Untitled 1                                                     RAINBOW FARMS    AUSTRALIA                                            

                                                                                                                                                                          1969 - 4 (June - July)

 June: The Irish Labour Party in the Irish Republic General Elections declared that they stood for a Worker's Republic and Socialism and they were subsequently badly defeated in the polls. 

      Charles Haughey who was a Minister in the Irish Fianna Fail Government in the Irish Republic was to be later charged with conspiracy over what became known as the, Arms Crisis, for his intention to import arms into Ireland for use by the besieged Catholic Irish in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province that were still under the control of the British Imperial Government and the Ascendancy Official Unionist Stormont Government. 

      June: In  the 6 Counties artificially partitioned previously from the 9 in the Ulster Province by the British Imperial Government in 1922, and now under the control of Harold Wilson the British Labor Prime Minister, a major normal democratic reform was finally bought in to allow the inalienable right of 1 man, 1 vote, after 47 years of rule there by the Ascendancy Official Unionists in the Stormont Government. The Official Unionists under the many previous British Conservative Governments since 1922 had been allowed to treat the indigenous Irish Catholic population there however they liked to suite their own particular Ascendancy agendas, which had created great misery, property damage and many, many deaths of innocent people. James Chichester - Clark the recently elected Prime Minister there now toured the Irish Catholic Bogside area without incident, and although a few scattered Civil Rights marches were still carried out after June, and many were planned for later on, they were now all cancelled due to this simple normal reform finally being brought in. The Opposition Parties in the Official Unionist controlled Stormont Parliament now also began verbally attacking James Chichester - Clark for not getting on with further reforms, while on the other hand, the hard line extremist, the Rev. Ian Paisley, continued to hold rallies against bringing in any further reforms in the 6 Counties in Ulster for the Irish Catholic population there.

June 24th: An Administration Commission was appointed in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province.

July 2nd: A White Paper was now issued in regard to the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, that to stop an further gerrymandering there by the Official Unionist Government, from 1971 on the Local authorities were to be gone and replaced by 17 new area councils, with electoral boundaries to be re - drawn by an Independent body. William Craig the hard - line Official Unionist leader and his current Ascendancy allies came out against any of these improved provisions.

      The Fermanagh Official Unionist Party now came out and expelled the Duke of W/M and 4 other Unionists from their party for supporting the pro - O Neill candidates in the previous February election. 

July 7th: In the 6 Counties partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, Civil Rights Assemblies were held in Armagh and Lurgan in Co. Armagh and also at Dungannon in Co. Tyrone and Downpatrick in Co. Down, which were 3 of the 6 Counties in the Ulster Province still under the control of the Official Unionist Stormont Government.

July 10th: James Chichester - Clark, the recently elected Official Unionist Stormont Prime Minister in the 6 partitioned Counties in the Ulster Province, met with the hard line extremist, Rev. Ian Paisley, over the Civil Rights people being allowed to hold Assemblies in the 3 Ulster Counties. The previous Official Unionist Prime Minister, Terence O Neill would never meet with him.

      The Derry Citizen's Defence Committee was formed in the Irish Catholic Bogside area in Co. Derry, one of the 6 Counties previously partitioned from the Ulster Province, to protect the Irish Catholic population there should any further violence occur there, with 20 members under Patrick Doherty, Sean Keenan and Eamonn Mac Cann, and they also erected barricades for defence.

July 12th: The Orange Order was once again allowed, to carry out their provocative march to continue celebrating William of Orange's victory over the Catholic English King, James 11 nearly 300 years before, which again created riots in Derry and Dungiven in Co. Derry, and Lurgan in Co. Armagh and as a consequence the Dungiven Orange Hall was burnt, and two people were wounded in Derry by the R.U.C. police. Also in Derry during the Saturday night and Sunday morning rioting occurred there between the Irish Catholics, the non - Catholics and the RUC police, and the first serious looting occurred. Eamonn Mac Cann came out and stated that it was now no longer over Civil Rights, but a total sectarian war, as it seemed the Loyalist Unionists were now panicking, allowing their long time siege mentality to control their actions, pushed on continually by people with other agendas, to over ride their overall good sense, and the first sniping now also took place.

      Brendan Corish the Irish Labour Party leader urged Jack Lynch the Prime Minister of the Irish Republic to arrange a meeting with Harold Wilson the British Labour Prime Minister, over the continuing violence that was still occurring in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, which were still under the virtual control of the Official Unionist Stormont Government. Jack Lynch also sent a delegation up to Ulster to discuss the situation with the Republicans there, who were dismayed with the direction Cathal Goulding the leader of the IRA who was taking the IRA into Socialism, and a split was now apparent in the IRA there. Cathal Goulding informed him that they were still prepared to defend the Irish Catholic population there, but they had no weapons to do so. Those who were already attempting to defend the Irish Catholics there had previously erected barricades to keep the R.U.C. police out of the Bogside area, and the Derry Action Committee came out condemning the looting and the hooligans, but it all was to become much worse over the next fortnight. All Civil Rights marches were now banned by the Official Unionist Government in the 6 Counties in Ulster, and there were further sectarian riots in Belfast in Co. Antrim there, with petrol bombings also occurring in Derry in Co. Derry there, and because of this 150 British Imperial Government Military troops were now moved to the Navel base in Derry itself.

July: All of this continuing sectarian turmoil in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, was to come to a head when William Mac Kee, although badly wounded, singly defended St. Matthew's Catholic Church in Belfast in Co. Antrim in the Irish Catholic  Bogside, which was an Irish Nationalist area, from being burnt down by the Unionist Loyalist extremists. Riots also began in Derry in Co. Derry there, which lasted a week and spread to Armagh in Co. Armagh and Belfast in Co. Antrim. The Derry Defence Committee with their barricades were ready to try and protect the Irish Catholic population there as more British Imperial Government troops were brought in instead of the R.U.C. police.

July 14th: The first death occurred by violence in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, between the Civil Rights marchers and the R.U.C. police, with further similar clashes to occur later on in the month.

July 18th: A petrol bomb was thrown at the house of William Craig, the hard - line Ascendancy Official Unionist leader, near Belfast in Co. Antrim. one of the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province.

July 21st: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, 20,000 Irish Catholics attended the funeral of a man who had died of a coronary in Derry, following on from an incident during the riots there, and the Official Unionist Stormont Government had their  B Specials put on standby there in Derry in Co. Derry, which further upset the Irish Catholics there, and the Labour M.P.'s in the Westminster Parliament in England.

July 30th:  In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, the Civil Rights members were removed from Dungannon Council offices by the R.U.C. police, while the hard - line extremist, the Rev. Ian Paisley  looked on.

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