December 1973 saw the premiere of The Exorcist. A truly gripping horror movie, becoming the 1st horror flick to be nominated for Best Picture. In Northern Ireland, an even more haunting story would develop, impacting generations of one family, in the truly tragic tale of the Niedermayer family.
Political Developments in December 1973
The festive period in December 1973 was littered with political developments from start to finish. On the 3rd, Francis Pym succeeded William Whitelaw as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Many people were critical of this particular change given that the talks on the crucial issue of the Council of Ireland were scheduled to begin on the 6th of December 1973. It was believed that Pym had comparatively little knowledge of Northern Ireland. This coincided with Harry West and other 'unpledged' Unionists announcing the setting up of a new group called the Ulster Unionist Assembly Party. The UUAP later held a joint meeting with the DUP and Vanguard in the Ulster Hall, Belfast.
The next day, the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Francis Pym, met with DUP leader Ian Paisley.
Mr Paisley had come to ask whether Her Majesty's Government would honour paragraph 112 of the White Paper of March 1973 and extend invitations to Mr Craig, Mr West and himself to the forthcoming tripartite conference. He would seriously consider never coming to Stormont Castle again to talk to the Secretary of State if no such invitations were received.
It’s reported that Paisley stormed out of the meeting having been told that Loyalists would not be invited to participate in the Sunningdale conference but could come to put their point of view.
On the 5th of December, tensions continued to rise in the political sphere when, during a meeting of the Assembly, pro-Executive Unionist members were physically attacked by DUP and Vanguard members. Police were called to the Assembly.
Following the previous days’ altercations, Vanguard leader William Craig, DUP leader Ian Paisley, and Ulster Unionist Assembly Party leader Harry West held a joint rally in the Ulster Hall and formed the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) to try to oppose power-sharing and to bring down the power-sharing Executive. The rally was attended by approximately 600 delegates from the UUP constituency associations.
Intentionally, the rally was held on the same day (6th) when the Civil Service Staff College at Sunningdale in England played host to a conference to try to resolve the remaining difficulties surrounding the setting up of the power-sharing Executive for Northern Ireland. Sunningdale was the first occasion since 1925 that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Irish Prime Minister, and the Northern Ireland government - in the form of the Northern Ireland Executive (designate) - had attended the same talks on the future of Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Edward Heath, Irish Prime Minister Liam Cosgrave and senior ministers attended in addition to representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and the Alliance Party. The participants discussed several matters but the main item of concern centred on the unresolved issue of the 'Irish Dimension' of any future government of Northern Ireland. Proposals surrounding this 'Irish Dimension' were finally to be agreed in the form of a proposed Council of Ireland. The elements of the proposed Council were that it would consist of a Council of Ministers and a Consultative Assembly. The Council of Ministers was to be comprised of seven members from the Northern Ireland Executive and seven members of the Irish government. This Council would have executive and harmonising functions and a consultative role. The Consultative Assembly was to be made up of 30 members from the Northern Ireland Assembly and the same number from the Dáil. This Assembly was to have advisory and review functions.
On the 9th of December, a communiqué was issued which announced that agreement had been reached at the talks at Sunningdale. This communiqué was to become known as the Sunningdale Agreement. You can read the 20-point document HERE.
The RTÉ Archival footage of the Sunningdale Agreement is a great watch. You can view it HERE.
In response, Loyalists announced the establishment of the Ulster Army Council to resist the proposed Council of Ireland. The UAC was an umbrella group for the main Loyalist paramilitary groups, which included the UDA and the UVF.
On New Year’s Eve, a Statement was released by the Northern Ireland Executive following its first meeting at Stormont Castle. The statement set out the Executive's hopes for the future.
"We have undertaken to serve in the interests of Northern Ireland and all its people. This is the spirit in which we shall always act, both individually and collectively.
We want the New Year to see the beginning, not just of a new system of Government, but of a new spirit. Let 1974 be The Year of Reconciliation. "
Shootings, Beatings & Abductions in December 1973
01/12/73 - An IRA sniper shot dead patrolling RUC officer Robert Megaw (29) on Edward Street, Lurgan, County Armagh.
03/12/73 - The British Army shot dead IRA volunteer Joseph Walker (18), who was part of a unit attempting to ambush a British patrol at The Rath, Central Drive, Creggan, Derry.
08/12/73 - The UDA shot dead Catholic civilian James Gibson (42) inside his shop on Stranmillis Road, Belfast.
10/12/73 - An IRA sniper shot dead patrolling British soldier James Hesketh (21) on Leeson Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.
