1969 AD - 6 (August Continued)

                                                                                                   "Bernadette Devlin to America -  Birth of the Provisional Sinn Fein Party." 

 1969 AD Friday; August 15th: In  the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province by the British Imperial Coalition Government and still under the control of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government the British Imperial Military Forces Royal Regiment from Wales, and another from the Queen's Regiment in England, arrived into the Falls Road area, while the Ascendancy "Official" R.U.C. police and the non - Catholic mobs remained "together" in the Shankhill area and as the night fell the non - Catholics in the Ardoyne area "attacked" the Irish Catholics again with "petrol bombs," setting house after house there on "fire," and by the time the British Government Military Forces arrived two whole streets of "homes" were alight and fiercely "burning." The non - Catholic mobs then returned to their barricades, were they were "supported" by the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police again, although some still stayed in the Ardoyne area where there were no British Government Military Forces present until "another" British Government Military Battalion arrived to "drive back" those among them who were using "petrol bombs" and the British Government Military Forces then moved into other areas to "surround and guard" the Irish Catholic areas that were still under "siege," and although the non - Catholic mobs still continued to send off "fire bombs" near them they "ignored" them and refused to fire on them to make them stop .

Friday night: The non - Catholic mobs continued their "attacks" on the the Irish Catholic areas, and they were still wearing their white arm bands, and were also well organized, and the "Official" Unionist R.U.C police had also told the British Government Military Forces to "keep out" of certain areas in their armoured cars, but despite this threat the British Military Forces during the night were instead, stopping the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police themselves from going into certain Irish Catholic areas. The Irish Catholics there then began returning to their "homes" as the British Army Land Rovers appeared on the streets without firing one shot, although one soldier had been wounded and the British Military Forces were by now all along the Irish Catholic areas where they were "facing" the non - Catholics head on who were now once again behind their own barricades. The British Military Forces also put up "barbed wire" in the key positions that were held by the non - Catholics, and the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police were now "out" of the Irish Catholic areas and back among the non - Catholics and by the morning Belfast there in Co. Antrim was under British Military control.     

     The British Labour Government in England sent a furthert 400 British Military Forces from the 1st Battalion of the Prince Of Wales Own Regiment into surround the Derry region in Co. Derry, as the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police and their "B" Special police who had, had enough, "pulled out," and things then quietened down and more British Army Forces were then sent into the rest of these 6 Counties in Ulster Province within a week, which it seemed were now under the "actual control" of the British Labour Government, As it had been originally intended "due to the massive "ethnic and sectarian" onslaught the Irish Catholic "refugees" were still "fleeing" across the "artificial border" to safety, and also out of the surrounding non - Catholic areas, and Major James Chichester - Clark the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Prime Minster in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province then had the hide to "accuse" Jack Lynch the Prime Minister of the Irish Republic of interfering in the affairs of these 6 Counties in Ulster Province and appeared on T.V. saying that he would seek other help ? Whatever that meant.

      In the Irish Republic (26 Counties) Kevin Boland "resigned" from the political Fianna Fail Government, which was under the leadership of Jack Lynch, as he was totally "disillusioned" at the lack of action taken against the "unrelenting aggression" that was being being carried out on the Irish Catholic people in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province as he had previously requested that something "concrete" had to be done to bring about a re - united 32 County of Ireland, which was the "original policy" of the "political" Fianna Fail Party, but Eamonn de Valera the President of the Republic of Ireland intervened to get him to "postpone" his resignation for the time being to avoid a public crisis.

      Neil Blaney who was also a member of the Fianna Fail Republic of Ireland Government and a staunch Republican also, was in line for the "leadership" of the political Fianna Fail Party, as was Charles Haughey, and due to the pressure to do something about the whole "sorry mess" in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, they had both became "involved" in what was now known as the Arms Crisis as they had personal control over the funds for the "alleviation of distress" up there in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province, between them, and they were to contrive to try and obtain "arms" for the Irish Catholic 1/3rd minority there to assist them to "defend" themselves against these continuing "ethnic and sectarian" attacks.

      Dr Patrick Hillery the Minister of External Affairs in the Fianna Fail Republic of Ireland Government called on the British Labour Government in London, before going onto the United Nations, to try and first seek some positive action from them to "alleviate" the distress that was always occurring in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned"by the British Imperial Coalition Government from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province.

