December 1979: Dungannon Land Mine Attack
December 1979 saw Chris Haney and Scott Abbott develop the board game Trivial Pursuit. The game involved players moving their pieces around a board, which sounded similar to the political moves being made in Northern Ireland.
Political Developments in December 1979
December began with a few political manoeuvres. Lieutenant-General Richard Lawson succeeded Timothy Creasey as General Officer Commanding of the British Army in Northern Ireland on the 1st. Jack Lynch resigned as Irish Prime Minister on the 5th, before being replaced by Charles Haughey on the 7th of December.
On the 12th, in several cities across Britain, 24 people were arrested on suspicion of being members of the IRA. This was an attempt to disrupt an anticipated bombing campaign.
The SDLP, under the new leadership of John Hume, decided to attend the Atkins conference.
On the 19th, A Huckle sent a letter to Mr Gee in response to Mr Canavan’s letter in November regarding the hunger strikes and the treatment of prisoners on protest.
Mr Jackson has asked for comments on the proposed reply to the letter of 27 November 1979 from Michael Canavan, SDLP Spokesman for Law and Order on the H Blocks, in which he urged the Secretary of State to make humanitarian concessions on the prisoners' conditions. Mr Jackson is proposing to put forward a full reply for Mr Alison's signature, setting out Government policy in sympathetic terms.
Although I have no major objections to the letter (except on the answer on the issue of the prisoners' isolation), I firmly believe that a letter is not the best way to respond to this SDLP approach and recommend that we should offer a meeting with Mr Alison to the SDLP.
An exchange of correspondence, in my view, is unlikely to persuade the SDLP of the real problems being faced in the Maze and is probably likely to do harm, particularly given the character of Michael Canavan. The SDLP have always pursued a delicate but deliberate line on the Special Category Protest. They have set their face consistently against concessions on the issue of status and indeed have rejected the Peace People's idea of Emergency Status, but they have urged the Government to make gradual improvements to the conditions faced by the prisoners as a way of reducing the effectiveness of the protest - this is very much in line with the opinions of Cardinal 0’Fiaich and Bishop Edward Daly.
The SDLP are, to a certain extent, under pressure from their own supporters. Whilst they can rightly say that the protest receives little support from the outside community - and I think that we must give the SDLP credit for saying this - we also have to realise that in the small, tightly-knit communities of Londonderry and certain areas of West Belfast, the H Blocks campaign is still a major Provisional IRA propaganda point and involves many people, through family ties, who would otherwise take an anti-Provisional lRA line. The SDLP are very conscious of this and are seeking ways of drawing this sort of support away from PlRA (who are their bitterest enemy).
For example, Dr Alastair McDonnell, who has recently been appointed leader of the SDLP group in the Belfast City Council, rang me today on a personal basis to say that he was personally very concerned about the H Blocks problem. He had recently been speaking to various relatives of prisoners, who are his patients, and believes that the Government could make much progress in West Belfast in weaning people away from the Provisional IRA if concessions could be made on prisoners' conditions. He was also making the point that the undermining of the PIRA campaign, both in NI and abroad would give greater stimulus to the political discussions and to the forthcoming Conference.
I very firmly agree with Mr Jackson that the SDLP do not realise the nature of the protest campaign - namely that the protest is not about conditions but about whether there is a war or not. But this is a difficult point to put across in a letter to people
in the SDLP who have to face up to prisoners' relatives on the ground and have to try to persuade them of the rightness of SDLP policy, to persuade them away from supporting the Provisional IRA. In my view, therefore, it is far better for a sympathetic Minister to speak directly to an SDLP delegation.I have two particular comments on the submission put up by Mr Jackson:
Paragraph 3 of Submission: I disagree with respect with Mr Jackson's views of the SDLP’s political position on the protest campaign. The SDLPsl1ne has always been consistent, and I think it unlikely that the SDLP will be pressed to adopt a progressively more hostile attitude to the Government's stand on special category status. John Hume and Michael Canavan have always rigidly held to the principle that there can be no concession on status.
Paragraph c (page 2) of draft letter: Again, with respect, I dislike the proposed answer
to the allegation that the prisoners suffer from isolation because of the deprivation of their privilege, of free association. Taken out of context, this paragraph would surely offend liberal opinion - the idea that contact with prison warders and solicitors reduces the sense of isolation felt by prisoners is a little difficult, in my opinion, to justify publicly.Much, of course, depends on Mr Alison's willingness to speak with the SDLP on this issue, but even if he prefers to issue the letter, I would suggest that he nevertheless offer the SDLP the opportunity of a meeting with him in the light of his reply to their representations.
Shootings in December 1979
December 3rd.
Prison Officer William Wright (58) was shot dead by the IRA at his home in Belfast.
December 3rd.
The UFF claimed responsibility for shooting Catholic civilian David White (35) at his home on Brooke Crescent, Belfast.
December 16th.
James Fowler (40), a former member of the UDR, was shot dead by the IRA in Omagh, County Tyrone.
December 17th.
Prison Officer William Wilson (58) was shot dead by the IRA off the Crumlin Road in Belfast.
December 22nd.
Off-duty RUC officer Stanley Hazelton (48) travelling in his car was shot dead by an IRA sniper in County Monaghan.
December 31st.
Sean Cairns (20), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries at his home in Tralee Street, Belfast.
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Bombings in December 1979
December 13th.
Three more letter bombs exploded in Birmingham.
December 16th.
British soldiers William Beck (23), Keith Richards (22), Simon Evans (19) and Alan Aryton (21) were killed by a landmine bomb planted by the IRA at Ballygawley Road, near Dungannon, County Tyrone.
Another soldier, Peter Grundy (21), was killed by a booby-trap bomb at Forkhill, County Armagh.
Thanks very much for reading. I hope you found it interesting and will come back on Sunday!
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I’ve also recently released Tales of The Troubles: Volume 1. The Early Years - 1960s. Check it out. It would be a great addition to your library or a gift for someone for Christmas. Stay tuned for Volume 2, covering the 1970s.
If you’d like to let me know what you think of today’s instalment, please comment below.
Some recommended reading based on research for this instalment.
Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children Who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles by David McKittrick, Chris Thornton, Seamus Kelters and Brian Feeney.
