1973 AD

1973 In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province still under the control of the British Conservative Government the Diplock Courts were brought in by Edward Heath the British Prime Minister and his Government, which were still under their British Military control, with Emergency Provisions giving their troops extra powers held previously by the R.U.C., that included no juries, which allowed the British Military forces to arrest anyone at all on suspicion only, with no bail allowed, and with the proof of innocence on the defendant in gun carrying cases, with only "terrorist" confessions to be used as evidence.

     In the Irish Republic (26 Counties) the younger Erskine Childers became the President. but was to die in office the next year in 1974, and Patrick Hillery also became the Ireland's first European Commissioner. Kevin Boland resigned from the Fianna Fail Party, which was still under the leadership of Jack Lynch the Taoiseach / Prime Minister, as he considered that he had not done anything about actually re - uniting the 32 Counties of Ireland and with Sean Sherwin he formed the political Aontacht Eireann Party, but despite their ambitions they were to have no luck in the coming elections. His father, Gerald Boland, who was now 88 year old died this year, after giving long service to the Fianna Fail Party as an original co - founder, who although born in Manchester in England had served in the 1916 Easter Uprising and had been a Minister in every Irish Government from 1933 - 1948, including being Minister for Justice in 1939 when the party first took on the original Irregular / I.R.A supporters. Desmond Foley was to be another who resigned from the Fianna Fail Party this year. 

February 28th: In the Irish Republic Jack Lynch the Fianna Fail Government's Primer Minister called an election and the Fianna Fail Party after 16 years in Government was to be defeated narrowly under his leadership, losing 6 seats, and were now down to 68 from their 1969 high of 74. The Fine Gael Party won 54 seats, increasing their total by 4 since 1969, and the Irish Labour Party also went up by 1 to 19 in the  same period. Despite his defeat,  Jack Lynch still stayed on as the Opposition Fianna Fail Party leader.

     In the Irish Republic, Liam Cosgrave, the anti - I.R.A. son of William T. Cosgrave the first Taoiseach / Prime Minister of the Irish Free State in 1922, was now the leader of the new Coalition Fine Gael Government and the Irish Labour Party, and just like his father he became the Prime Minister of the Irish Republic. They were to drop the Irish language subject from the Leaving Certificate and also publicly renewed their claim for the return of the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9, by the British Imperial Coalition Government, in the Ulster Province. Patrick Cooney the new Minister for Justice in the Fine Gael Coalition introduced a tough civil law and order policy to combat the I.R.A. Connor Cruise O Brien was also anti - I.R.A.     

     In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of  the British Conservative Government, John Hume and Gerry Fitt from the S.D.L. Party met with the British Government for the power there to be shared, and for one man, one vote, which was totally rejected by the Ascendancy Unionists, so the British Government to send them a message dissolved the Derry Corporation and also disarmed the R.U. C police, and the "B Special" police were also disbanded.

March 8th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of  the British Conservative Government, a poll was carried out on this date by the British Government, but only 57% voted, with 1% against the 6 Counties remaining in with the United Kingdom, and as a result the P.I.R.A. / Provisional IRA set off 2 bombs in London where 200 people were injured.

March 20th:  In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of  the British Conservative Government, the British Conservative Government issued a White Paper proposing a 78 member Assembly for representatives to be elected on a proportional representation Executive, with a mandatory proportion for the main Opposition Party with ties to the Dublin Irish Republic Government through a Council of Ireland.

May:  In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of  the British Conservative Government,  there was a Unionist two day strike by 200,000 Unionist workers, against the proposal for a Council of Ireland to be formed with the 6 Counties in Ulster and the 26 Counties in the Irish Republic, were it was intended to share the power of government under the Sunningdale Agreement. 

June 28th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, 78 members were elected for the Assembly, that would once again be dominated by the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Party with 23 seats, with Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party winning 11 seats, and his Ascendancy coalition partner William Craig winning 4, with other sundry Unionists winning 12, the moderate Unionist Alliance Party won 8, the S.D.L. Party / Social Democratic Labour Party won 19, the N.I. Labour Party won only 1, and the Republican Clubs none. This all meant that Brian Faulkner who was still the leader of the "Official" Unionists would have to combine with the Catholic S.D.L. Party, and there was no chance of that, so Direct Rule was continued on. Late Summer: British Military forces captured some I.R.A. leaders and the Provos stepped up their attacks on R.U.C. stations.

       In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of  the British Conservative Government, a Border referendum was also held with the Unionist population in these 6 Counties in Ulster at least at 66% of the overall population there, and out of these, 58% voted to remain in the Union with only 1% for a United Ireland. The Catholic vote was only 33% of the population, and all up 41% overall didn't even bother to vote at all, as they were well aware that they were well and truly outnumbered anyway.

