Imagine Brazil in June 1970. Wild parties, celebrations and joy after the unprecedented success of the football team; winning a 3rd World Cup by beating Italy 4-1 in the final in Mexico. Now let’s look at Northern Ireland in June 1970. More chaos, rioting and deaths. The Troubles were gathering momentum.
June began with a general election on the 18th, held across the United Kingdom with the Conservative Party replacing the Labour Party to form the government at Westminster. Edward Heath became Prime Minister. Reginald Maudling was appointed as Home Secretary and had responsibility for Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the Unionist Party held 'only' eight of the 12 seats.
Ian Paisley gained North Antrim.
Frank McManus, a Nationalist unity candidate, gained Fermanagh-South Tyrone.
Gerry Fitt held West Belfast.
Bernadette Devlin held Mid-Ulster.
On the 22nd of June Bernadette Devlin, then Member of Parliament (MP), lost her appeal against a six-month prison sentence imposed for taking part in riots in Derry. On Friday the 26th of June, she was jailed for six months for riotous behaviour during the 'Battle of the Bogside'. There was rioting between the British Army and local residents in Derry following the news of the arrest. The riots spread to Belfast.
Speaking just before her arrest Miss Devlin said;
"I was involved with people in defending their area. They were justified in defending themselves and I believe I was justified in assisting their defence."
"If the same circumstances rose again I would have no problems helping them again" she added.
During the rioting in Derry, more than 20 soldiers are reported to have been injured. Four had been taken to hospital. At the time, Brigadier Alan Cowan, Commander of the Eighth Infantry Brigade said;
"It is very sad indeed. There have been many weeks of quiet and now things are going backwards again instead of going forwards."
The 26th of June saw further deaths as a result of the ongoing conflict in Northern Ireland. Four people were killed, and one mortally wounded (died on the 8th of July 1970), by a fire at a house in the Creggan estate, Derry. Three of those killed were members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). It is believed that they were preparing incendiary devices (probably petrol bombs), in the house of one of the IRA members, when a premature explosion in the kitchen caused an intense fire. Two young girls, aged 9 and 4, the daughters of one of the IRA members, were found by fire officers in a bedroom of the house and died soon after in hospital. Some feel that the girls were the first females to die in 'the Troubles'.
There had been rioting in Derry and it is thought that the petrol bombs were intended to be transported to the scene of the riots. There is some uncertainty as to the date of this incident as it occurred around midnight. An IRA plaque close to the site gives the date as 27 June 1970.
On the 27th of June, there was serious rioting in Belfast involving Protestants and Catholics following marches by the Orange Order. On Saturday the 27th of June, a large march by the Orange Order took place in west Belfast, which was joined by loyalist bands from other parts of the city. Violence broke out as the march entered the Catholic Springfield Road area on its way to Whiterock Orange Hall. Missiles were thrown by both sides, a bakery was set ablaze, and the British Army fired CS gas to disperse crowds. The riot sparked violence in other parts of Belfast.
In north Belfast, another Orange march went along the Crumlin Road, the boundary between the Catholic Ardoyne and the Protestant Shankill areas. According to Crown prosecutors, a crowd emerged from Ardoyne throwing bottles and stones. As the riot descended into a gun battle, the IRA (who according to Gerry Adams were "ready and waiting") killed three Protestants. Others were wounded, including a Royal Navy petty officer who was shot in the jaw while driving a field ambulance. Earlier in the month, British troops had diverted an Orange march away from Ardoyne, leading to serious rioting by Protestants in the Shankill.
In the predominantly Protestant east of the city, an Orange parade had also taken place along the Newtownards Road. At the bottom of the road is the Catholic enclave of the Short Strand, and here there would be a gun battle between the IRA and Protestants, though the cause of it was disputed by both sides.
It’s reported that during the evening groups of Loyalist rioters began to make incursions into the Catholic Short Strand enclave of east Belfast. Catholics in the area believed that they were going to be burnt out of their homes and claimed that there were no British Army troops on the streets to protect the area. Members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) took up sniping positions on the grounds of St Matthew's Catholic Church and engaged in a prolonged gun battle with the Loyalists.
This was the most significant IRA operation to date. Across Belfast, six people were killed, of whom five were Protestants shot by the IRA. It became known as the ‘Battle of Short Strand’, or the ‘Battle of St Matthews’.
The six killed in the riots were; William Kincaid (28), Daniel Loughins (32), Alexander Gould (18), Robert Neill (38), James McCurrie (34) and Henry McIlhone (33).
The battle was the Provisional IRA's first major action during the Troubles and a propaganda victory for the Irish nationalist organization. It presented itself as having successfully defended a vulnerable Catholic enclave from armed loyalist mobs. Loyalists, however, argue that the IRA lured them into a carefully prepared trap.
On the 28th of June, around 500 Catholic workers at the Harland and Wolff shipyard were forced to leave their work by Protestant employees. Most of the Catholic workers were unable to return and lost their jobs. This contributed to the ongoing tension, and as a result, serious rioting continued in Belfast.
Recommended reading based on research for this instalment of our journey through The Troubles.
The Provos: The IRA and Sinn Fein by Peter Taylor.
Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children Who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles by David McKittrick.
A History of Ulster by Johnathon Bardon.