When researching this instalment of the timeline The Troubles I found out that March 1972 was actually the month that The Godfather premiered in NYC, This got me thinking; how organised were the paramilitary organisations during the troubles? And were they on a similar level to the famous mafia families in the US?
The majority of the groups had leadership structures and sub-groups across Northern Ireland. Even to this day, they still organise themselves along militaristic lines and use labels such as ‘brigades’ or ‘army council’. These labels made the groups look more prepared for a campaign of violence than they actually were. Although there were differing levels of cohesion in the structures of these groups, none of the leaders had complete control over the activities of their members. This was evident in the number of unsanctioned activities, including behaviours in direct contravention of the instructions of the leadership. The example below is of the reported structure of the upper echelons of the IRA.
Let’s not digress any further and get to the matter at hand; what happened in March 1972 in Northern Ireland?
The month began with the refusal of the Stormont Government to hand over control of law and order to Westminster. Direct rule was something, and still is to this day, that many of the political parties in Northern Ireland were/are opposed to. One example was a letter that Sir Alec Douglas-Home, then Foreign Secretary, sent to Edward Heath, then Prime Minister, on the 13th of March. The letter set out Douglas-Home's opposition to Direct Rule and a preference for a United Ireland.
"I really dislike Direct Rule for Northern Ireland because I do not believe that they [people living in Northern Ireland] are like the Scots or the Welsh and doubt if they ever will be. The real British interest would I think be served best by pushing them towards a United Ireland rather than tying them closer to the United Kingdom. Our own parliamentary history is one long story of trouble with the Irish".
The ongoing debate on direct rule, and the perceived failings of the current political leaders, led to the Ulster Vanguard holding a rally in Ormeau Park, Belfast, which was attended by an estimated 60,000 people. The rally was addressed by William Craig who warned that;
"if and when the politicians fail us, it may be our job to liquidate the enemy".
Just three days after the Ulster Vanguard rally (21st of March), a cabinet discussion took place where Northern Ireland Prime Minister Brian Faulkner laid out his concerns around the agenda for a meeting in London to discuss the current political situation.
Referring to his visit to Downing Street on the following day, the Prime Minister said that his case rested on the letters of the 16th of February and 1st of March which he had sent to the United Kingdom Prime Minister. In the course of a telephone conversation with Mr Heath a few days previously he (Mr Faulkner) had suggested that some indication of the likely topics for discussion would be of help, but Mr Heath had not committed himself, saying that none of the ideas was firm enough for reduction to paper. The Prime Minister thought that consultation rather than announcement of decisions was what was in Mr Heath's mind - indeed he thought that it would be unrealistic after weeks of independent study for him to be expected to accept any new ideas on the strength of a one-day meeting. He took the view that the Government of Northern Ireland's carefully-evolved recommendations deserved firm decisions and that it would be wrong to look to interim measures aimed at getting the SDLP to the conference table but keeping the public in a state of suspense for months longer. In the words of the Minister of Development, the whole package should be unwrapped at once.
The following day, Brian Faulkner went to London to be informed of the introduction of 'Direct Rule'.
Upon receiving this news, the introduction of direct rule was discussed at a cabinet meeting at Stormont Castle on the 23rd of March. During the meeting, the Prime Minister said that he had had a telephone call from Mr Heath informing him that the United Kingdom Cabinet had re-affirmed their decisions as conveyed at the Downing Street meeting the previous day. Mr Faulkner had told Mr Heath in turn that the Government of Northern Ireland had also, after full consideration, maintained its position. Mr Heath had asked for further talks but had not disclosed the precise terms of reference.
Ministers generally took the view that there was little to be gained by trying any further to convince the United Kingdom Government to change its mind and that they were probably even then setting in motion the machinery for take-over. Ministers noted with regret that Mr Heath had never, since he took office, seen fit to meet the Cabinet of Northern Ireland or even to visit Northern Ireland apart from a brief visit to the Army a few months previously.
Ministers discussed their positions in relation to any new form of administration and agreed that it would be right and proper for them to give all possible assistance in the transitional period. All ministers present signed a letter addressed to Mr Heath, stating that they had found both the proposed transfer of law and order powers and the possibility of further radical changes unrealistic and unacceptable, whilst also offering no clear advantage to those suffering in Northern Ireland. The letter continued by forecasting the resignation of the Government and warning of the grave consequences which might flow from it.
