Many believe that what happened in October 1968 was the dawn of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Violent clashes between protestors and police left a legacy, whilst also creating momentum amongst rival groups. It was during October 1968 that the first-ever live telecast from a manned US spacecraft (Apollo 7) took place, but more importantly, thousands of miles below on the surface of our planet, the live news broadcasts around the world would have been full of what happened on the 5th and 8th of October.
A parade had been planned in Derry/Londonderry on the 5th of October to protest at the allocation of houses, jobs and the local government elections. It’s reported that the protest was planned by the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) with the support of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA). However, other reports claim that the practical organisation of the event was undertaken by two people; Eamonn McCann and Eamon Melaugh.
On the 1st of October, when the march was announced, the Apprentice Boys, a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership of over 10,000, announced its intention to hold an 'annual' march along the same proposed route of the Civil Rights demonstration, on the same day and at the same time.
Two days later, on the 3rd of October, the proposed march was banned from passing through the city centre and the Waterside area. The banning order was issued under the Public Order Act by the then Home Affairs Minister at Stormont, William Craig. Craig had publicly branded the civil rights movement as a front for Republican activity.
This raised some concerns amongst the civil rights movement, with a delegation from NICRA meeting with the organisers of the march and trying to convince them to cancel it. However, it was decided that the march would go ahead as planned.
On the day of the march there are many conflicting reports around the attendance numbers. Numbers ranged from 400 right up to 2,000. With the march scheduled for a day when Derry City Football Club was playing at home, starting in the Waterside, and the expectation that there might be an outbreak of violence, all probably contributed to the low numbers. However, the march was about to achieve a significance far beyond its size.
Those taking part in the march started the day at the train station in the Waterside, close to Duke Street. Given the potential for a disturbance, the RUC had brought extra police officers, with around 130 being deployed in the streets around the train station. In addition to the extra officers, the RUC had also deployed two water canons (a first for the streets of Derry/Londonderry).
As the march went up the planned route, the RUC blocked off their passage, with the County Inspetor informing the marchers of the conditions of the banning order. It was at this stage that the marchers seemed to take the RUC by surprise and began moving up Duke Street. The officers responded quickly, regrouping to block the top of the street, and as the marchers moved toward the new front line, the RUC also blocked off the road behind them, sealing them into a section of Duke Street.
It is what happened next that had taken everyone by spurise. As the marchers approached the front line, a number of the RUC officers drew their batons, and without provocation, attacked those at the head of the march, including two nationalist MPs. It was later documented in the Cameron Report;
It appears to us established on the evidence that at this stage batons were used by certain police officers without explicit order, although this is denied by the police. We regret to state that we have no doubt that both Mr. Fitt and Mr. McAtteer were batoned by the police, at a time when no order to draw batons had been given and in circumstances in which the use of batons on these gentlemen was wholly without justification or excuse. (Cameron Report, 1969; p.28)
While those that were injured were being taken away to hospital for medical attention, a meeting was held at the front of the police line, with he crowd being addressed by a number of speakers. However, a short time later, the County Inspector gave the order for his officers to disperse the crowd, with both police lines drawing their batons and moving towards the marchers. It was documented in the Cameron Report that, at this stage, the police "used their batons indiscriminately on people in Duke Street" (Cameron Report, 1969; p.29).
At this stage, the crowd began to scatter, with many scurrying across the Craigavon Bridge after running through the gauntlet of police lines. This is where the water canons came into play to disperse the marchers, with many Saturday afternoon shoppers getting caught up in the chaos on their way home.
Officially, it’s reported that 4 RUC officers were injured during the altercation, as well as 77 civilians.
Given what happened on Duke Street and the Craigavon Bridge, further disturbances occured in the city centre and the edges of the Bogside, with riots and fighting lasting until the early hours of the 6th of October. In order to stem the trouble, a barricade was erected in Rossville Street, where it’s also reported that petrol bombs were thrown. Sporadic disturbances continued in the days following.
Events from the 5th of October were not only reported across all available media sources in Northern Ireland, but throughout the UK and even across the world. The Cameron Report acknowledged this;
One of the consequences of the break up of the demonstration in Duke Street was that press and television reports ensured that some very damaging pictures of police violence were seen throughout the United Kingdom and abroad. This produced a violent reaction of feeling in many places ... (Cameron Report, 1969; p.31).
It was at this point it seemed as though the British Government would be forced to take a more active role in running Northern Ireland.
Given that many feel this was the beginning of the troubles in Northern Ireland, it’s also interesting to wonder if that march had been cancelled, as requested, would the events that followed over the next 3 decades have transpired? Or was it inevitable?
There is some archived footage of the events from that day available here.
Four days after the march, on the 9th of October, 2,000 students from the Queen’s University of Belfast tried to march to Belfast City Hall in protest against ‘police brutality’ on the 5th of October. Shortly after their departure, the police served a notice restricting the route of the march away from Shaftesbury Square, Belfast, where the Reverend Ian Paisley was holding a demonstration. In Linenhall Street behind Belfast City Hall, the student demonstrators were stopped by a police cordon. The students sat down in protest.
Paisley and his supporters moved their rally to the front of Belfast City Hall. During the next few hours, the students discussed how to proceed with their protest, however, the majority decided to return to the university campus. From this Belfast protest, the People’s Democracy was formed. They believed that civil rights could be achieved only by the establishment of a socialist republic for all of Ireland. It demanded more radical reforms of the government of Northern Ireland than the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.