       The "Anti - Treaty IRA," at this time was "not popular" in the Irish Catholic areas in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, as they had "not responded" in their hour of need, although the northern branch of the "Anti - Treaty IRA" members had previously gone to the south to get help to "defend" themselves, but had been "refused" any guns or ammunition to do so and had been forced to return to these 6 Counties empty handed and just sit by and watch it all unfold, and not really be able to do anything personally to "protect" the Irish Catholic population there who were supposed to be under their "protection."

      James Callaghan the British Labour Government Home Secretary advised Harold Wilson the British Labour Prime Minister that the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government was requesting "further" British Military Forces assistance in one of the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the Ulster Province, namely Co. Derry, as they had called up all of their "Offical" Unionist "B" Special police a few hours earlier who were now not supposed to be used in sensitive areas, but had nevertheless already gone into Derry "fully armed."

     The Rev. Ian Paisley the hard - line ethnic and religious extremist was also "threatening" to call out his U.V.F / Unionist Volunteer Force and create all out "Civil War" in these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province that were still under the control of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government and the British Labour Government whose Military Forces now began carrying out "patrols" in the Falls and Shankhill Road areas there, where many of the Irish Catholic families had previously "fled" from their homes near the non - Catholic areas to the Falls Road area to be further in, and closer to the Irish Catholic area, for their own "personal protection."

     The "Official Änti - Treaty IRA's" Central Body, in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, was now under the leadership of Patrick Devlin who was a Labour Party M.P. in the Stormont Government there who had his office in Leeson Street in the Lower Falls area, while the oversall "Official Anti - Treaty IRA" under Cathal Goulding had taken no part in the any of the previous events as they were now pursuing their new found "Socialist" policy of mobilising all the working classes, both non - Catholics and Irish Catholics from both sides of the "artificial partition" border. It was now the "Official Anti - Treaty IRA" policy to "overthrow" the Capitalist system instead, by using "peaceful and democratic" means, and the Irish Catholics who turned to them for "assistance" had been told that they were not now going to "get involved" on their behalf, and this meant that the Irish Catholics there now had to set up their "own defence" organizations individually "street by street" there and in the meantime 20 Irish Catholics were now also "arrested" by the Ascendancy "Official"" Unionist RUC police there under their Special Powers Act.

August 16th: The British Labour Government sent more British Military Forces over into Belfast in Co. Antrim, who were actually in reality still put "under the control" of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government in these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province, and written on the walls there at this time, because of the "Anti Treaty IRA's" Official policy, was "IRA / I Ran Away" as the "Official Anti - Treaty IRA" in the Ulster Province had previously become nearly "defunct," due to their new "ideology" of Socialism under their leader Cathal Goulding, who intended to bring about "change" by peaceful and democratic means, to recognize the 3 individual Parliaments now in control of the whole of Ireland. This particular motion had been previously passed by the members of the "Official Anti - Treaty IRA," but not by a sufficient "majority" for their Constitution to be changed, when a member had moved that the "Anti - Treaty IRA" Army Council was already recognizing the Republic of Ireland's Parliament, and this should be "endorsed." Those who disagreed had then walked out of the "Anti - Treaty IRA" in disgust to become the "new body" to be known as the Provisional IRA named after Patrick Pearse's Irish Republican Provisional Government in the 1916 Irish Easter Rising and "added" to the aggravation of the members now of these Provisional IRA, was the British Labour Government's "refusal to defend" the Irish Catholic areas, and the newer members who were spurred on by the previous turmoil were joining the new Provisional IRA, bringing in "new recruits" in defence of the Irish Catholic areas in the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned from the 9 Counties in Ulster Province. The "Anti - Treaty IRA" and the "political" Sinn Fein Party were now also to "split" into 2 separate groups, with one becoming the "Socialist Official IRA" and the "political Official Sinn Fein Party" under Cathal Goulding, while the other became the Provisional IRA their "military wing" and the Provisional Sinn Fein Party who became their "political" wing, who in the final reality of it all were to become the only actual "defenders" of the Irish Catholic population in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" out of the two "split" groups who also "openly condemned" all things Marxist, and were "for" the Irish Nationalist approach of a United Ireland.

      The recent terrifying "ethnic sectarian" riots in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, that were still under the rule of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government, had been brought on by the demand for "basic" Civil Rights and "democracy" that had also combined to bring forth and revitalize a "new breed" of the "Anti - Treaty IRA" members who were to form now under their own particular Northern Command and this momentum was to continue up until 1979, due to the "lack" of any further consistent "Civil Rights" ever being bought in there. Although the British Government were to once again eventually finally assume "total control" over the Irish Catholic population there also in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province, nothing was to be done to bring about any "further reforms" there by the British Government and this was to increase further the demand for re - unification of Ireland once again and re - awakened the whole population of Ireland.

