1969 AD - 7 (September - December)

                                                                                                                                           "Civil Reform In The 6 Counties." 

1969 AD September:  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 Labour Government's  Scarman - Cameron Report under their Prime Minister Harold Wilson put the "blame" solely for the previous riots on the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government themselves due to the legitimacy of the Catholic Irish grievances, which they found especially so in relation to "housing," and the "severe" treatment meted out to the Catholic Irish by the Ascendancy Stormont Government's "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police and their "B" Special police Reserve forces.

   The Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Government now established a Public Protection Authority composed of the British Military Forces and the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police to investigate ongoing "complaints" and had 600 calls in the first week from those who had been " intimidated" by threatening notes. 

September 7th: The Irish Catholics and the non - Catholic insurgent groups were in "opposition," with the British Imperial Military Forces in between, and the British Military commander was to order "gas" to be fired on the non - Catholics who were "screaming" out and this made the Irish Catholics feel much "safer" in their homes at last, while it made their non - Catholic opponents even more "angry."

September 9th: A non - Catholic was "shot dead" in a mixed non - Catholic / Irish Catholic street in Belfast in Co. Antrim during a conflict there, and in the night Major James Chichester - Clark the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Prime Minister went on the T.V. insisting the "barricades" in the Bogside and in Belfast must be "removed or else," and the next day General Freeland the British Military commander decided to "divide and separate" both groups.

September 10th: The British Military Forces erected an "iron post and barbed wire" fence between the Falls Road / Irish Catholic area and the Shankhill / non - Catholic area.

      With some of the "reforms" now in place and a "light at the end of the tunnel" for the Irish Catholics very few "incidents" were to occur throughout this month and things were to settle down once again with the British Government Military Forces increased from 2,400 to 6,000 who were actually taking up a "protective role" in the community in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties  in Ulster Province. instead of an "offensive role," while the "Anti - Treaty IRA" members in these 6 Counties were now also willing to act in a "defence" capacity but only there. Members of the "political" Fianna Fail Party, met in Donegal in Co. Donegal in the west of the Ulster Province in the Irish Republic, which although it was the most "northern" County, was one of the 3 in the Ulster Province that was still in the Republic of Ireland and the Fianna Fail Party members told them they were willing to "support" them with money if they set up their own separate organization to the "Official Anti - Treaty IRA," who were now nevertheless following their own "Socialist" policies under their leader, Cathal Goulding, and that they also "did not" participate in any political activities in the Irish Republic itself.

September 12th: A key document in relation to the "Civil Rights" struggle in these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province was published by Lord Cameron on the causes of the "Civil Rights" activities up to April, just as the "Civil Rights" agenda seemed to becoming nearly "forgotten," and it "clarified" every criticism of the insurgent non - Catholic acts carried out there and those of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Party themselves and it "proved" all of the Irish Catholic grievances, the oral status of the Special Powers Act, the "gerrymandering" of the Electoral boundaries, and "damned" the ethnic and religious hard - liners the Rev. Ian Paisley, Major Ronald Bunting and Sir William Craig, and also found that many of the "accusations" against the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police were "proven." It also "vindicated" the moderate Derry activist John Hume and the "Civil Rights" movement, and the long running "grievances" against all of the "Official" Unionist Governments since these 6 Counties in Ulster Province were originally "artificially partitioned" in 1922, and  only the "Official" Unionist Special Powers Act and the "B." Special police remained, with most of the other "reforms" now moving forward.

September 15th: The British MIlitary Forces moved into the Falls Road area in Co. Antrim to dismantle the "barricades" just as the men there were returning from work who were angry about it so the British Military Forces "withdrew" from there and the Belfast Citizens' Defence Committee agreed to "dismantle" the barricades themselves and they were to "remove" them over the next few days,

September 24th: the non - Catholic and Irish Catholics came into "conflict" briefly in Derry in Co. Derry, and 1 non - Catholic died before the British Military could stop it and from now on there was to be trouble every night and weekend in Belfast with 67,000 guns officially licensed in these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province with "white lines" then painted on the streets to signify the previous "barricades" where no British Military Force could go with their 7,500 British Military Forces in these 6 Counties and 3,000 of those were  in Belfast in Co. Antrim alone. The ethnic and religious antagonist the Rev. Ian Paisley was now playing on the non - Catholic "grievances," as by this period in time they were feeling that they were "losing" their previously long held overall "control" of Ascendancy with the Irish Catholics "gaining" their "reforms" there, so he opened a new church on Ravenhill Road, and the upset non - Catholics and the British Military Forces soon came into "conflict" again where "gas" was used.

