1970s Northern Ireland. Topic C: Catholic Civil Rights

Transcription

1 1970s Northern Ireland Topic C: Catholic Civil Rights

2 NUMUN XII 2 Introduction The rise of the Provisional Irish Republican Army during the 1970s brought with it much violence and suffering. The matter at hand is whether this suffering is a worthy means to an end for the Nationalists of Northern Ireland who wish to separate from Britain, or just an act of terrorism. The population of Northern Ireland was practically split in two through a schism between Protestant Unionists of the British Monarchy and Catholic Nationalists working towards a united Ireland separate from British rule. The Dublin-based faction of the IRA maintained their position to promote a united socialist Ireland through peaceful channels, while the Belfast-based group took on an agenda of using violence as means to achieve unification. The Provisional IRA's initial strategy was to use force to cause the collapse of the Northern Ireland administration, and to inflict enough casualties on the British forces that the British government would be forced by public opinion to withdraw from the region. They conducted sniper attacks, assassinations, and several small bombings in the province, and appeared to have little public support. This changed after the Northern Ireland government introduced internment policies. As the number of interned increased, so did the number of angered Catholics who believed they were being falsely criminalized. To make matters worse, on January 1972, British troops opened fire on a Catholic rally in Londonderry, killing fourteen unarmed people. After this event, known as Bloody Sunday, Provisional IRA recruitment soared, and the Dublin-based wing of the organization fell away into obscurity. Their violent comrades proceeded to launch a series of bombing campaigns around Northern Ireland and in Britain targeting both military targets and civilian populations. The IRA was known throughout the latter half of the 20th Century as one of the most dangerous terrorist

3 NUMUN XII 3 organizations in the world, although the United States State Department never classified it as such. So-called "Loyalist" groups determined to retain British rule challenged them and in the crossfire between the British military and Northern Irish police forces, some 3,600 people would die before peace accords were signed in Today, the IRA's political wing, Sinn Fein, which means "Ourselves Alone" in the Gaelic language, holds various positions within the provincial Northern Irish government. The Royal Ulster Constabulary has been disbanded, Loyalist groups largely have laid down their arms, and most British troops have left the province.

4 NUMUN XII 4 Background The starting point of the Troubles spawned mainly from the lack of Catholic Civil Rights. Irish Catholics faced a great amount of discrimination within Ireland. This included job discrimination, restriction of voting rights (including severe gerrymandering by government officials) and almost exclusive victimization in regards to the Special Powers Act, an act which facilitated police brutality with no need for warrants or trials determining innocence or guilt (CAIN). In their attempts to protest against these injustices, they were quickly (and often violently) stifled by government officials with Protestant sympathies. In the beginning, while heated, the marches generally tended to remain peaceful. However, as the issue was pursued further and became more controversial, the situation became much more volatile. In 1968, the Catholics in Ireland, inspired by the protests of Martin Luther King, planned a march in Derry on October 5 th under the leadership of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association. A Protestant group, in an effort to stop the protest, threatened to march in the same area on the same day. As a response to stifle any conflict, the Minister of Home Affairs banned all marches in the area, but when the NICRA marched that day, they faced violent police brutality 1. Spurred on by the violence, students from Queen s University Belfast decided to hold a march on October 9 th, 1968 in protest of the violence and lack of civil rights for Catholics. However, as in the Derry march, their march was stopped by the police. In response, the students sat down and began a rally in front of city hall. Although they eventually returned to the University after 1 "1968: Londonderry March Ends in Violence." BBC News.

5 NUMUN XII 5 discussion amongst themselves, this failed march was the beginning of the People s Democracy 2. January 4th, 1969 marked the beginning of the event known as the Burntollet Bridge Incident. The People s Democracy organized a march between Belfast and Derry. This march was brutally attacked by loyalists, and the police did very little to stop the violence and protect the marchers. When they finally reached Derry, the RUC attempted to break up the march. However, the group began to fight back. This sparked a flame in the RUC, who then started their own raid of Bogside. They attacked Catholics and destroyed their property, and the civilians began to build barricades around the city 3. This was the beginning of Free Derry, and these barricades would continue to go up and down as the violence continued. In response to the global outrage at the police brutality in Derry, the Stormont government in Belfast attempted to introduce reforms. Terence O Neill, the Prime Minister at the time, put into motion the Five-Point Reform Programme. This was a program meant to extend more rights to Catholics in Ireland, but many of the Nationalists felt that the reform did not go far enough; it lacked the addition of a one-man-one-vote clause. After a few bombings after the release of the reform, O Neill called a new election and resigned. The attempts at reform and resignation of the Prime Minister caused a polarization among Catholics and Protestants. Moderate or complacent Protestants were pushed to action by the weak attempt at Civil Rights reform. The events at Derry and the aftermath are considered by many to be the starting point of the Troubles, a turbulent period of protests and demonstrations which lasted for over three decades. 2 "Route '68: To Burntollet and Back." History Ireland. March 6, "History Burntollet." The Museum of Free Derry. Accessed February 15,

