September 1971: Pub Bombs, Snipers & The Launch of The DUP
More lives lost as tensions continue to grow
In September 1971, Apple Records released John Lennon's second solo studio album, "Imagine". In Northern Ireland at the time, there would have been a lot of people imagining a time of peace and harmony in place of the war zone that they currently found themselves in.
Following on from the bloodbath that was August 1971, September continued the upsurge in violence across Northern Ireland, with the IRA exploding a number of bombs in response to the introduction of internment at the beginning of September. The bombings targeted various cities and towns, including Belfast, Derry/Londonderry, Newry and Armagh. The exact number of bombs detonated and the extent of the damage varied in each location. One bomb in particular in Belfast wrecked the headquarters of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), resulting in injuries to a number of people.
Another major development in September ‘71, although no official date has been placed on it, was the formation of the UDA. A number of Loyalist Defence Associations came together and formed the Ulster Defence Association. The UDA was to quickly become the largest of the Loyalist paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland. The smaller Ulster Freedom Fighters, which was responsible for many sectarian killings, was considered a cover name for the UDA. Indeed the UDA was a legal organisation between 1971 and 11 August 1992 when it was finally proscribed. It’s reported that the first meeting was chaired by Billy Hull, with Alan Moon as its vice-chair. Moon was quickly replaced by Jim Anderson and had left the organisation by the time of its formal launch in September.
On the 3rd of September 1971, a baby girl and an Ulster Defence Regiment soldier were killed in separate shooting incidents in Northern Ireland.
A 17-month-old toddler, Angela Gallagher, was killed after being hit by a ricochet bullet in her pram during an IRA sniper attack at a British army patrol in the Iveagh Drive/Iveagh Street area of the Falls Road, Belfast.
UDR soldier, Francis Veitch (23), was shot dead while on guard duty outside Kinawley Royal Ulster Constabulary, County Fermanagh when an IRA unit attacked.
The following day, another British soldier was killed by members of the Official Irish Republican Army in Newry. John Warnock (18), was killed in a land mine attack on a British Army mobile patrol passing Derrybeg Park, Newry, County Down.
On the 5th of September 1971, the Army Council of the Irish Republican Army proposed the idea of a nine-county Ulster Assembly (Dáil Uladh) in a set of constitutional proposals which were reported in Republican News on the 11th of September 1971. The Assembly was to be one of four regional Assemblies covering the whole of any future united Ireland. The fact that the Ulster Assembly would have a Unionist majority was considered as meeting Unionist concerns over being "swamped" in any new Republic.
On the 6th of September 1971, Annette McGavigan (14) was shot dead by a British soldier during street disturbances, while standing at the corner of Blucher Street and Westland Street, Derry. The mural above is close to the site where she died. The mural of Annette, deliberately standing in what the artists considered an innocent pose, is a representation of all the children who have been killed during the Troubles, both Protestant and Catholic.
On the same day, William Craig and Ian Paisley spoke at a rally at Victoria Park in Belfast before a crowd of approximately 20,000 people. They called for the establishment of a 'third force' to defend 'Ulster'. This was taken to mean the establishment of a paramilitary force in addition to the Royal Ulster Constabulary and British Army.
On the 8th of September, Harold Wilson, then leader of the Labour Party, announced details of a plan for a united Ireland.
During an interview, Mr Wilson was asked;
"Some of the things you suggest, like constitutional commissions, Westminster could impose on Stormont. But they couldn't impose it on Dublin, this sort of thing. Are you suggesting Dublin would accept that?"
To which he replied;
"I didn't suggest imposing it. What I want Mr. Reath to do -- and this is why in a two-day debate I said "Don't come to a decision. Think about it." -- is first of all talks with the political parties in the House of Commons at Westminster, then broaden it to bring in all the political parties, including those that are not taking their place in Northern Ireland politics. And then we try and work out if we can get the basis to make the next move, a conference. It shouldn't be between governments, I think, because of the feeling of minorities in different parts of the areas concerned. And then we try to get all the parties, the major parties in the Southern Ireland Parliament, to join with the Stormont parties and the Westminster parties to try and work out a constitutional commission, to see if we can work out as one solution a play by which 15 years from now Ireland will be reunited with real safeguards for the North. It's going to be hell for a lot of people -- it's going to be hell for the people in the south to accept for example that they should join the Commonwealth and accept the Queen as head of the Commonwealth, But I think people in the north want to maintain a link with the Queen in that way."