On Friday the 24th of March 1972, Edward Heath announced that the Stormont Parliament was to be prorogued, and 'Direct Rule' from Westminster was to be imposed on Northern Ireland from the 30th of March 1972. The announcement was greeted with outrage from Brian Faulkner and Unionist politicians. The main reason for the suspension of Stormont was the refusal of the Unionist government to accept the loss of law and order powers to Westminster. That day, at the House of Commons, Mr Heath made a statement;
“With permission, Mr Speaker, I will now make a statement about Northern Ireland.
This house has debated the affairs of Northern Ireland on many occasions in recent months. All of us in this house deplore the previous suffering inflicted upon its innocent people by the continuing campaign of lawless terrorism and we admire the steadfastness with which they have attempted to sustain the life of the Provence.
Throughout this period Her Majesty’s Government have maintained close consultation with the Northern Ireland Government. We have made repeated attempts to promote discussions to find an agreed solution to the problems of Northern Ireland. I do not need to remind the house why these attempts have not been successful. At a meeting with my Rt Hon Friends the Home Secretary, the Lord President, the Defence Secretary and I had with the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Ireland on the 22nd of March, we made it plain that in the British Government’s view, new and more radical measures were necessary if there was to be any prospect of breaking out of this deadlock.
We made three main proposals.
First, in the hope of taking the Borde3r out of the day-to-day political scene and as a reassurance that there would be no change in the Border without the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland, we proposed periodic plebiscites on this issue.
Second, we proposed that a start should be made on phasing out internment.
Third, we were concerned about the present division of responsibility for law and order between Belfast and London, whereby control would remain largely with the Northern Ireland Government while operational responsibility rests mainly with the British Army and therefore with the United Kingdom Government. This responsibility is not merely domestic; it is a matter of international concern as well.”
Following the announcement, William Whitelaw was appointed as the first Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Naturally, there was opposition to direct rule, and on the 27th of March, the Ulster Vanguard organised a two-day industrial strike. The strike resulted in the stoppage of public transport, cuts in power supplies, and the closing of many firms.
The following day, a rally was organised by the Ulster Vanguard at Stormont, Belfast, which was attended by an estimated 100,000 people. Coincidently, this was the same day when the last sitting of the Northern Ireland parliament at Stormont took place.
As planned, on the 30th of March, the legislation which introduced direct rule, the Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act, was passed at the House of Commons at Westminster.
With so much going on in the political sphere, it’s very easy to forget that amongst all the back and forth between Westminster and Stormont, there were significant casualties of the conflict in March 1972 too.
There were 14 fatalities from shootings, with the IRA responsible for 8, the RUC for 3, the British Army for 2, and the UVF responsible for 1.
01/03/72 - Two Catholic teenagers, John Mahon (16) and Michael Connors (14) were shot dead by the RUC while 'joy riding' in a stolen car in Belfast.
01/03/72 - Off-duty UDR soldier, John Fletcher (43), was shot dead by the IRA outside his home, Frevagh, near Garrison, County Fermanagh.
01/03/72 - A British soldier was shot in the head and seriously wounded when an anti-riot squad was ambushed by a single IRA member at Creggan, Derry city.
03/03/72 - British soldier, Stephen Keating (18), was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot patrol, Manor Street, Belfast.
04/03/72 - IRA volunteer, Albert Kavanagh (18), was shot dead by the RUC during an attempted bomb attack on a factory, Boucher Road, Belfast.
08/03/72 - Off-duty UDR soldier, Joseph Jardine (44), was shot dead by the IRA at his workplace, Ministry of Agriculture office, Middletown, County Armagh.
13/03/72 - The UVF shot dead a Catholic civilian, Patrick McCrory (19), at his home on Ravenhill Avenue, Belfast.
14/03/72 - Two IRA volunteers, Colm Keenan (19) and Eugene McGillan (18) were shot dead by the British Army in an entry off Dove Gardens, Bogside, Derry.
14/03/72 - A two-man IRA unit armed with sub-machine guns ambushed a joint British Army/RUC patrol on Brackaville Road outside Coalisland, County Tyrone. Over 50 shots were fired by the unit. The RUC officer, William Logan (23), who was driving the police patrol vehicle was mortally wounded and died the following day.
20/03/72 - Royal Green Jackets Rifleman John Taylor (19) was shot dead by an IRA sniper at Lower Road near William Street in Derry/Londonderry.