     James Callaghan the British Labour Government's Home Secretary gave the order for the British Military Forces to move on Derry in Co. Derry, one of these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province  still under their overall control, and the Prince of Wales Own Yorkshire Regiment now "surrounded" Derry, with full military battle gear, including sub - machine guns, and the fighting ceased and the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police and their "B" Special police withdrew from the area, while the Irish Catholics there began singing, "We have overcome" and the British Military Forces never "entered" the Irish Catholic Bogside area and Bernadette Devlin was ready to "negotiate" with them, on behalf of the population there, if they did.

August 16th: Saturday; The British Military Forces were patrolling the areas, while the Irish Catholics and the non - Catholics were strengthening their individual "barricades," with the Paisleyites and non - Catholic insurgents blaming the Irish Catholics for the revolt against the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police, while the Irish Catholics only required "natural justice" against their attackers, the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police and the non - Catholic followers, and required only the British Military Forces to protect them against any such "further attacks." Meanwhile the Free Press was rolling all the time, and it was now all "out there" finally being recorded "World" wide for everyone to see and come to their own conclusions. In Armagh in Co. Armagh, which was another of these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, the Irish Catholic Cardinal Conway was calling for "fairness" to be implemented in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province to bring an end to the violence there. The non - Catholic hard - liners wanted "confirmation" that calling in the British Armed Forces would not effect their "dominant" Ascendancy position there in their Constitution, while the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police were saying they had been "provoked" by the Irish Catholics there. The British Labour Government was saying that the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police could "not be allowed" to return to the Falls Road or the Bogside area, and that peace must be maintained by the British Armed Forces. There was now exchanges between the British Labour Government and the Ascendancy "Official "Unionist Stormont Government, on how many British Military Forces were needed to keep order in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province. The Rev. Ian Paisley, the ethnic and religious extremist, came out berating the Irish Catholics for "attacking" non - Catholic property, although all of the "damage" had occurred in the Irish Catholic areas., while Major James Chichester - Clark, the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Prime Minister in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province, stated that it was a bunch of "ruthless men" who had attacked their "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police, meaning the "Anti - Treaty IRA," which were basically still "inactive" at that particular time, but the continuing "ramifications" of what had occurred during the recent "Troubles" was to certainly change that.

      Jack Lynch the Taoiseach / Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland had since also "mobilised" the Irish Army reserve there in the 26 Counties.

    The "Derry Citizen's Defence Committee" in these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province, now wanted the "Official" Unionist Ascendancy Stormont Government "abolished" altogether, and the release of all those previously "arrested" by their "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police in the Irish Catholic Bogside area, and an "Amnesty" for all who had acted in "defence" of their homes, lives and property, and especially, the "total removal" of the Ascendancy Stormont Government's "B" Special police.  

August 17th: Sunday: Major James Chichester - Clark the Ascendancy " Official" Unionist Stormont Government Prime Minister called a press conference where he "fully supported" the actions of their "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police during the recent "Troubles," inferring that it was actually the still "inactive" Anti _ Treaty IRA who were responsible for it all, while the "Civil Rights" movements were also by now demanding the "release" of all the "political" prisoners held under the Special Powers Act and on this day an attack was also carried out on the Crossmaglen police station just north of the "artificial border." 

 August 18th: Monday: General Sir Ian Freeland the Commander in Chief of the British Military Forces put out a press release from his H.Q. in Belfast in Co. Antrim, that by the end of the week there were to be 6,000 British Imperial Military Forces and two squadrons of "armoured cars" patrolling the areas in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province.

August 19th: Tuesday: Major James Dawson Chichester - Clark, the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Prime Minister in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, was summoned to London to see Harold Wilson the British Labour Prime Minister and he decided on a statement affirming that the "partition border" was not an issue, as these 6 Counties in Ulster Province under their control would remain part of the United Kingdom until the "majority" of the population there declared otherwise. It was also agreed that Terence O Neill's programme, that had been set in motion previously to bring about "reforms" was to be continued on, to create an "equal society" with a Commission to be set up under Lord Scarman to investigate the "cause" of the violence, and another under Lord Hunt to examine the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police "tactics" and 2 British Government Home Affairs officers were flown over from London to act as "political advisors" at the British Imperial Military H.Q. Sir Ian Freeland was to be the British Military Director of Operations in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province over the Stormont Government's "B" Special police and their R.U.C. Riot Police as the British Military Forces were now in "control," and the "Official" Unionists and the non - Catholic protagonists were now "limited" as to their manoeuvres and "agendas," but the Constitution was still in place and the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government was to continue on, with the position regarding their "B" Special police to be "reconsidered." The British Military Forces would be withdrawn when law and order was "restored," and there was to be "equal" rights and "protection" for all of the population under the law for "all" of the citizens there in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province. 

