July 1973: The New Northern Ireland Assembly
July 1973: The New Northern Ireland Assembly
Bombings, Rocket Attacks & The Littlejohn Affair
If you’re old enough to have been alive in July 1973, you may have woken up to the news that Bruce Lee had died of cerebral oedema at the age of 32. Bruce Lee is famous for many quotes, but my favourite of his is
"Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do."
To me, this is something that the political leaders in Northern Ireland could have paid notice to during the ongoing conflict in 1973. More ownership and accountability, coupled with actions, rather than false promises, would have helped stem the ongoing atrocities that continued to take place across the country.
Political developments in July 1973
On the 1st of July 1973, Secretary of State William Whitelaw travelled to Chequers for a meeting at 8:00 pm with British Prime Minister Edward Heath. The meeting discussed the results of the Northern Ireland Assembly Election held on Thursday the 28th of June 1973, and the outcome's impact on potential political progress in the region.
Some key takeouts of the meeting
The best hope now was that Mr Faulkner and the Official unionists should form a coalition with the SDLP and the Alliance Party. But this would not be easy for some of Mr Faulkner’s friends to stomach, and it might be that some of those who had supported Mr Faulkner would transfer their loyalties to Mr Craig or Mr Paisley. If Mr Craig and Mr Paisley were then in a position to form a coalition with the SDLP, a new and more difficult situation would be created. On the whole, however, the Secretary of State did not think this very likely, for the present the dissident loyalists were saying they would not take part in any power-sharing executive.
The secretary of State said that he would try to make sure that a first meeting of the Assembly happened before the summer recess, but the Assembly could not meet until after the Constitutional Bill had been passed.
One problem would be to find a good Presiding Officer for the Assembly. One possibility might be Mr David Bleakley. He would be a good Presiding Officer, but he was the only representative of the Northern Ireland Labour Party who had been elected, and it was feared that if he were made the Presiding officer, that would spell the demise of his party.
There was some discussion about the problems of altering the sectarian balance in the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the RUC. Mr Cosgrave had put both these matters on the agenda for his meeting with the Prime Minister the following day. It was probable that he did not set much store by them; they had probably been added at the request of the Foreign Minister, Mr Fitzgerald. In both cases there was very clearly a problem, but it probably could not be remedied in a short time. The proportion of Catholics in the Northern Ireland Civil Service had gone up somewhat but they were still poorly represented at the top of the Service, and it might be difficult to increase the proportion of Catholics at the top of the Service if merit were to continue to be the prime consideration in making appointments.
It was noted that Mr Cosgrave was thought to be likely to propose an early tripartite meeting between representatives of Westminster, Dublin and Belfast. Clearly, this could not happen until a Northern Ireland Executive had been set up. One of the items for discussion at such a meeting would be the future of a Council of Ireland. It seemed that Mr Fitzgerald envisaged a wide-ranging body, operating at Ministerial, Parliamentary and Official levels, with an Executive Secretariat and executive powers.
The following day, Irish Prime Minister Liam Cosgrave flew to London for a meeting with British Prime Minister Edward Heath. The topics discussed were based on the same topics discussed the day previous between William Whitelaw and Edward Heath; Assembly Elections, the imbalance in the Public Service, recruitment, and a Council of Ireland.
The 'Northern Ireland Constitution Act' received its Royal Assent on the 18th of July. The Act officially abolished the Stormont Parliament.
The 19th of July saw further developments in the Littlejohn Affair. Kenneth and Keith Littlejohn were convicted in the Special Criminal Court, Dublin, of the armed robbery of £67,000 from the Allied Irish Bank on the 12th of October 1972. Kenneth Littlejohn claimed during his trial that he had been working for British Intelligence (MI6) in an attempt to infiltrate the Official Irish Republican Army. The British government did not comment on the allegations. The two brothers were sentenced on the 3rd of August 1973.
July ended with the new Northern Ireland Assembly meeting for the first time amid noisy scenes of protest. In the course of proceedings, William Craig, leader of the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party, proposed to nominate William Beatty for the role of presiding officer, in opposition to Nat Minford, who had been nominated by Brian Faulkner of the Ulster Unionist Party.
Protests and interruptions followed, and some members of the Assembly ignored the sitting presiding officer’s announcement that the House had been adjourned.
The Reverend Ian Paisley of the DUP defended the coalition’s actions and maintained that they have legal standing.
“We haven’t got a parliament of Northern Ireland, but what it does mean is that we had a legal meeting of the Assembly...We are legal, and any attempt to upset this, we will fight, and we will fight by every legal weapon that we have.”
The Reverend William Beatty, who was elected as acting presiding officer following the adjournment of the Assembly, also believed that the Westminster parliament would take them seriously.
