On the 6th of July 1971, Louis Armstrong, the American jazz trumpeter and singer, died at the age of 69. Armstrong was famous for his hit song ‘What a Wonderful World’. As trouble continued in Ireland, with more deaths and political developments, it’s hard to imagine anything but for the residents of Northern Ireland in particular at that time.
July 1971 began with another death in Ireland. IRA Volunteer Martin O’Leary died when he was killed by a premature explosion in support of striking workers at the Mogul Mines in Tipperary. On the 3rd of July, about six weeks into the strike, an armed active service unit of the ‘Official’ Faction held up security workers and the mine and proceeded to place gelignite charges at the main electricity transformers at the mine. The resulting explosion caused 1.6 million pounds worth of damage to the Mogul operation, reportedly stating the case of the workers in a way that could not be ignored. However, shortly after the explosion, a badly burned man was dropped at Barrington’s Hospital in Limerick. This was Martin O’Leary. During the course of the operation, Martin had been laying the charges at the main electricity transformer. The charges exploded prematurely causing Martin to be electrocuted and mortally burned. Fellow members of the OIRA had managed to pull him to safety and drop him to the hospital before making their escape. Mr O’Leary died in hospital thereafter, at 20 years of age.
At around 1 am on the morning of the 9th of July, while rioting was taking place near the Little Diamond in the Bogside, Derry/Londonderry, Seamus Cusack (27) was shot in the leg while he was standing in a garden in Abbey Park, where the bullet had struck a main artery. He was rushed to Letterkenny Hospital before dying within about 40 minutes of having been shot.
The death of Cusack led to further disturbances in the Bogside, and hours later during fierce street disturbances on the Lecky Road Desmond Beattie (19) was shot through the chest by a member of the Royal Anglian Regiment. He died shortly after 3 pm. Both men had been unarmed despite claims to the contrary by the British military (The British Army claimed that Cusack had been armed with a rifle, but local witnesses denied this). Seamus and Desmond were the first people gunned down by the British Army on the streets of Derry during the latter-day conflict in Ireland. In the immediate aftermath of the killings, SDLP MP for Mid-Derry Ivan Cooper said he had spoken to many eye-witnesses who were convinced that Cusack’s death was ‘cold-blooded murder.’ The rioting in Derry intensified following the two deaths.
An unofficial Inquiry was chaired by Lord Gifford (QC), an English barrister, and assisted by Paul O'Dwyer, an American lawyer, and Albie Sachs, a South African lawyer. The Inquiry was held at the Guildhall, Derry, but the British Army (BA) and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) refused to participate. The Report of the Inquiry was published in August 1971.
On the 10th of July, British security forces found a UVF arms dump containing a dozen rifles and 2,000 rounds of ammunition at Hillsborough, County Down.
The next day, The Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded several bombs in the centre of Belfast injuring several people. It’s reported that a number of commentators saw these bombs as an attempt to increase tension and confrontations between the two main communities.
Then, on the 12th of July, a British soldier, David Walker (30), was shot dead in Belfast. Mr Walker had been shot by an IRA sniper while leaving a British Army observation post in the Lower Falls area of Belfast. The IRA claimed his death was in retaliation for the killings of two civilians in Derry by the British Army the previous week. The main Orange Order parades across Northern Ireland that day passed off relatively peacefully.
Within only two days, on the 14th of July, another British Soldier was killed by the IRA. Richard Barton (24), had been shot and killed while on a British Army patrol on the Shaw’s Road, Belfast. It was reported that three IRA gunmen, using automatic weapons, fired at least 35 shots at the patrol. The vehicle was struck by several bullets, one of which hit Private Richard Barton in the back, wounding him fatally. He died driving the vehicle clear, turning side-on to the gunmen thus providing his patrol with some protection.
A huge event in the history of the troubles was undoubtedly the introduction of internment in August 1971. July had seen plans and discussions well underway with meetings being held on several occasions.
On the 15th of July, a meeting was held in room 406 of the Home Office, Whitehall. Amongst those present were key government officials, including members of the Ministry of Defence. Via PRONI records on CAIN, the following was discussed.
