The Troubles in Derry
Encyclopedia
The city of Derry, Northern Ireland
, was severely affected by the Troubles
. The conflict is widely considered to have begun in the city, with many regarding the Battle of the Bogside
(an inner suburb of the city) as the beginning of the Troubles. The 'Bloody Sunday
' incident of 1972 also occurred in Derry. A total of 227 people were killed in Derry during the conflict.
of 1689, in which the Protestant supporters of William III of England
held out against the mostly Catholic supporters of James II of England
for 105 days. The siege became an icon of Ulster Protestant culture, and since the early nineteenth century has been annually commemorated by the Apprentice Boys of Derry
. Although Catholics had previously participated in ceremonies in honour of the Williamite victory, many regarded the Apprentice Boys' celebrations, particularly their parades, as triumphalist and sectarian. In the mid nineteenth century an investigation into riots in the city resulted in the recommendation that the Apprentice Boys' parades be banned. Despite the opposition of the British government, the parades continued.
When Northern Ireland became a separate state in 1922, Protestants/unionists were the majority and controlled the government of Northern Ireland
. Although Catholics were a clear majority of the Derry population, severe gerrymandering
meant that unionists controlled the city government. Like councils elsewhere (nationalist as well as unionist, although unionists controlled more councils), unionist local politicians used their power to disproportionately allocate jobs and houses to Protestants. Although working class people from both communities suffered from poor housing and unemployment, Catholics were significantly more likely to live in crowded and generally inadequate housing and to lack jobs. In particular, working class Catholics were concentrated in the Bogside, an overcrowded suburb under the city walls. The housing situation was caused in part by unionist politicians wishing to keep Catholics concentrated in a small number of electoral wards, thus confining the nationalist vote to these wards. It was also felt that the Northern Irish government favoured the predominantly Protestant east of the country over the predominantly Catholic west. Both Protestant and Catholic residents of Derry were angered by issues such as the reduction of rail services and the siting of the University of Ulster
in Coleraine
rather than Derry, but Catholics also saw this as sectarian discrimination.
In the late 1960s several groups were formed to campaign against discrimination against Catholics. These included the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
(NICRA) and the Derry Housing Action Committee
. These groups had strong links with nationalist
and republican
groups and although their focus was on rectifying injustice rather than abolishing partition, they were seen by many unionists as a front for republicanism. On 5 October 1968 these groups organised a march through the centre of Derry. Because of the political and sectarian connotations of parades in Northern Ireland
, loyalists
saw this as a republican claim on their iconic city, and the demonstration was banned. The marchers went ahead anyway and were batoned by the Royal Ulster Constabulary
. Further mass demonstrations and marches carried on in and around Derry, despite rising tension and sporadic bans.
In January 1969, a march by the radical group People's Democracy
from Belfast
to Derry was attacked by loyalists at Burntollet
, five miles outside Derry. When the marchers (many of whom were injured) arrived in Derry on January 5, rioting broke out between their supporters and the RUC, who were seen to have failed to protect the march. That night, RUC members broke into homes in the Catholic Bogside area and assaulted several residents. An inquiry led by Lord Cameron concluded that, "a number of policemen were guilty of misconduct, which involved assault and battery, malicious damage to property...and the use of provocative sectarian and political slogans". After this point, barricade
s were set up in the Bogside and vigilante
patrols organised to keep the RUC out. It was at this point that famous mural
with the slogan "You are now entering Free Derry
" was painted on the corner of Columbs street by a local activist named John Casey.
In April, the first fatal attack arising out of the violence between nationalists and the RUC in Derry occurred. A local man, Samuel Devenny, was badly beaten with batons by RUC members who broke into his home after a riot in the Bogside on April 19, 1969. His teenage daughters were also beaten in the attack. Deveny died from his injuries on July 17 and is sometimes referred to as the first victim of the troubles.
After further rioting on July 12 ("The Twelfth
"), arising out of the Orange Order parades on that day, republicans in Derry set up the Derry Citizens Defence Association
, with the intention of preparing for future disturbances. The members of the DCDA were initially Republican Club (and possibly IRA) activists, but they were joined by many other left-wing activists and local people. This group stated their aim as firstly to keep the peace, but if this failed, to organise the defence of the Bogside. To this end, they stockpiled materials for barricades and missiles, ahead of the Apprentice Boys march on August 12.
The Apprentice Boys annually paraded on 12 August to commemorate the lifting of the Siege of Derry. The extreme tension of the time meant that trouble was widely expected, but the Apprentice Boys and similar groups had significant political power and the march was not banned; it is also likely that any such ban would not have been effective. As the parade passed the Catholic Bogside area, stones were thrown by both sides. This escalated into a battle between Bogside residents and their supporters on one side and police and loyalists on the other. The police were inadequately trained and equipped for such circumstances, and petrol bombs and other missiles thrown by rioters were met by CS gas
and batons from the police, with innocent residents inevitably suffering. Rioting spread to Belfast, leaving six people dead. After two days of nearly continuous rioting, the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
, James Chichester-Clarke, took the unprecedented step of requesting the British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson
for troops
to be sent to Derry. Soon afterwards a company of the Prince of Wales Own Regiment
relieved the police, with orders to separate the RUC and the Bogsiders, but not to attempt to breach the barricades and enter the Bogside itself. This marked the first direct intervention of the London
government in Ireland since partition
. The British troops were at first welcomed by most Bogside residents as a neutral force. No deaths resulted from the 'battle', but it is estimated that more than 1000 people were injured, many of them seriously. The Battle of the Bogside is often regarded as the point at which the Troubles properly began.
