1972 AD - 4 June - December
June:
In the
6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province,
that were still under the British Conservative Government's control, the British
Imperial Military forces there decided to back off the
Ascendancy
Unionists and let them do whatever
they wanted to do. Despite this, there was still to be further confrontation at the
barricades set up by the Unionists
in Ainsworth Avenue,
off of the
Shankhill Road, involving
5,000
members of the Unionist
Defence Force / U.D.F and
3 British
Imperial Military companies of soldiers, but there they also reached a compromise.
June13th:
In the
6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province,
the Provisional I.R.A. / P.I.R.A / Provos
offered to call a
ceasefire, and for
William Whitelaw the appointed British Secretary of State in
these 6 Counties to go to
Derry in
Co. Derry to the
Falls area, the Bogside
area, and
the
Creggan
"No Go"
areas to discuss a
truce,
but he
refused to meet with them to even discuss their offer. John Hume from the
political Social Democratic Labour Party /
S.D.L.P. persuaded the
P.I.R.A. / Provos then
to allow him to
personally intervene,
and they agreed, subject to
Gerry Adams being released from prison to represent them also.
Gerry Adams, had
previously been "Interned without Trial" for being
the commander of the Belfast Brigade,
and they wanted him to be involved in the negotiations, to which
William Whitelaw then agreed. Their other
condition was for political status for political
prisoners to which he would not agree, as
British Law
never did recognize political status in
any of their prisons.
June 15th: In the
6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province,
William Whitelaw,
the appointed British Secretary of State in these
6
Counties in Ulster, met with
John Hume and
Patrick Devlin, the leaders of the
S.D.L. Party,
and Thomas Caldwell, an
Independent M.P.,
a
T.D. from
Dublin, and a civil servant from
Stormont, and they made an
arrangement. They then advised the leaders of the
Provisional I.R.A.,
Sean Mac Stiofain in these 6
Counties in Ulster,
and
David
/ Daithi
O Connell in
Donegal in Co. Donegal in the
Republic of Ireland,
that the British
Conservative Government, would respond to an unconditional ceasefire.
June 20th:In the
6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province,
William Whitelaw
the British appointed Secretary of State in these
6 Counties in Ulster, announced that
Unionist Loyalist and
Irish
Republican prisoners would now be given,
"Special Category"
status.
June 22nd:
The I.R.A.
responded in
Dublin in
the Irish Republic, by announcing
that an indefinite unconditional ceasefire was to begin on
June 26th at midnight. Despite
this over the weekend, in the
6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province, before the Truce
was
to come into effect,
6 more
people were to be killed, directly related to the activities of the
I.R.A. On the
Monday before the
Truce began, there was to be the
fiercest
fighting yet, and another British
Imperial Military
soldier was killed just before the midnight deadline arrived.
June 26th:
In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province, the
P.I.R.A. / Provisional IRA / Provos announced an
indefinite ceasefire in these
6 Counties in Ulster.
June 27th:
The next day
in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, the political
Provisional Sinn Fein Party
announced
preconditions for an indefinite truce, which included that,
"The British Imperial Government in the
6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province,
must
release all internees held under their legislation of "Interment
without Trial," repeal the
Special Powers Act, lift the ban on their
political association in these
6 Counties
in Ulster, bring in
proportional
representation in the elections, drop the
Oath of Allegiance
to the
British Crown for all
office
holders. (They left out a total amnesty and
the removal of the
British Military forces
until another
time.)
William Whitehall
the British appointed Secretary of State in these
6 Counties in Ulster was
agreeable to some of the proposals, but not all, and
nevertheless, was encouraged by the ceasefire, as there was
now only isolated incidents, but despite this there was still no relief from the
sectarian killings.
July 7th:
In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province,
after the P.I.R.A. /
Provisional IRA / Provos had
obtained no results from their ceasefire at all, they met
secretly again with the
British Conservative Government
in
London, after being flown there by
the R.A.F., and they now added
3
extra demands to their previous
proposals, including, "Total amnesty,
a statement of intention to withdraw the British Imperial Military forces from
Ireland within
3
years, and the right of the whole population of
Ireland to Self Determination."
No agreement was reached on these proposals, but the
British Conservative Government
issued a
Statement, declaring no opposition to a
United Ireland.
The P.I.R.A.
/
Provisional IRA and the
British Imperial Military forces in these
6 Counties in Ulster now
moved
about freely, with
the P.I.R.A.
bearing arms in
their own areas, and there were no more indiscriminate searches carried out
on the people, their cars and their
property.
July 9th:In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, the Central Citizens Defence Committee, intended to move 16 Catholic Irish families into the empty houses, which had been vacated by Ascendancy Unionists in Lenaddoon Avenue in West Belfast in Co. Antrim, and the Unionist Defence Force / U.D.F. came out and warned them that any Irish Catholics were put there, they would be burnt out. Because of these threats the British Imperial Military forces vetoed the idea, but the Committee wishing to prove a point pushed on regardless. They were backed up by 1,000 Irish Catholics, who came into confrontation with the British Imperial Military force, where Seamus Twomey the I.R.A. commander there, argued with and warned the British Imperial Army officer of the consequences of stopping them, so the British Imperial Military force then began firing gas and rubber bullets, and 2 men were arrested. Seamus Twomey then informed the British Imperial Military commander that he had violated the Truce, and P.I.R.A. / Provisional IRA demanded their release from William Whitelaw, who refused, saying they were arrested for inciting a riot. The P.I.R.A. then began returning the fire in the area, and it was full on once again, and within half an hour the Provisional I.R.A. Headquarters in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, issued orders, stating the ceasefire had been broken by the British Imperial Military forces, and it was now over after only 13 days, and all P.I.R.A. members were to resume their action. During the Truce, hundreds of men had been released from Long Kesh Jail in these 6 Counties in Ulster, and 2 explosions now occurred in Belfast in Co. Antrim, and over the next few days, 8 more British Imperial Military soldiers, and 1 R.U.C. policeman was killed, and once again there was a further increase in the sectarian killings.