September 26th: Dr. Robert Simpson was appointed the first "Official" Unionist Minister of Community Relations in these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province and he then"resigned" from the Orange Order as there was "no goodwill" to be gained there in trying to bring about Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Government "reform" and a "ban" was imposed on all processions and meetings.

September 28th: Sunday: A non - Catholic group threw "rocks and a petrol bomb" at the British Military Forces on the other side of the Peace Line and at the same time "climbed" over the fence line into the Irish Catholic area and set 5 Catholic "houses" alight, while at the same time "attacking" the British Military Forces there who then fired off gas again and "drove"  them back across the Peace Line, but they had already left "great damage" behind them and the British Military Forces "creditability" was now not so good there among the non - Catholic insurgents and the "attacks" continued on.

September 30th: The Rev. Ian Paisley led 6,000 of his non - Catholic followers to demonstrate outside the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Parliament in these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province  where the previous Lord Cameron Report into the riots was being "debated," and ugly scenes occurred in the lobbies, while there was a lot of noise also occurring from the crowd outside, as the Ascendancy ""Official" Unionist R.U.C. looked on, and loud cheers broke out from the crowd of onlookers for the hard - line Anti - Catholic leader Sir William Craig as he approached the parliament building..

October 2nd: James Callaghan the British Home Secretary returned to these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province and stated that there was "no going back on reform here," in the interest that the British Government had now finally shown in the affairs in these 6 Counties and some of  the British Military Forces were then to be arranged into"riot squads" to close in on any of the groups who were attacking any of the other groups, and they also constructed 10' high iron fences to keep the non - Catholics and the Irish Catholics "apart" and to be even able to see each other. 

October 4th: James Kelly from the Ulster Province met with Cathal Goulding the Chief - of - Staff of the "Official Anti - Treaty IRA" to arrange the importation of "arms" into Ireland for use by the population in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province still under the control of the British Government and the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Government, to enable them to be able to "defend" themselves in the future should any further "ethnic and sectarian" attacks occur there, while Cathal Goulding and the "political" Official Sinn Fein Party were still concentrating on getting all of the "working classes" in Ireland to come together in a "common goal" of mutual interest to bring about an advancement in their overall station in life.

October 10th: The Hunt Committee, also set up by the British Labour Government to "investigate" the cause of the previous "Troubles" in these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province, recommended that the use of "firearms" by the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police was "to cease" for routine duties, and also the use of "armoured cars," and "machine guns" to be no longer used by them also, the "abolition" of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Government's "B" Special police, the disarming and the reorganization of their ""Official" Unionist R.U.C. police to also include Irish Catholics and that they to be under"civilian" control. They were also for a new "reserve" force to be in 2 parts, with one "unarmed" as a Police Reserve and another force up to 4,000 under a British Military commander to be used only for "emergency duty" determined by the British Government to be known as the Defence Regiment / U.D.R.. which would be under British Military Forces control only. These findings really "upset" the hard - line Ascendancy Unionists who could now see their long running "dominance" / ascendancy over the lives of the Irish Catholic population in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province was coming to an "end." Electoral "reform" was now also introduced for Local Government voting there, whereby the previous law of "multiple votes" to property owners was changed / 10 pounds of property previously got you 6 votes), and also 18 year olds were given the "vote" and the Chief Officer of the Öfficial"" Unionist R.U.C. was to be responsible for the "wrongful acts" of the "Official"" Unionist R.U.C. An "independent" Public Prosecutor instead of the ""Official" Unionist R.U.C. police, and the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. uniform to be also "changed." Anthony Peacocke / Inspector General retired became the "new" Inspector General from London, Sir Arthur Young the commander of the City of London was also put in who was also not from Ulster Province.

      Major James Chichester - Clark the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Priome Minister introduced the Hunt Report to the press.