15/12/73 - The IRA shot dead former RUC officer Ivan Johnston (34) at Derrynoose near Keady, County Armagh.
20/12/73 - The IRA accidentally shot dead civilian bank clerk Rodney Fenton (23) on Atlantic Avenue, New Lodge, Belfast. An RUC reservist was the intended target.
26/12/73 - UDA member George Hyde (19) was beaten to death by other loyalists in the Maze Prison as an alleged informer.
27/12/73 - German Manager of the Grundig factory Thomas Niedermayer (45) died in unclear circumstances shortly after being abducted, by the IRA, from his home in Glengoland Gardens, Suffolk, Belfast. His remains were eventually found, during excavation work with a mechanical digger, buried in an embankment by Colin River, off Glen Road, near Belfast, County Antrim, on the 11th of March 1980. Eugene McManus (IRA Belfast Brigade) and 42-year-old John Bradley (also an IRA member) were charged in connection with the crime. Bradley was originally charged with murder, but at his trial in 1981, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, stating that he had accidentally killed Niedermayer whilst he was trying to escape. McManus pleaded guilty to withholding information about the crime and IRA membership. Bradley was subsequently sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment, and McManus to five years' imprisonment. This murder had far-reaching effects in the years that followed. Niedermayer's wife, Ingeborg, returned to Ireland in 1990, ten years to the day after her husband's funeral, and booked into a hotel in Bray, where she died by suicide by walking into the sea from an isolated beach. Niedermayer's two daughters, Renate and Gabrielle, also died by suicide, in 1991 and 1994 respectively, with Renate dying in South Africa and Gabrielle in England. Gabrielle's husband, Robin Williams-Powell, killed himself five years later in 1999. The story is the subject of the 2023 documentary film Face Down, directed by Gerry Gregg. A truly tragic tale.
28/12/73 - The British Army shot dead UVF member Alexander Howell (35) during a fight outside the Bayardo Bar, Belfast.
29/12/73 - UVF and UDA snipers shot dead Catholic RUC officer Michael Logue (21) on Forthriver Road, Belfast. They had robbed a supermarket to lure his police patrol to the scene. The attack was thought to be a retaliation for the killing of Alexander Howell.
31/12/73 - An IRA sniper shot dead British soldier Alan Daughtery (23) travelling in an APC on Beechmount Avenue, near Falls Road, Belfast.
Bombings in December 1973
11/12/73 - Off-duty RUC officer Maurice Rolston (37) was killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb attached to his car at his home in Newcastle, County Down. Another under-car bomb blew off an unidentified RUC officer's leg in Downpatrick, County Down. Belcoo RUC base in County Fermanagh was attacked with rockets and machine guns, wounding one officer.
15/12/73 - IRA volunteer James McGinn (20 died when the bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely as he walked across Clady Bridge on the Tyrone-Donegal border.
18/12/73 - The IRA carried out a series of attacks in London. In one attack, two police officers were injured in an explosion in Ronan Way. A car bomb exploded on Thorney Street, off Horseferry Road, in Millbank, London. The explosion injured up to 60 people. The bomb was planted in a stolen car parked in front of the Home Office building when it exploded on Tuesday morning. Two telephone warnings were given within half an hour before the blast, and it’s believed that the warnings were inaccurate. The Provisional Irish Republican Army was responsible for the attack, which was assumed to have been in retaliation for the jailing of the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade members who bombed the Old Bailey earlier in the year. A day earlier, the IRA sent two parcel bombs that targeted two politicians.
19/12/73 - One person was injured when an IRA letterbomb exploded at a postal sorting office in London.
23/12/73 - In several incidents, bombs exploded at Kensington police station, Hammersmith offices of builders, George Wimpey and the White Lion public house on Tottenham Court Road.
24/12/73 - The IRA left two packages which exploded almost simultaneously in the late evening on Christmas Eve. One was in the doorway of the North Star public house, South Hampstead, which exploded injuring six people, and the other exploded on the upstairs veranda of the nearby Swiss Cottage Tavern, in which an unspecified number of people were injured.
24/12/73 - IRA volunteers Edward Grant (18) and Brendan Quinn (17) died, killing civilian Aubrey Harshaw (18), when their bomb prematurely exploded in Clarke's Bar, Monaghan Street, Newry.
26/12/73 - One person was injured when an IRA bomb exploded at Stage Door public house in London.
As always, thanks very much for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it enough to come back on Tuesday to read the next issue.
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Some recommended reading based on research for this instalment.
The Provisional IRA in England: The Bombing Campaign 1973-1997 by Gary McGladdery.