The Chairman said that the meeting would not be concerned with policy decisions about internment but it was noted that any decision by the Northern Ireland Government to introduce internment would require prior consultation with United Kingdom ministers. It would, however, be useful to consider what progress had been made with contingency planning.
The Northern Ireland Government representatives said that plans were in hand but it had not been possible to take them very far partly because of the need to preserve security and partly because it was not possible at this stage to say how many people would be picked up when the plan went into operation. It could be anything between 30 and 300. Detention orders would be prepared beforehand for each individual who might be involved and these could be signed after arrest, if necessary. After a period of detention, detainees who were not released would become internees. Any new draft regulations required for this purpose could now be prepared for immediate signature if and when the need arose. Rules for the internal administration of internment camps had been drafted but there was some uncertainty about powers to interrogate on which the advice of the Attorney-General was being sought.
It was confirmed by the military representatives that a list of between 325 and 375 names had been drawn up by Special Branch and that 20-40 per cent of these might be involved in the initial operation. The broad plan for military aid to the civil power for the machinery of detention was in existence but it was agreed that more detailed planning could be done without widening significantly the number of persons involved. One of the matters still being looked into was the provision of sufficient accommodation for the immediate post-detention situation. HMS Maidstone was still a part of the scheme, for use as a fall-back if necessary. The Army were working in cooperation with the Special Branch of the RUC to assess how many interrogators would be required for the post-detention period, and it had to be accepted that these might well fall short of the ideal number.
Membership of a review tribunal was raised. A panel of names was already in existence but it was suggested that the chairman or perhaps one other person might be nominated by the Home Office. Mr Howard-Drake agreed without commitment to examine this.
It was agreed that the public relations aspect of internment would be important and that it would be helpful to draft statements on a contingency basis. International interest in internment would be much keener than on the previous occasion on which they were put into effect in Northern Ireland, and public announcements would have to be aimed at three audiences, viz Northern Ireland, the rest of the United Kingdom and inter-nation opinion.
The subject of staffing was discussed and details were given of a Northern Ireland Government plan to close the open prison at Castledillon, bringing prisoners back to Crumlin Road jail. In this way, 60 prison staff would be released for duty at Long Kesh. This would probably result in a shortfall of 30, half of which it was hoped would be found by overstaffed existing establishments, while the other 15 might be found from retired police or prison officers.
It was agreed that an essential part of the contingency plan would be timing. The initial pick-up would take 48 hours and immediate accommodation for 80 could be found in Crumlin Road prison at a few hours notice, and for others at Armagh prison, possibly within 40 hours. It would take 2 - 4 days to close Castledillon, and 14 days to construct an outer perimeter fence at Long Kesh, although this did not mean that Long Kesh could not be used before then if the number of military guards was temporarily increased.
It was agreed that the Northern Ireland Government should acquire the premises at Long Kesh from the Ministry of Defence on a rental basis, the figure to be assessed by the district valuer on a commercial basis. It was likely that maintenance would be carried out by military personnel, partly because of the security difficulties involved if civilian labour were used. Accommodation stores might be left behind by the Army but this was a matter which required further consultation between the Army and the Northern Ireland Government.
Summing up, the Chairman said that it would be desirable to make immediate progress in producing a draft contingency plan containing as much detail as possible without running a risk of leaks. This was agreed and a further meeting was fixed for Friday, 20th August at which draft copies of the plan would be made available for examination.
On the 16th of July, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) withdrew from Stormont because no inquiry had been announced into the shooting dead of Seamus Cusack and Desmond Beattie in Derry on the 8th of July.
A follow-up to the meeting on internment on the 15th of July took place on the 21st of July. Below is what was discussed during that meeting.
As tensions continued to escalate in Northern Ireland, the British Army (BA) carried out early morning raids across Northern Ireland and arrested 48 people on the 23rd of July.
Just the next day, a nine-year-old boy was killed when a British Army vehicle skidded and mounted the pavement striking the boy. The incident happened on Westland Street, Bogside, Derry. An internal report of the incident was written by the RUC on 5 August 1971. You can read the incident report here.