6 NUMUN XII 6 Some of the most violent protests took place in Belfast, a place where Catholics and Republicans were a minority. The Apprentice Boys, a Protestant group based in Derry, had many followers from Belfast who participated in the march. When they returned, tension mounted between them and the Protestant loyalists by whom they were surrounded. On August 13 th, 1969, these tensions were manifested when the IRA turned in a petition for civil rights and began a march, where they were met by the RUC. The IRA, however, was ready with petrol bombs, and in the following days Belfast dissolved into a battle zone. Barricades were set up around the city, many families fled to neighboring cities, and there were frequent standoffs between the RUC and the loyalists. On August 16 th, 1969, the British Army was sent to Belfast, at which point the violence died down 4. This entire episode is known as the Battle of Bogside, a chaotic event which caused the amount of violence in Ireland to spiral further. In June of 1970, Bernadette Devlin, a socialist member of the UK parliament, was arrested. At the scene of the arrest, angry crowds attacked officers with petrol bombs and rocks, which lead to escalation and the use of tear gas by the officers 5. In addition to that a Protestant group known as the Orange Order increased their activity in Belfast. This caused even more tension in the area, as Catholics grew frustrated with the fact that their riots were met with police violence while the Orange Order was able to hold demonstrations as they pleased. In response, the British Army invaded the Falls region of Belfast with the Falls Road Curfew. Under the guise of the curfew, the British Army used tear gas and raided the homes of Catholics in the area. The situation soon broke 4 "The Battle of the Bogside." Alpha History. July 2, Accessed February 15, "1970: Violence Flares as Devlin Is Arrested." BBC News. Accessed February 15,

7 NUMUN XII 7 out into a full-blown riot, resulting in the death of seven, and again demonstrated the British Government s complete lack of consideration for Catholic Civil Rights. In response to the outbreaks of violence all around Northern Ireland, on August 9 th, 1971, the British Army launched Operation Demetrius, an attempt to arrest suspected members of the IRA. However, this was based on an outdated list of names, and many were incarcerated without a substantial amount of evidence. While it soon became apparent that the majority of the arrested civilians were innocent, there was a fair amount of mistreatment occurring. This abuse included sleep deprivation, white noise, forced physical exercise, and beatings 6. As news of this treatment spread across Northern Ireland civil rights activists became enraged, and further riots and violence ensued. 6 "History - Internment." The Museum of Free Derry. Accessed February 15,

8 NUMUN XII 8 Current Situation Among the bloodshed between the Provisional IRA and the RUC and British Army, the NICRA planned a march in Derry on January 30th, 1972 to protest Operation Demetrius. Over tenthousand people participated in the march. The end-goal of the march, Guildhall Square, was mainly Protestant territory. The march was met with troops who began arresting demonstrators and firing tear gas into the crowd. As this situation escalated and the protesters fought back, the troops began to fire rounds into the crowd. Twenty-six protestors--half injured and half killed--were shot on Bloody Sunday, also known as the Bogside Massacre (Bloody Sunday) 7. The next day, the British Home Secretary released a statement defending the actions of the British military as an act of defense. On February 2nd, the funerals for the eleven people killed on Bloody Sunday were held. Citizens across Ireland mourned and held services on that day to commemorate the lost lives. Later that day, in Dublin, a march to the British Embassy was organized. Tens of thousands of people marched to the British Embassy; as the crowd grew more inflamed and violent, they began to attack the British Embassy and eventually burned it to the ground 8. In another response to the violence of Bloody Sunday, the Official IRA detonated a bomb in order to attempt to retaliate against the personnel who attacked the crowds. The bomb exploded and killed seven at the Aldershot military barracks 9. 7 "Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 26 Feb < 8 Fitzpatrick, Richard. "Embassy in Line of Fire." Irish Examiner. 1 Feb Web. 26 Feb < 9 Woollacott, Martin. "From the Archives: IRA Kills 7 in Raid on Paras' English Base." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Web. 26 Feb <

9 NUMUN XII 9 In this conflict, the two sides of the conflicts are both victims and perpetrators of violence. The current state of matters is a tense and volatile one. Those fighting for Catholic Civil Rights still bear fresh wounds from the massacre on Bloody Sunday; in addition to that, official reports by the government insist that the deaths lie on the shoulders of the protestors. On the other hand, from the perspective of the government, both the PIRA and the OIRA serve as great threats to the safety of innocent civilians. Because of the often misguided attempts at retribution, innocent Catholics are injured and killed. Although many of the skirmishes between the protesters and the government are quite symbolic, very little legal progress has been made towards the main ideals of the movement: freedom of speech and assembly, the policy of one man, one vote, wage and housing equality, and the termination of the government s abuse of power with regards to the treatment of Catholics.

10 NUMUN XII 10 Questions to Consider 1. Based on the general Bloc Positions, what is your delegation s stance on this matter? Who do they support? How strongly do they feel? 2. How does the history of the riots personally affect your delegation? 3. What is the goal of your delegation on this topic? Is there a specific right that they are aiming to achieve or inhibit? 4. What kind of patterns are there in the riots and how they start? 5. How does the previous and current situation of the Catholic Civil Rights movement affect the progression of the other concurrent topics? 6. What kind of powers are within the scope of the committee and your character to addressing the current state of the situation? 7. How could the global reaction play a role in future events?

11 NUMUN XII 11 Recommended Sources

12 NUMUN XII 12 Bibliography "1968: Londonderry March Ends in Violence." BBC News. m. "1970: Violence Flares as Devlin Is Arrested." BBC News. Accessed February 15, "Bloody Sunday." BBC News. Accessed February 15, "Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 26 Feb < CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1970." CAIN Web Service. Accessed February 15, CAIN: HMSO: Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland), 1922." CAIN: HMSO: Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland), Fitzpatrick, Richard. "Embassy in Line of Fire." Irish Examiner. 1 Feb Web. 26 Feb < html>. "History Burntollet." The Museum of Free Derry. Accessed February 15, "History - Internment." The Museum of Free Derry. Accessed February 15,

13 NUMUN XII 13 "Route '68: To Burntollet and Back." History Ireland. March 6, "The Battle of the Bogside." Alpha History. July 2, Accessed February 15, Woollacott, Martin. "From the Archives: IRA Kills 7 in Raid on Paras' English Base." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Web. 26 Feb < 1972>.