August 3rd: In the Irish Republic, Eamonn Mac Thomas the editor of "An Phoblacht" was given 15 months imprisonment for being a member of the I.R.A. while the I.R.A. in England was conducting a campaign there under the banner of Clann na Eireann for the re - unification of Ireland. 

August 11th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of  the British Conservative Government,  20 I,R.A. members attacked Crossmaglen R.U.C. stations. William Whitelaw then began releasing internees when the violence stopped and reduced if it increased. 2 of the Peoples Democratic leaders, Michael Farrell and Tony Canavan were jailed for carrying out a demonstration over internment without trial, and went on a hunger strike at Crumlin Road jail an rallies were held to support their stand and some of these were violent. William Whitelaw then released them and 100 others and the peoples' Democracy set up a Political Hostages Release Committee and were joined by the Provisional Sinn Fein and the N.I.C.R.A., the Republican Clubs and other interested organizations. The Provisional Sinn Fein wanted support for their violence campaign, but none of the others were interested. 

October 31st: In the Irish Republic the Provos hijacked a helicopter and its pilot and had it land in Mountjoy Jail and Seamus Twomey, Kevin Mallon and J.B. O Hagan escaped. who were 3 of the I.R.A. leaders.

       In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of  the British Conservative Government, William Whitelaw was still trying to get an Assembly up and running and he had finally persuaded Brian Faulkner and the S.D.L. Party to work together.

November 4th: In the Irish Republic, Neil Blaney and Paudge Brennan were expelled from the Opposition Fianna Fail Party who were still under the leadership of Jack Lynch for not supporting James Gibbons in a vote of no confidence by the Opposition, while Charles Haughey had voted in the positive.

November 15th: In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of  the British Conservative Government, the Assembly organized by William Whitelaw came together, which upset many of the Irish Catholics as it appeared to them that the S.D.L Party had given up their stand on internment without trial and would only become a minority in the Unionist administration. The followers of Ian Paisley and William Craig physically attacked Brian Faulkner's followers in the Assembly and the R.U.C. police had to be called. The I.R.A. under the leadership of Michael Mac Verry, who was only 23 year old, who was also in control of the 1st South Armagh Battalion attacked the R.U.C Barracks at Keady in Co. Armagh.

December 6th - 9th: An Agreement was reached at Sunningdale by the Irish Republic Government with the British Conservative Government to set up a Power Sharing Executive, on the basis that Ireland was one island, and this step was to also establish a link between Belfast and Dublin towards Irish Unity. In attendance was Brian Faulkner's Unionists, the Alliance Party. the S.D.L. Party and the government of the Irish Republic led by Brian Cosgrave and Fine Gael, which had defeated Jack Lynch  a few months earlier and were more sympathetic to the British Government's views. Over the 3 days Brian Cosgrave declared this was the first stage of one government for Ireland. A cross border Anglo / Irish Commission was set up to examine cross border security co - operation, including extradition from the south to the north. It was signed by William Whitelaw the British appointed Secretary of State in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province in Ireland, who was recalled the next day back to England. 

December 9th:  In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of  the British Conservative Government, the Unionist factions there formed themselves into the United Ulster Unionist Council / U.U.U.C to try and restore the previous overall control of the Ascendancy. The Constitution was also changed to a more democratic, "A majority of the people should consent," as against the 1949 Act that stated the, "Parliament should consent," to a United Ireland. The Unionist Freedom Fighters / U.F.F. and the Unionist Red Hand Commandos connected to the U.V.F were also now outlawed for terrorism for killing Irish Catholics, while the Unionist Defence Association there remained legal. General Sir Harry Tuzo who had been the British Imperial Military Army G.O.C. since 1971 during the worst violence came to firmly believe that there would be no military solution, but only a political one.

December 25th: In the Irish Republic Constitution no one could be sent north if it was politically motivated and the Provos were also naturally against it and the Unionist Party rejected the Sunningdale Agreement altogether.

     In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of  the British Conservative Government, an Election was to be held, and the ban was removed on the Republican Clubs as the Official I.R.A. was no longer involved in violence, and the political Provisional Sinn Fein Party put up their own proposition for a United Ireland with one parliament of 150 members, with half elected by proportional representation, and the others from 4 regional Parliaments based in the 4 Provinces. They wanted a 4 Province Federation to protect the Irish citizens from exploitation.  The Provisional  IRA / Provos were to continue on with their attacks, which included many innocent victims, and they also tried to persuade the Irish Catholics to boycott the elections, which really only had an effect in the areas of the Bogside, Creggan and the Falls. In the second half of this year the Official Sinn Fein Party intentions were more clear cut as they wanted to broaden their political base.  

      In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, still under the control of  the British Conservative Government, I, 250 more people had met with a violent death.

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