July 21st: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, "Bloody Friday" now also occurred in Belfast in Co. Antrim, as the Provisional I.R.A. under Seamus Twomey, set off a series of 19 bombs and although prior warnings had been given to each position, still 11 more people were killed, including 2 more British Imperial Military soldiers, a young girl and a boy, and 130 were injured. The British Conservative Government decided to take on the "No Go" areas, and 7 major British Military units were rushed over from England into these 6 Counties in Ulster, to be placed in Belfast in Co. Antrim within a week. (There were now 21,000 British Military soldiers in these 6 Counties in Ulster.)
July 22nd: 4 Irish Catholics were killed by a passing car ay Anderstown chased by the R.U.C, but an Army Captain and a Sargent were only charged with attempted murder.
July 30th /
Sunday:
William Whitelaw the British appointed Secretary of State for
the
6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province,
announced that the British
Imperial Military forces were to conduct
Operation Motorman
in the
Catholic Irish areas, and they removed
all the barricades and put in British
Imperial Military soldiers, who were backed up this time by
Centurion Tanks weighing
at least
50
tons each.
(During this particular conflict, 2
Irish Republicans were shot dead, with
no
losses by the British
Imperial forces, either Military
soldiers or R.U.C. police.) Most of the
Ascendancy
Unionist barricades
were also removed by them, and the Unionists
themselves removed the others. In the morning
3 car
bombs were set off in
Claudy, situated 9
miles south of Derry in
Co. Derry, where
6 more people were killed and the
P.I.R.A. / Provisional IRA denied any responsibility for them, and
5
men in
Derry were then arrested as "suspected"
I.R.A. men.
August: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, all of the barricades were now gone from the individual areas and streets.
August:
The Provisional I.R.A.
blew up a boat killing
Lord
Mountbatten
and his
grandson.
Jack Lynch,
the Prime Minister of
the
Republic of Ireland, carried out
a further crackdown on I.R.A.
activities there, and
Sean Mac Stiofain
the
Chief of Staff of the
P.I.R.A. was arrested there and
imprisoned for
6 months.
He was to go on a hunger strike and the
P.I.R.A. were to try to rescue him while he was in the
Dublin Hospital,
and
4 of
them were injured during the gun
battle that followed. Sean Mac Stiofain was to recognize the court in which he was tried in the
Irish Republic, and this was to cost him his
position in P.I.R.A. and there
was now to be increased bank robberies in the
Irish Republic.
In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province,
the
British
Imperial Government's Military forces
refused to honour the agreement
to counter the Ascendancy
Unionist militarism, and
William Whitelaw the British Government's
appointed Secretary of State in
these 6 Counties in Ulster stated, "I
recorded that the histories of our
2 Countries give the
Irish
grounds for suspicion,
while
the minorities in the north have been
deprived of their rights." He
eventually persuaded
the "Official" Unionists, the
political Social Democratic Party
/
S.D.L.P. and the moderate Unionist Alliance Party
to form an Executive
for power
sharing.
September 25th:
In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province,
further talks were carried out by the
British
Conservative Government, set up by
William Whitelaw
at
Darlington in
England, and although
all political parties
were invited to attend only the N.I. Labour
Party, the Alliance Party
and the "Official" Unionists
turned up. The
S.D.L. Party
/ Social
Democratic Labour Party stated that, "They were not
interested until "Internment
without Trial" was ended," and the
Democratic Unionist Party under
the leadership of the
Rev.
Ian Paisley, the extremist
religious fanatic, would not even talk
to the
Irish Nationalists. Despite
it's poor start, it was to eventually lead on to the
Sunningdale Agreement,
under the
Chairmanship
of
Brian Faulkner the last
"Official" Unionist Prime Minister in these 6 Counties
in Ulster, but it was to only operate for a few months.
William Whitelaw
published
a discussion paper on forming a government in these
6 Counties
in Ulster, which would involve
participation by the Irish Republic Government in
Dublin in
some form, which
was acceptable
to
Jack Lynch the
Republic of Ireland Prime Minster and the
S.D.L. Party
in these 6 Counties in Ulster,
but the Ascendancy
Unionists were not
interested.
In the 6 Counties
artificially partitioned from the 9 in the
Ulster Province,
the Unionist Defence
Association / U.D.A. was founded and the
Unionist Defence Regiment
of part
time soldiers was introduced, to add to the
21,000 British
Imperial Military Armed forces and
R.U.C. police in these
6 Counties in Ulster,
and the
British Conservative Government
announced it
was also going to introduce
Diplock Courts
with no juries, specifically to be used to fight terrorism.
December 1st:
In the
Irish Republic
2 explosions occurred in
Dublin,
and
Jack Lynch the Prime Minister
increased the powers of the
Irish Garda Siochana
/ police.
In the
6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province, the Provisional IRA /
P.I.R.A.
/ Provos declared a
3 day truce
over the Christmas
period.
In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, 488 more Irish people had met with a violent death, during this year, which also included many more sectarian killings, against the previous total of 120 in 1971. The N.I. Community Relations Commission publicly stated that the R.U.C. police there, were not doing enough to combat the intimidation of the Irish Catholics there, while often siding with the Unionist Defence Association / U.D.A.
One bright light in the whole sordid affair in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, was that the people in these 6 Counties in Ulster, who were now eligible to vote, had risen to 1,031,694 which was a 50 % increase on the situation that existed only 5 years before in 1967 under the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Stormont Government before the advent of the Civil Rights Associations.