It was in November 1970 that United States President Richard Nixon promised the gradual removal of troops from Vietnam. In Northern Ireland, we seemed to be having the opposite, with a greater need for British Army involvement and the recruiting of more RUC officers. As one war eases, another escalates. What a world we live in eh…
November 1970 (5th) began with a meeting of the Joint Security Committee at Stormont Castle. There were a couple of interesting points discussed during this meeting;
The Assistant Chief Constable, Crime Special Branch, said it had not been possible to pinpoint the area in which IRA training was taking place but there was reason to suspect a location on the southwest shore of Lough Neagh. The GOC said the Army would be happy to assist in the investigation.
The GOC commented on the Ardoyne riots on the 30th of October. It was a small-scale affair involving small groups. The initial Army fire was unfortunate, adding to the tension and putting the Officer Commanding rather on the defensive. The weapons used against the Army were thrown, not from the front of the groups involved, but over walls and houses. It, therefore, was not possible to establish a target for search or other positive action. The petrol bombs thrown were not thrown lethally. There was therefore no justification for firing to kill. Nevertheless, he had issued orders for quicker and tougher action in future street confrontations (eg more extensive use of rubber baton rounds) and quick and selective pursuit searches where there was a reasonable expectation that an area was likely to be harbouring attackers or weapons. Expert search squads had been trained. It was important not to overdo reaction, and dangerous therefore to give the soldiers too much freedom of action. He felt the extremists were being isolated and would be therefore easier to deal with.
On the 12th of November, The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) was formed. The NIHE gradually took over control of the building and allocation of public sector housing in Northern Ireland.
The responsibility for public sector housing had previously rested with Local Government and the Northern Ireland Housing Trust (NIHT). There had been many allegations of discrimination in the provision and allocation of housing by the various local government councils in Northern Ireland and this was the main reason for setting up the Housing Executive.
Two further deaths in the timeline occurred on the 16th of November. The IRA shot dead two Catholic men, Arthur McKenna (aged 35) and Alexander McVicker (aged 35), as alleged criminals while the two were repairing a car on the Ballymurphy Road, Belfast. The men were alleged to have been involved in protection rackets, fencing stolen goods, minor racketeering, money-lending, burglary and robbery. This was the first occasion on which the IRA had killed anyone alleged to have been involved in criminality.
As reported by The Irish Times, the two men ran a gambling den in a disused house between Ballymurphy and Beechmount in the upper Falls Road area. McKenna was described by people who frequented the pitch and toss school as a "gentleman gangster". He stood guard outside the gambling school, it is said, sometimes armed with a sub-machine gun. He ensured there were no serious rows and that anyone who won money was safe to leave without being robbed. Likewise, anyone who welshed on debts or incurred their anger faced the prospect of a very severe beating.
Gusty Spence knew McKenna, from before the Troubles, when they would meet in bars in Belfast city centre: he described him as a "tough monk".
This Irish Times article is fascinating, as the story takes a few twists and turns in relation to Arthur McKenna’s brother. Have a read here, it really is like something from a Liam Neeson movie.
On the 18th of November 1970, Chief Constable, Mr G.E. Shillington, conducted a news conference on policing within Northern Ireland, and the RUC. Shillington was taking over from Arthur Young, who had announced his intention to resign from the post back in September.
There’s quite a lot in his statement, which you can read in full here, but an interesting point that I picked up was;
The objective of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, as of any police force, is to provide a fair and impartial service to all sections of the community. It is a simple fact that no police force can operate successfully unless it has the cooperation and support of the general public.
I found the piece about fairness and impartiality particularly interesting, as it has since come to light, from many sources, that there was indeed some underhandedness and collusion within the RUC during the troubles. Maybe this, at the time, was seen as a way to get control of the situation that didn’t quite play out the way they’d hoped. I guess we’ll never know.
Some recommended reading based on the research for this instalment.
Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children Who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles by David McKittrick.