      Harold Wilson the British Labour Government Prime Minister in England issued a declaration, "That Irish Catholics in these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province were to become "equal " under British Law, the Local Government was to be "democratised" and "Housing" reallocated, as every citizen was entitled to the same "equality" of treatment and freedom from "discrimination" as obtains in the rest of the United Kingdom irrespective of their political views or religion."  What a terrible shame that the British Imperial Coalition Government in 1922 had not seen fit originally to carry out their overall responsibility from the "start" of this political divisionary enterprise, to ensure that these normal "Civil Rights" under the British Imperial Empire were available to "all" under their control by virtue of the "Immoral Union," and all of the unecessary loss of life, destruction and bitterness created along the way would have been "avoided" if only common sense had prevailed instead of bigotry.     

      The democratic actions of the "Civil Rights" and the "People's Democracy" groups had achieved more relief in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province under the control of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government and the British Imperial Governments in 1 year than the whole of the previous 50 years of their oppressive Ascendancy "religious and ethnic" rule, as once again the various previous British Governments had shown the Irish population that if they wanted any "reform" at all under British rule there was only one way to achieve it. At the Civil Rights Association elections, Frank Gogarty was to replace Betty Sinclair who was basically a pacifist, and Michael Farrell together with Kevin Boyle were also "elected" to the Committee to keep the "Civil Rights" momentum ongoing in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province to ensure further "normal" reforms might be brought in.

      John Hume, a businessman from Derry in Co. Derry who had been educated at Queen's University, was now the Civil Rights M.P. for Foyle in the Stormont Parliament in Belfast in Co. Antrim, and he was to play a "major peaceful and democratic" role in trying to bring about "further" reforms and peace in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province that were still under the control of the British Government and the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government.

October 11th: Because of the introduction of these "normal civil reforms" the hard - line Ascendancy Unionists came out with "mass demonstrations" all over Belfast in Co. Antrim against the "reform" recommendations and their findings, and that night at 10. p.m. a large non - Catholic crowd in the Shankhill region moved on down towards the City centre towards the new Catholic Unity Flats in the centre of the non - Catholic Ghetto and "refused" to disperse under the direction of the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police who blocked the road. They pushed 2 cars into the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police line and "conflict" arose between them and "shots" were fired  and 2 of the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police were hit with one "killed," and the other "wounded" and the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police "retreated." The British Military Force nearby brought in 2 battalions of their British Military Forces riot squads to support the "Official"" Unionist RUC police, who also used "gas" on the Ascendancy Unionist crowd of 2,000 who were by that time trying to get into the Irish Catholic Unity Flats area again  3 of the "Official" Unionist R.U.C police, were then also "wounded" and the first "Official" Unionist R.U.C. policeman to die had been Victor Arbuckle who had been "shot dead" by someone among the non - Catholic demonstrators. The British Military Force and the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police returned the "fire" also "killing" one of the civilians among the group, and they also seized "prisoners" and took them away, The British Military Forces riot squads there "pulled back," while the other British Military Forces continued on up the Shankhill Road with their armoured cars ahead as the British Military Force continued to throw "gas" into these groups while firing at the "snipers" up on the "rooftops," and the mob there was by then completely "surrounded" although they continued "throwing petrol bombs and stones." By Midnight 22 of the British Military Force were "wounded" and most of the Shankhill Road was "taken" with the "Official" Unionist R.U.C. police in the "rear" holding onto the captured streets, but by 4 a.m. it was to quieten down, with the "Official" R..U.C. police picking up any strays backed up by the British Military Forces. It was now a "definite fact" that the Unionist Loyalists had "attacked" their own British Military Forces and from now on after this particular conflict, for the rest of this year, it was all to be fairly "peaceful" once again. 

Sunday Night: The British Military Forces held the Shankhill Road / non - Catholic area up to Northumberland Avenue, 300 yards from the end of the Ghetto, while "petrol bombs and sniper fire" began to rain down on them again, to which they responded with "tear gas." which then made the mob there keep their distance and the next day a British Military Parachute Regiment was flown into these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province from England who took over the whole of the Shankhill Road, and this meant that there was now an 8,000 British Military Force in these 6 Counties.

Monday: 80 persons were "charged" because of this particular "riot," while another 2 had been killed by the British Military Forces.