25/03/72 - IRA volunteer, Patrick Campbell (16), was shot dead in error by another IRA volunteer, while preparing for an ambush of a British Army patrol at the junction of Springhill Avenue and Springfield Road, Belfast.
30/03/72 - A civilian, Martha Crawford (39), was killed in the crossfire of a gun battle between the IRA and the British Army, Rossnareen Avenue, Andersonstown, Belfast.
As if 14 fatalities from shootings weren’t enough terror for the month, March 1972 was another month of the conflict where bombings became a regular occurrence.
02/03/72 - A Provisional IRA car bomb exploded at Ferryquay Street in Derry. Dozens of commercial premises were damaged and 42 people were injured.
04/03/72 - It was a Saturday, and the Abercorn Restaurant was packed with late afternoon shoppers when an anonymous caller issued a bomb warning to 999 at 4:28 pm. The caller did not give a precise location but advised that a bomb would go off in Castle Lane in five minutes' time. The street, located in the busy Cornmarket area, was busy with crowds of people shopping and browsing as was typical on a Saturday in Belfast.
Two minutes later, at 4:30 pm, a handbag containing a five-pound gelignite bomb exploded under a table inside the ground-floor restaurant. Two young Catholic friends were killed outright; Anne Owens (22), who was employed at the Electricity Board, and Janet Bereen (21), a hospital radiographer. The young women had been out shopping together and had stopped at the Abercorn to have coffee. Sitting at the table nearest the bomb, the friends took the full force of the blast. More than 130 were injured in the explosion, which overturned tables and chairs, and brought the ceiling crashing down onto the ground floor restaurant. Many people were severely maimed. Some had their limbs blown off, whilst others suffered terrible head and facial injuries, burns, deep cuts and perforated eardrums. Three had eyes destroyed by shards of flying glass. Two sisters, Jennifer and Rosaleen McNern (one of whom was due to be married), were both horrifically mutilated; Jennifer lost both legs, and Rosaleen (the bride-to-be) lost her legs, her right arm and one of her eyes.
No one was ever charged in connection with the bombing and no paramilitary organisation ever claimed responsibility for it. Both wings of the IRA denied involvement and condemned the bombing. However, the RUC and British Military Intelligence blamed the Provisional IRA First Battalion Belfast Brigade.
09/03/72 - Four IRA volunteers, Gerard Crossen (19), Sean Johnson (19), Anthony Lewis (16), and Thomas McCann (20), were all killed in a premature bomb explosion inside a house on Clonard Street, Lower Falls, Belfast when a bomb they were assembling exploded accidentally.
14/03/72 - After the end of a three-day cease-fire, an IRA bomb caused widespread damage in the main street of Lisburn. Three soldiers and an RUC officer were wounded.
15/03/72 - Two British soldiers, Christopher Cracknell (29) and Anthony Butcher (24), were killed while trying to defuse an IRA booby-trap bomb hidden in an abandoned car, on Grosvenor Road, Belfast.
20/03/72 - Just before noon, the Provisional IRA detonated a car bomb on Lower Donegall Street in the city centre when the street was crowded with shoppers, office workers, and many schoolchildren.
Seven people were killed in the explosion, including two members of the RUC, who said they had evacuated people to what was considered to have been a safe area following misleading telephone calls, which had originally placed the device in a nearby street.
The Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade admitted responsibility for the bomb, which also injured 148 people, but claimed that the security forces had deliberately misrepresented the warnings in order to maximise the casualties. This was one of the first car bombs the IRA used in their armed campaign.
21/03/72 - Two IRA car bombs, each one carrying 100 pounds (45 kg) of explosives, went off in Derry, damaging commercial premises and wounding 26 people, including an RUC constable.
23/03/72 - The IRA detonated two car bombs in Main Street, Bangor, County Down.
28/03/72 - The IRA carried out a car-bomb attack on the Limavady RUC base, Limavady, County Londonderry. Civilians, Joseph Forsythe (57) and Robert McMichael (27) were killed while driving past when the bomb was detonated.
29/03/72 - British soldier, Bernard Calladene (39), was killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb hidden inside an abandoned car, on Wellington Street, Belfast.
Quite a lot to digest for this instalment of our journey through The Troubles, but one I hope you found interesting. Stay tuned for the next instalment on Thursday, and as always, thanks very much for reading.