The civil rights movement formed in Belfast in January 1967 drew inspiration from the campaign for equal rights in the United States led by Martin Luther King.These protest movements across the western world in 1968 had captured the imagination of many people in Northern Ireland, leading to the creation of a local civil rights movement that began a series of marches and protests calling for greater equality for the Catholic/nationalist minority.
Since the creation of in 1921, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) had held pNorthern Ireland ower. The UUP drew its support from the predominantly Protestant unionist,loyalist community and many of the policies it enacted marginalised and discriminated against the Catholic republican, nationalist minority.
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) called for wide-ranging reforms:
. the disbandment of the 'B-Specials' (an all-Protestant auxiliary police force).
. it demanded equal voting rights in local government elections.
. an end to 'gerrymandering' (the manipulation of electoral boundaries to give one community an electoral advantage).
. repeal of the Special Powers Act (which allowed for internment of suspects without trial).
. a fairer system for the allocation of public housing.
. an end to discrimination in employment.
By 1968, the civil rights movement was beginning to gather support from local politicians as well as some prominent Member of Parliament in the British Parliament at Westminster. Ulster Unionist government in Northern Ireland, headed by Prime Minister Terence O'Neill, was placed under pressure from all sides for his being hesitant approach to social reform. Reforms that were made were considered too much by many in the unionist/loyalist community and too little by many of those in the nationalist/republican community. Those on both sides of the debate agreed on one thing - opposition to O'Neill's regime.
On October 5,1968 NICRA held a march in County Londonderry upon invitation of Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC). On the day of the march, a few hundred civil rights protesters planned to walk from Duke Street, in the predominantly Protestant Waterside area of Derry, to the centre of the city in Diamond. Duke Street had been declared out of bounds by Craig's (Northern Ireland's Minister of Home Affairs) order and marchers were confronted by rows of police officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).
The police used batons and water cannon in an attempt to disperse the marchers and violent skirmishes broke out. Some of those names injured in the clash were Gerry Fitt, a Republican and Labour MP, and three Labour MPs (Russell Kerr, Anne Kerr and John Ryan). Dramatic images were captured on camera by the media and broadcast around the world.
Television news coverage of these events brought the situation in Northern Ireland to international attention and serious rioting broke out locally. More civil rights demonstrations and counter demonstrations followed in the weeks and months ahead, with many ending in clashes as the security situation slipped out of control. The next major civil rights march (organised by the People's Democracy) in January 1969 was ambushed just outside Derry by loyalists, with some of the attackers later identified as members of the security forces - in this case B-Specials. Serious rioting followed in Derry that evening and over subsequent days.
Tensions were not confined to the streets. Prime Minister O'Neill was under pressure both inside and outside his own government to take decisive action. O'Neill set up the Cameron Commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the disturbances in Derry on 5 October 1968. He then called a snap election in an attempt to sideline his critics.
The Ulster Unionist Party retained power but suffered serious splits into pro- and anti-O'Neill factions. O'Neill himself even struggled to retain his own seat and on 28 April 1969, O'Neill resigned as prime minister of Northern Ireland.
Rioting continued to be commonplace in Derry and Belfast through the summer of 1969, a period which also saw the first deaths of the conflict. When the Apprentice Boys of Derry, a Protestant fraternal society, march in Derry on 12 August sparked rioting in the Catholic Bogside area,resulting in two days of serious violence across Northern Ireland. With the police unable to cope with the scope and scale of the disturbances, Northern Ireland's government at Stormont requested that the British Army be sent in to restore order. Initially envisaged as a brief intervention, but later on 'Operation Banner' became the longest continuous campaign in the history of the British Army, only coming to an end in July 2007.
By the end of 1969, various no-go areas had been established and 'peace walls' set up in Derry and Belfast. A huge population movement began that saw once mixed areas become exclusively Protestant or Catholic, polarising not only people, but also opinions and attitudes. Paramilitary groups on both sides began to re-emerge, gaining in strength and status as widespread civil disorder quickly escalated into a bloody conflict that would last for nearly 30 years.
The Cameron Report, published in September 1969, concluded that there had been "use of unnecessary and ill-controlled force in the dispersal of the demonstrators" in Derry on 5 October 1968. Eamonn McCann, one of the organisers of the march, said that the thing he recalled most in the aftermath of the day was "the number of people who came up to me and said, using the exact phrase: 'Things will never be the same again'. And they were right."
Over the course of three decades, chaos and violence on the streets of Northern Ireland was commonplace and spilled over into Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and as far afield as Gibraltar.