October 17th: Peter Berry the secretary in the Republic of Ireland's Department of Justice informed Jack Lynch the Irish Prime Minister, of his suspicions in regard to attempts being made to "import arms" into Ireland for "defensive" use by the Irish Catholics in the north in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province and Charles Haughey the Minister of Finance in the Republic of Ireland along with a Belgian arms "exporter" and John Kelly, from the Ulster Province, were to be "charged" with gun running, but eventually they were to be acquitted of these charges. Jack Lynch was moved to comment at this time that the problems in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province would never be settled until the "whole" of Ireland was re - united under a "democratic" Irish Government.

October 22nd: The non - Catholic "demonstrations" in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province continued on and some were "killed" while they were attempting to blow up the Ballyshannon Power Station across the "artificial border" in the Irish Republic.

October 28th: In these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province the Ministry of Community Relations was established and an Equality of Employment and Declaration was issued by the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government, and in theory the "same opportunities" must now also be given to the Irish Catholics there in relation to the "Official" Unionist Government's Public Bodies and the "Official" Unionist Government's Local Authorities.

November 5th: The Gasworks on the edge of Belfast in Co. Antrim "exploded," and several non - Catholics were also "charged" with the bombing that had occurred in the previous Spring that had been blamed on the "Anti - Treaty I.R.A." and unarmed ""Official" Unionist R.U.C. police now accompanied the British Military Forces into the Bogside / Irish Catholic area and The Falls / non - Catholic area with the Ulster Defence regiment now to be made up of 6,000 men and the "Official" Unionist "B" Specials with English officers was "rejected" and it was all becoming the "same as before," but under a new name.

November: James O Toole / Seamus O Tuathail the editor of the United Irishman, which was a Republican paper wrote an article about certain members of the Fianna Fail Government in the Irish Republic who he believed were trying to subvert the peaceful "Civil Rights" movement in the 6 Counties" artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, that were still under the control of the British Government and the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government, and this included Kevin Boland, Neil Blaney and Charles Haughey.

November 25th: A Complaints Commission was now appointed in the 6 Counties in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Government and the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Government there, while Sir Edmund Compton an Englishman had been put in as a temporary Ombudsman who was to be replaced 2 days later on the 27th by John Benn as a permanent Ombudsman who was a civil servant from the British Ministry of Education.

December: In the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province a Commission was set up to investigate the ongoing "complaints" against the local autorities there and legislation for 1 man  - 1 vote was passed to be introduced for the next "local" election in 1970.

December 28th: The "Official Anti - Treaty IRA" under their leader, Cathal Goulding, who were still pushing "Socialist" policies, stated that they would now officially recognize the 3 individual Parliaments in Ireland, Westminster and Stormont.   

     Samuel Beckett won the "Nobel Peace Prize" for Literature in the Republic of Ireland.

     In the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, that were still under the control of the British Government in England and the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government, the "first bomb" was now set off by the Unionist Loyalists, and as a result the "first" to meet with a "violent death" now, because of this, were members of the Irish Catholic population there and this result should have been enough for anyone in "authority" in England to act decisively, but in a very "short time" that lay ahead over 300 members of the British Military Force and 200 Ascendancy "Official Unionist R.U.C. police and their "B" Special Reserve forces were to also meet with "violent deaths" up to 1979. Also 2,500 people from the population there in these 6 Counties in Ulster Province were also to meet with "violent deaths" up until 1985, rising to 2690 up until 1988, as the violent "Troubles" were now "allowed" to be continued on by the overall authority in these 6 Counties, the British Government, for in reality nothing was to "really change" much during this period..   

     At the elections for Dungannon in Co. Tyrone, another one of the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province by the British Imperial Coalition Government, in which there was a 53 % Irish Catholic population, as usual the Ascendancy "Official" Unionists still gained 14 of the seats, while the Irish Nationalists could only achieve 7 , while Universal Sufferage was now promised along  with a review there of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Special Powers Act in these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province and the Business "vote" of up to 6 votes for every 10 pounds of property held) was "abolished" for the Stormont Parliament elections, and Universal Adult Sufferage for Local Government was to be finally brought in and in reality things "should have been getting better" for all concerned there by now, but they were in reality only going to get worse.

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