become an honest broker) was put under the control of Stormont(1) /RUC leading to one sided arms searches , one sided Internment and of course Bloody Sunday.
They abolished Stormont (1) then but it was 2 and a half to three years too  late.

[lynchbhoy]

ahhhh the discredited cain report again....


I have to try and recall where it was that disputed the 'findings' (notice I didnt write 'facts' ) on this flawed set of details. I am pretty sure someone posted it on this board a couple of years ago. *

* if I could be arsed.



I take it that we can safely say that the 'fact'/'finding' that the IRA fired first in loughgall is a load of 'cain' (ie rubbish) also?

[sheamy]

The role of the RUC cannot be ignored in the events of 69-71. As a paramilitary force of the state they murdered Francis McCloskey in Dungiven on 14th July 1969. They went on to murder a further five people in the following month. You can quote all the 'reforms' you like, but things were never going to be the same after that. The state had shown its true colours and a line was finally crossed in the minds of many people.

[sammymaguire]

British have been fighting wars since year dot. And who have the Irish fought against apart from the Brits? Does that tell you something too?

Themselves? 

P.S. That certainly tells me something, like why the Irish people of a Nationalist persuasion are still fighting so hard amongst themselves on this thread!

War is a terrible thing. It creates all sorts of unnatural emotion in people thats why some people respect what the Republican movement did in the dark old days, but some people cannot stomach it in any way, shape or form.

Do catholics and protestants not live in relative harmony all over Ireland? I havent heard of any recent rifts in Donegal, Cavan or Monaghan over religious differences. 

[lynchbhoy]

The role of the RUC cannot be ignored in the events of 69-71. As a paramilitary force of the state they murdered Francis McCloskey in Dungiven on 14th July 1969. They went on to murder a further five people in the following month. You can quote all the 'reforms' you like, but things were never going to be the same after that. The state had shown its true colours and a line was finally crossed in the minds of many people.

....and yet some still believe that suningdale was going to give parity or equality and have this oppressive policy as well as systematic persecution miraculously halted ...not on yer nelly.