August 20th: Brian Faulkner the hard - line "Official" Unionist, stated that there would be no way the Ascendancy Stormont Government's "B" Special police would be "disbanded," as to the Ascendancy in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province they represented "power," over the population there while to the Irish Catholics they only represented "oppression."

August 21st: In these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province, an inquiry was begun into the activities of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police in their armoured cars by Lord Hunt, and a "Tribunal of Inquiry" under Justice Scarman was begun to investigate the "riots" in July and August, and also in regards to the "sabotages" carried out previously in April with James Callaghan the British Labour Government Home Secretary to go over "personally" to these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" by the British Coalition Government from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province and see what had occurred for himself.

August 22nd: Bernadette Devlin flew to New York to tour America to obtain "funds" from the Irish - Americans to assist those "disadvantaged" in the ongoing "riots" in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, while the Rev. Ian Paisley the extremist hard - liner was demanding, "No comfort or aid to the enemy." Sir Ian Freeland ordered all of the "Official" Unionist "B" Special police to hand in their "weapons" to be re - issued for duty "only," and the Rev. Ian Paisley came out and stated publicly that they were the "first line" of the Unionist defence and the "teeth" of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government. The "Official" Unionists sent off 2 of their M.P.'s to America also to counter any success that Bernadette Devlin might have there, but the Unionists had no success there so they published a "bitter, crude" pamphlet to be spread in England, instead, which was so "embarrassing" that it was even "criticized" by Justice Scarman, so they also tried to enlist the Conservatives in Britain to their cause and also Edward Heath who was the "leader" of the Conservative Opposition there. The T.V. images of Major James Chichester - Clark the Ascendancy "Official "Unionist Prime Minister of these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province were not impressive either, and the ethinic and sectarian "rantings" of the Rev. Ian  Paisley came across as a truly gruesome personality, with others seemingly "frightened to be moderate," and also of the Ascendancy hard - liners.

August 27th: James Callaghan the British Labour Government's Home Secretary was to be in Belfast or 3 days in Co. Antrim, one of these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province by the British Imperial Coaltion Government in 1922 and he spoke with all those involved there, including the Rev. Ian Paisley who he found "intractable" so he brushed him aside, and also met with Cardinal Conway, and viewed all of the "devastation" and on behalf of the British Labour Government he offered 250,000 pounds towards "alleviating the distress" in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province still under his control. There were also some spasmodic outbreaks still occurring in Derry in Co. Derry, but the Irish Catholic Bogside area that was "surrounded" by the British Military Forces was "quiet," while in Belfast in Co. Antrim guerrilla warfare was continued on and the Falls Road community was under the control of the "Belfast Citizen's Defence Committee" led by James Sullivan who manned the barricades at night and negotiated with the British Imperial Military Forces, as the Irish Catholics in the area brought them "tea," while the non - Catholics there only continued to "throw stones and verbal abuse." There were now 6,000 British Military Government Forces, in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, who did not have enough weapons, and those they did have were kept "loaded" at all times. Radio Free Belfast operated from the "Citizens Defence" building, while among the opposition the non - Catholics protagonists had 3 stations, "Radio Orange," Radio Loyalist and Radio Shankhill", and they used these to "taunt" the British Military Forces as to their protection of the Irish Catholics, while the Rev. Ian Paisley, the hard - line extremist, was still "screaming verbal abuse." As time went by the non - Catholics protagonists who were feeling more "enforced" became even more daring at testing the British Military Forces at the barricades, but the British Military Forces were to continue to maintain a "truce" in the Irish Catholic areas for 3 weeks, while the non - Catholics in the Shankhill Road were to remove nearly all of their "barricades."

August 29th: A Points System for "Public Housing" was finally approved in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province.

                    Home Page                                                                                                                 Return to Celtic Heritage                                                                   On to 1969 AD - 7 (September - December)