Several attempts to find a political solution failed until the Good Friday Agreement, brought an end to the Troubles and restored self-government to Northern Ireland. And even though The Troubles officially ended in 1998, still many people today say they don't want the walls to come down.
Physically, its people are divided by 30-foot-high walls lined with murals, that snake through town, separating Catholic neighborhoods from Protestant. And yet, political leaders in Northern Ireland are still struggling to bring Protestant and Catholic groups together. The reality that this is even an issue might surprise many people.
More than 90 percent of students in Northern Ireland attend segregated schools.Numerous Catholics say they don't know Protestants personally, and vice-versa.
"It's always been like that, and it'll never change."
These conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century framed by a civil rights march in Londonderry on 5 October 1968 and the the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998 was known as The Troubles.
Irish Republican Army (IRA)
The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) - the main republican paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland was uninterested in any solution short of British withdrawal and Irish unification. The 'Provisionals' had split from the 'Official IRA' in 1969 and are subsequently referred to here as the IRA. For them, the 'long war' was the only choice. This strategy had been gaining traction since the introduction of internment (imprisonment without trial) in 1971 and the killing of 13 people by the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday the following year.
When secret talks with the UK government in 1972 ended in nothing, the IRA leadership resolved to erode the British presence in Northern Ireland through a war of attrition. For this reason, the major loyalist paramilitary organisations of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) had resolved to use violence to resist republican paramilitaries and to oppose Irish unification.
Military Reaction Force (MRF)
MRF or Military Reaction Force,was a covert British Army unit, or counter-insurgency unit set up in Northern Ireland in 1971.It is a deadly ghost squad, shadowy military unit used to operate a covert shoot-to-kill policy during the Troubles. A special department born in late 1971 in the early part of the Troubles. It was a group of approximately 30 men and a few women prior to Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972. All members of the MRF had to be thoroughly ‘demilitarised’, dressed informally, grew hair long had to unlearn military bearing and giveaway signs such as using the 24-hour clock. Had fake identities and unmarked, souped-up cars and ready for anything. The MRF was one of the original counter-terrorism units of modern times.The unit was formed during the summer of 1971 and operated until late 1972 or early 1973. MRF teams operated in civilian vehicles in plain-clothes and, equipped with sub-machine guns and pistols. They were nominally tasked with tracking down, arresting, or killing, suspected members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The MRF also ran double agents within the paramilitary groups and ran a number of front companies to gather intelligence. In 1972 of October, the Provisional IRA uncovered and attacked two of the MRF's front companies, a massage parlour and a mobile laundry service which contributed to the unit's dissolution.
The MRF killed and wounded a number of unarmed Catholic civilians in drive by shootings.A former member of the unit has described it as a "legalised death squad". It has also been accused of conspiring with illegal loyalist paramilitaries and carrying out false flag attacks. MRF was succeeded by the SRU.
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Belfast City in Northern Ireland |
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) called for wide-ranging reforms:
. the disbandment of the 'B-Specials' (an all-Protestant auxiliary police force).
. it demanded equal voting rights in local government elections.
. an end to 'gerrymandering' (the manipulation of electoral boundaries to give one community an electoral advantage).
. repeal of the Special Powers Act (which allowed for internment of suspects without trial).
. a fairer system for the allocation of public housing.
. an end to discrimination in employment.
On October 5,1968 NICRA held a march in County Londonderry upon invitation of Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC). On the day of the march, a few hundred civil rights protesters planned to walk from Duke Street, in the predominantly Protestant Waterside area of Derry, to the centre of the city in Diamond. Duke Street had been declared out of bounds by Craig's (Northern Ireland's Minister of Home Affairs) order and marchers were confronted by rows of police officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).
The police used batons and water cannon in an attempt to disperse the marchers and violent skirmishes broke out. Some of those names injured in the clash were Gerry Fitt, a Republican and Labour MP, and three Labour MPs (Russell Kerr, Anne Kerr and John Ryan). Dramatic images were captured on camera by the media and broadcast around the world.
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| British Army Troops deployed on the streets to combat rioting on West Belfast during The Troubles in Northern Ireland |
Tensions were not confined to the streets. Prime Minister O'Neill was under pressure both inside and outside his own government to take decisive action. O'Neill set up the Cameron Commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the disturbances in Derry on 5 October 1968. He then called a snap election in an attempt to sideline his critics.
The Ulster Unionist Party retained power but suffered serious splits into pro- and anti-O'Neill factions. O'Neill himself even struggled to retain his own seat and on 28 April 1969, O'Neill resigned as prime minister of Northern Ireland.