The following day, there was another death in Northern Ireland due to the ongoing conflict. Royal Army Ordnance Corps Disposal expert Captain David Stewardson (29), died while attempting to defuse a bomb at Castlerobin Orange Hall, Drumankelly, near Lisburn, County Antrim.
On the 12th of September 1971, after the introduction of internment, William Conway, then Catholic Cardinal of Ireland, and six Bishops, and his fellow Northern bishops issued a statement in which they both criticised internment and denounced the Provisional Irish Republican Army as "the small group of people who are trying to secure a united Ireland by the use of force". In a much-quoted phrase of the Cardinal's the statement went on to pose the question, "Who in their sane senses wants to bomb a million Protestants into a united Ireland?".
Between the 13th of September and the end of the month, there were a further 12 deaths in Northern Ireland, bringing the total for the month to 19…
Two Loyalists, James Finlay (31) and John Thompson (21), were mortally injured when the bomb they were preparing exploded prematurely in a house in Bann Street, Belfast. Finlay died on 21 September 1971, and Thompson died on 12 October 1971.
Two British soldiers, Martin Carroll (23) and John Rudman (21) were killed in separate shooting incidents in Derry and Edendork, near Coalisland, County Tyrone. Carroll was shot by a sniper at a British Army base, Eastway Gardens, Creggan, Derry/Londonderry. Rudman was shot while on British Army mobile patrol, Edendork, near Coalisland, County Tyrone. Another soldier was seriously injured during the incident in Derry/Londonderry which took place at the Army base in the old Essex factory. A Catholic civilian was shot dead in the early hours of the next morning at the same Army base.
The Catholic civilian was William McGreanery (43), who was shot dead by a British soldier in the early hours of the morning on the 15th of September as he made his way home. McGreanery was at the junction of Westland Street and Lone Moor Road when he was shot by a soldier in a sanger in the Army base in the old Essex factory. The soldier who shot him made a statement at the time stating he had fired at a man aiming a rifle at his post. Friends and eyewitnesses said that Mr McGreanery was unarmed when he was shot.
On the 20th of June 2010, a Historical Enquires Team (HET) report into the shooting concluded that;
"It is the view of the HET that he was not pointing a rifle at the soldier at the time. He was not involved with any paramilitary organisation, he was not carrying a firearm of any description, and he posed no threat to the soldiers at the observation post."
On the same day, a British soldier died one day after being shot in Belfast.
In response to the proposed tripartite talks involving Northern Ireland, Britain, and the Republic of Ireland, a number of Unionists resigned on the 16th of September.
The body of a man was also found in Belfast on the 16th of September; he had been shot. The body found in a car on Downing Street, Belfast, was of UVF member Samuel Nelson. it’s reported that he had been killed by other UVF members as a suspected informer.
British Soldier Peter Herrington (28) was shot and killed by an IRA sniper while on British Army foot patrol, at Brompton Park, Ardoyne, Belfast on the 17th of September.
Royal Ulster Constabulary officer, Robert Leslie (20), was shot and killed by the IRA while on RUC foot patrol, at Abercorn Square, Strabane County Tyrone on the 18th of September 1971.
On the 20th of September, the IRA exploded a bomb in the Bluebell Bar in the Loyalist Sandy Row area, injuring 27 people. This wouldn’t be the first pub targeted in Northern Ireland over the coming weeks.
The 23rd of September saw a patrol boat belonging to the Northern Ireland Fishery Conservancy Board being bombed and wrecked by an IRA unit at Derryinver, Lough Neagh. On the same day, two members of the Official Irish Republican Army were killed in a premature bomb explosion at a house, on Merrion Street, Lower Falls, Belfast. They were Rose Curry (18) and Gerard O’Hare (17).
The next few days saw some political developments in Northern Ireland. David Bleakley resigned as Minister of Community Relations in protest over the introduction of Internment and the lack of any new political initiatives by the Northern Ireland government and there was a series of tripartite talks, over two days, involving the prime ministers of Northern Ireland, Britain, and the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) of the Republic of Ireland, which took place at Chequers, England.
On the 29th of September, two Protestant civilians, Alexander Andrews (60) and Ernest Bates (38), were killed in an explosion at the Four Step Inn on the Shankill Road in Belfast. No group claimed responsibility, but it was believed to be the responsibility of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
September ended with a major political development; Ian Paisley and Desmond Boal launched the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Thanks for reading. Hopefully, you found this one interesting, and I’ll have the next instalment with you soon.