We believe that we have them on a point of law, and indeed as far as the Assembly was concerned, whenever Mr Minford left the chair, he left it without notice and as far as the Assembly would be concerned, and as far as Westminster would be concerned, if they’re going to uphold procedure at all, he left it illegally.
Brian Faulkner criticised the actions of those involved.
I see it as an utter gimmick, and one in very bad taste, and one that is not calculated to work for the benefit of anybody in Northern Ireland.
Gerry Fitt of the SDLP expressed his concerns about the language used in the directive issued from the Secretary of State’s office regarding, among other things, the election of a new presiding officer. Those concerns aside, he believed that it was a sad day for democracy in Northern Ireland.
I would think that if the people of Northern Ireland had the opportunity, each and every one of them, to see what went on in there this afternoon they would be sadly disillusioned.
Leader of the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party, William Craig, denied that he and his party deliberately tried to obstruct and delay proceedings.
We’re simply indicating that we don’t intend to rubber stamp these proposals and that we are in fact going to use the Assembly for the purpose we said as a platform to propound our views and to bring about a conference that will restore to Northern Ireland a proper parliament with parliamentary government.
Bob Cooper of the Alliance Party was not entirely surprised by what went on in Stormont.
There are a lot of people who haven’t had the opportunity to let off steam in a democratic assembly for quite a long period of time, and they’re quite determined to do so.
Cooper believed that there were indeed people who wanted to make the Assembly work and that those who didn’t want it to work made their presence felt.
Because I think the bitterness has come entirely from the section from the members of the Assembly whom we knew were out to try and wreck the Assembly anyway. I don’t think there’s been any great degree of bitterness at all between those elements whom one would hope would try and make the Assembly work.
It’s funny that 50 years on, this kind of behaviour from politicians in Northern Ireland is still prevalent.
Shootings in July 1973
01/07/73 - British Soldier, Reginald Roberts (25), was shot by an IRA sniper while on British Army foot patrol, Bull Ring, Ballymurphy, Belfast.
05/07/73 - Civilian, Robert Clarke (56), was shot by the UFF as he arrived at his workplace, Pembroke Street, off Donegall Road, Belfast.
06/07/73 - IRA Volunteer, Patrick Bracken (27), was shot from a passing car by the UVF shortly after leaving a cafe, on the Falls Road, Belfast.
10/07/73 - Former UDR Soldier, Isaac Scott (41), was shot by the IRA outside Tully's Bar, Belleek, near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.
20/07/73 - The IRA shot dead off-duty UDR soldier Sidney Watt (36), outside his home in Ballintemple, near Meigh, County Armagh.
22/07/73 - German Seaman, Peter Linauer (24), was found shot in entry off Klondyke Street, Shankill, Belfast. It’s believed the UVF was responsible.
24/07/73 - Civilian Publican, Leonard Rossborough (38), died three days after being shot by the UVF during an armed robbery at his workplace, Horseshoe Bar, Shankill Road, Belfast.
Bombings (& Rocket Attacks) in July 1973
04/07/73 - A British Army base in Derry was hit by two rockets and raked with gunfire. Another rocket exploded against the fence of a British Army base in Belfast, hurting two people.
08/07/73 - The OIRA lobbed a nail bomb at the British Army during unrest at Dunmore Avenue, Derry, injuring three soldiers.
11/07/73 - A rocket was fired at a British post guarding a gasworks in Derry. It hit an anti-rocket screen but there were no casualties. The IRA claimed responsibility.
14/07/73 - The UFF claimed responsibility for exploding a 200lb car bomb outside a pub in central Belfast. Five people were hurt.
17/07/73 - Two British soldiers, Christopher Brady (21) and Geoffrey Breakwell (20), were killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb in an electricity junction box at Divis Flats, Belfast.
17/07/73 - The UDA exploded a car bomb at the Silver Eel Bar, Aghalee Road, Crumlin, killing Catholic civilian Owen Ruddy (60).
18/07/73 - Patrolling British soldier Brian Criddle (34), was wounded by an IRA landmine near Clogher, County Tyrone. He died four days later, on the 22nd of July 1973.
18/07/73 - Patrolling British soldier Brian Criddle (34), was wounded by an IRA landmine near Clogher, County Tyrone. He died four days later, on the 22nd of July 1973.
20/07/73 - Patrolling British soldier Richard Jarman (37), was killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb in Middletown, County Armagh.
20/07/73 - The UFF claimed responsibility for bombing three Catholic-owned pubs in Belfast: Bus Bar, Mooney's Bar, and College Arms. Four people were hurt and six buses in a neighbouring depot were destroyed.
21/07/73 - Two IRA volunteers, Alphonsus Cunningham (21) and Pauline Kane (21), were killed when the bomb they were transporting exploded prematurely in their car in Newcastle, County Down.
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Some recommended reading based on research for this instalment.