Rioting continued to be commonplace in Derry and Belfast through the summer of 1969, a period which also saw the first deaths of the conflict. When the Apprentice Boys of Derry, a Protestant fraternal society, march in Derry on 12 August sparked rioting in the Catholic Bogside area,resulting in two days of serious violence across Northern Ireland. With the police unable to cope with the scope and scale of the disturbances, Northern Ireland's government at Stormont requested that the British Army be sent in to restore order. Initially envisaged as a brief intervention, but later on 'Operation Banner' became the longest continuous campaign in the history of the British Army, only coming to an end in July 2007.
The Cameron Report, published in September 1969, concluded that there had been "use of unnecessary and ill-controlled force in the dispersal of the demonstrators" in Derry on 5 October 1968. Eamonn McCann, one of the organisers of the march, said that the thing he recalled most in the aftermath of the day was "the number of people who came up to me and said, using the exact phrase: 'Things will never be the same again'. And they were right."
Over the course of three decades, chaos and violence on the streets of Northern Ireland was commonplace and spilled over into Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and as far afield as Gibraltar.
Several attempts to find a political solution failed until the Good Friday Agreement, brought an end to the Troubles and restored self-government to Northern Ireland. And even though The Troubles officially ended in 1998, still many people today say they don't want the walls to come down.
 |
| Peace walls in Belfast that separates Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. |
More than 90 percent of students in Northern Ireland attend segregated schools.Numerous Catholics say they don't know Protestants personally, and vice-versa.
"It's always been like that, and it'll never change."
These conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century framed by a civil rights march in Londonderry on 5 October 1968 and the the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998 was known as The Troubles.
The nationalist and republican, almost exclusively Catholic, wanted to end British rule of Northern Ireland and join the Republic of Ireland to the south.They used bombings, kidnappings and murder particularly the IRA and other Catholic paramilitary groups. Violent Protestant paramilitary groups fought back. The loyalist and unionist overwhelmingly Protestant majority wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom. This was not a religious conflict, but rather a territorial conflict. At its heart lay two mutually exclusive visions of national belonging and national identity. The principal difference between 1968 and 1998 is that the people and organisations pursuing these rival futures eventually resolved to do so through democratic and peaceful means. This ascendancy of politics over violence was not easily achieved.
During the Troubles, the scale of the killings perpetrated by all sides, republican and loyalist paramilitaries and the security forces, eventually exceeded 3,600. As plenty as 50,000 people were physically injured, and countless others psychologically damaged by the violent clash, a legacy that continues to shape the post 1998 period.Irish Republican Army (IRA)
The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) - the main republican paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland was uninterested in any solution short of British withdrawal and Irish unification. The 'Provisionals' had split from the 'Official IRA' in 1969 and are subsequently referred to here as the IRA. For them, the 'long war' was the only choice. This strategy had been gaining traction since the introduction of internment (imprisonment without trial) in 1971 and the killing of 13 people by the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday the following year.
When secret talks with the UK government in 1972 ended in nothing, the IRA leadership resolved to erode the British presence in Northern Ireland through a war of attrition. For this reason, the major loyalist paramilitary organisations of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) had resolved to use violence to resist republican paramilitaries and to oppose Irish unification.
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| Police Service of Northern Ireland(PSNI) has said it will not pursue members of the British Army's shadowy (MRF) death squad despite its members appearing in the BBC TV Panorama programme and boasting about their killings in Belfast. |
MRF or Military Reaction Force,was a covert British Army unit, or counter-insurgency unit set up in Northern Ireland in 1971.It is a deadly ghost squad, shadowy military unit used to operate a covert shoot-to-kill policy during the Troubles. A special department born in late 1971 in the early part of the Troubles. It was a group of approximately 30 men and a few women prior to Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972. All members of the MRF had to be thoroughly ‘demilitarised’, dressed informally, grew hair long had to unlearn military bearing and giveaway signs such as using the 24-hour clock. Had fake identities and unmarked, souped-up cars and ready for anything. The MRF was one of the original counter-terrorism units of modern times.The unit was formed during the summer of 1971 and operated until late 1972 or early 1973. MRF teams operated in civilian vehicles in plain-clothes and, equipped with sub-machine guns and pistols. They were nominally tasked with tracking down, arresting, or killing, suspected members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The MRF also ran double agents within the paramilitary groups and ran a number of front companies to gather intelligence. In 1972 of October, the Provisional IRA uncovered and attacked two of the MRF's front companies, a massage parlour and a mobile laundry service which contributed to the unit's dissolution.
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