If you’re a regular user of Twitter, or X, or whatever it’s called, you’ll most likely at some stage have come across Alex Jones. Born in February 1974, he’s famed for his wild conspiracy theories, amassing a huge following with some divisive opinions and views. He isn’t shy about calling out what he feels are government cover-ups or fake news. In Northern Ireland in 1974, we have seen some cover-ups of our own where collusion came to light some years later concerning murders that occurred during The Troubles.
Political Developments in February 1974
The month started with Irish Prime Minister Liam Cosgrave and seven of his ministers flying to Hillsborough, County Down, on the 1st of February for a meeting with members of the Northern Ireland Executive. The meeting agreed to establish working groups consisting of civil servants from the North and South which would consider which 'executive functions' would be given to the Council of Ireland. The report from the civil servants recommended that only tourism, conservation, and 'aspects of animal health', should come under the control of the Council of Ireland. During the meeting, they also discussed the public opinion in Northern Ireland on the Sunningdale Agreement, which included a growing acceptance of power-sharing emerging from the continued hostile reactions from Unionists.
That following week Chief Minister of the Northern Ireland Executive Brian Faulkner wrote to Liam Cosgrave regarding numerous discussions from the meeting at Hillsborough, however, the piece that stood out for me was the section around the structure of the Council of Ireland.
On the Council of Ireland functions, I felt we made very useful progress, and our respective officials can now get down to work.
There was however one aspect of this which I neglected to mention because of the pressure of business that day. In my discussion at party level, I have been experiencing great difficulty in selling the ideas of a two-tier Council. The concept of setting up a Council of Ireland with both a ministerial and a parliamentary tier creates the impression of an all-Ireland government and parliament embryo. I realise, of course, that the Sunningdale Agreement includes a commitment to the two-tier system, I should, however, like to tell you frankly that I think the notion of the second tier may prejudice acceptance of the whole scheme at this stage. I have no doubt that it may have a useful part to play in the ultimate machinery of the Council, but it would be a great pity to see the whole project founder because of an insistence upon creating the entire structure at once. This, I think, is something we ought to consider further.
On the 7th of February, British Prime Minister Edward Heath called for a general election to be held on the 28th of February. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Francis Pym tried to argue for a later election date because of his worry that the Executive would not survive the outcome.
The general election took place as planned in the UK on the 28th. In Northern Ireland 30,000 members of the security forces were on duty during the day, however, there were several shooting and bombing incidents across the region.
The election in Northern Ireland was in effect a referendum on power-sharing, and the Council of Ireland as proposed in the Sunningdale Agreement. There was no electoral pact between the parties in favour of the Executive. There was however a very successful pact amongst those opposed to the Sunningdale Agreement who joined forces in the United Ulster Unionist Council. The UUUC was formed by three main Loyalist parties; the Democratic Unionist Party, the Ulster Vanguard, and the Official Unionists (West). These parties agreed to put forward one candidate in each of the constituencies. The Campaign slogan of the UUUC was, 'Dublin is just a Sunningdale away'. Candidates standing on behalf of the UUUC won 11 of the 12 Northern Ireland seats, gaining 51.1% of the valid votes. The SDLP held West Belfast. While the election did not mean an immediate end to the power-sharing Executive, it did provide those opposed to the Sunningdale Agreement with a powerful mandate to continue their opposition to it.
In Britain, the Labour Party won the general election by a narrow margin. Harold Wilson became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
During February there were a series of riots and protests. On the Shankill Road area of Belfast, taxi drivers hijacked buses and sealed off roads in a protest against alleged army harassment. There were further riots in Protestant areas of east Belfast.
Shootings in February 1974
02/02/74 - An IRA unit fired small arms and six rocket-propelled grenades at an RUC outpost near Belcoo, County Fermanagh. The British army returned fire.
04/02/74 - The UVF shot dead Catholic civilian Vincent Clarke (43) outside his garage in Whiterock Gardens, Belfast.
09/02/74 - The UFF claimed responsibility for shooting dead Catholic civilians Anthony O’Connor (42) and Hugh Duffy (24) as they left O'Kane's Bar on Grosvenor Road, Belfast.
11/02/74 - Catholic civilians Thomas Donaghy (16) and Margaret McErlean (18) were shot. Mr Donaghy died immediately, whilst Ms McErlean died on the 18th of February 1974, as they arrived for work in Glenville Road, Newtownabbey, County Antrim. They were killed by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name used by the UDA.
12/02/74 - The UDA shot dead Catholic civilian Peter Cart (57) at his workplace on Lisburn Road, Belfast.
17/02/74 - The British Army shot three members of the UDA in riots on the Newtownards Road, Belfast. Kirk Watters (19) died immediately, whilst Gary Reid (17) died nine days later.
23/02/74 - A large gun battle between the IRA and the British army occurred near Strabane, County Tyrone. The engagement also involved mortar rounds fired by the IRA. Some 25 traveler caravans were trapped between the warring factions, with one caravan being destroyed by a mortar bomb.
24/02/74 - Civilian Patrick Lynch (23) was found shot dead at Rathlin Drive, Derry. He was killed by the IRA as an alleged informer.
Bombings in February 1974
02/02/74 - British MP Reginald Maudling had a letter bomb sent to his house by the IRA.
04/02/74 - The IRA planted a bomb (estimated at between 20 and 25 pounds) on a coach carrying British soldiers and their families. The bomb exploded shortly after midnight as the coach travelled along the M62 in England and 11 people were killed at the scene and one other person died a few days later. Many of the passengers were injured in the blast. Nine of the dead were British soldiers, but the wife, Linda Houghton (23), and two children, Lee Houghton (5) and Robert Houghton (2), of one of the soldiers, were also killed. This bomb was the first of many attacks in Britain during 1974. Judith Ward was later convicted of causing the explosion and given a sentence of 30 years. It wasn't until 1992 that her convictions were quashed and she was released. The 9 British Soldiers who died were Leonard Godden (22), Terence Griffen (24), Michael Waugh (22), Leslie Walsh (19), Paul Reid (17), Jack Haynes (19), James McShane (28), Clifford Houghton (23) and Stephen Whalley (18).
12/02/74 - The IRA exploded a bomb at the National Defence College at Latimer, Buckinghamshire, England. The bomb (estimated at 20 pounds) injured 10 people but there were no deaths.
18/02/74 - British soldier Allan Brammagh (31) was killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb hidden in a parcel that was left at the side of the road, while on foot patrol at Moybane, near Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
19/02/74 - Civilians Patrick Molloy (48), a Catholic, and Jack Wylie (49), a Protestant were killed when the UVF exploded a bomb at Trainor's Bar, Kilmore, County Armagh. Two other men were injured. The attack has been linked to the "Glenanne Gang". In 1981, a serving UDR soldier, a former UDR soldier, and a former UVF member were convicted of the murders.
21/02/74 - The UFF claimed responsibility for detonating a bomb at Spa Inn on Spamount Street, Belfast. Catholic civilian Hugh Devlin (82) was killed.
25/02/74 - There was a bomb explosion at the Belfast headquarters of the Alliance Party.
28/02/74 - The UVF exploded a bomb at Red Star Bar, Belfast, killing Protestant civilian Hugh Harvey (33).
Thanks very much for reading. I hope you found this interesting enough to come back on Sunday!
If you’d like to let me know what you thought of today’s installment, feel free to leave a comment below.
Some recommended reading based on research for this installment.
The Provisional IRA in England: The Bombing Campaign 1973-1997 by Gary McGladdery.
IRA: The Bombs and the Bullets: A History of Deadly Ingenuity by A.R Oppenheimer