, which had previously had little profile in Derry, began a campaign of violence in the city. By this stage the level of violence across Northern Ireland was such that the government introduced internment
without trial in August 1971. Despite paramilitary violence coming from loyalists as well as republicans, internment was directed almost exclusively against republicans. Widespread rioting resulted, with 21 people being killed in three days of rioting across the country. By December 1971 seven soldiers had been killed in Derry, mostly by the Official
or Provisional IRA. The army had also killed several civilians, including 14 year old Annette McGavigan. Extensive barricades were erected in Catholic suburbs of Derry, organised mostly by the two IRAs. These were intended to prevent access to the army, police, and loyalist mobs, and many were impassable even to the British Army's one-ton armoured vehicles. Due to rioting and damage to shops caused by incendiary device
s, an estimated total of £4 million worth of damage had been done to local businesses.
One of the Troubles' most notorious events, 'Bloody Sunday', occurred in Derry in 1972. On 30 January, 26 civil rights protesters were shot by members of the 1st Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment. Thirteen died immediately. Many witnesses including bystanders and journalists testify that all those shot were unarmed. Five of those wounded were shot in the back. Most of the circumstances are disputed, and thus it is unclear exactly what happened and why. During the march there was low-level rioting and two civilians were shot and wounded by soldiers. The army apparently believed that an IRA sniper was operating in the area, and an order to fire live rounds was given. One young man was shot and killed as he ran away from advancing troops. The soldier then fired directly into the fleeing crowd near Free Derry Corner, killing 12 more people. Fourteen others were wounded, twelve by shots from the soldiers and two knocked down by armoured personnel carriers. No soldiers were reported injured despite the Army's claims that they had been responding to the threat of gunmen and nail bombs.
Numerous journalists were present and the events were widely reported, causing horror and fury around the world, but especially in both parts of Ireland. Irate crowds burned down the British embassy in Dublin. Anglo-Irish relations hit one of their lowest ebbs, with Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs
, Patrick Hillery
, going specially to the United Nations
in New York to demand UN involvement in the Troubles. The British government commissioned a tribunal to investigate the events of the day; its report (the Widgery Report) supported the Army's account and was widely seen as a 'whitewash'. In August the following year, the city's coroner
, retired British army Major Hubert O'Neill, issued a statement describing the events as 'sheer unadulterated murder'. On May 29, 2007 it was reported that General Sir Mike Jackson, second-in-command of 2 Para on Bloody Sunday, said: "I have no doubt that innocent people were shot". This was in sharp contrast to his insistence, for more than 30 years, that those killed on the day had not been innocent. A second inquiry into Bloody Sunday was established in 1998.
Bloody Sunday had a massive and negative impact on the Northern Irish conflict. Support for the IRA rose, and hatred for the Army became widespread amongst the Catholic community. The IRA and other republican paramilitaries used the events to justify a campaign against the British Army and other agents of the British state including the police and the Ulster Defence Regiment
. In late February the Official IRA
bombed the Aldershot
headquarters of the Parachute Regiment (see 1972 Aldershot bombing
), but only succeeded in killing six support staff and a Catholic chaplain
. In May, they also kidnapped and shot dead a Derry man who was home on leave from the British Army. The following day 500 women marched to the Republican Club offices in protest. Nine days later, on 29 May, the Official IRA declared a ceasefire, which it has kept to ever since. A month later the Provisional IRA also announced a ceasefire but this quickly broke down.
s had been in place since the introduction of internment
in August 1971. The British and Northern Irish governments were unwilling to tolerate this, and at 4am on 31 July 1972 a massive British Army mobilisation began. This involved almost 22,000 soldiers, 27 infantry and two armoured battalions aided by 5,300 UDR
men. The number of troops was approximately four percent of the entire strength of the British Army. There were also several tanks used, the only time that they were deployed during the Troubles. During the operation two 15 year old boys were shot and killed. One was a member of the IRA and bled to death while in the custody of British soldiers; the other was an uninvolved civilian. Neither branch of the IRA attempted to resist the operation as they were outnumbered and outgunned. After this there were no more no-go areas in Northern Irish cities although British patrols remained cautious when in the Bogside.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, was severely affected by the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
. The conflict is widely considered to have begun in the city, with many regarding the Battle of the Bogside
Battle of the Bogside
The Battle of the Bogside was a very large communal riot that took place during 12–14 August 1969 in Derry, Northern Ireland. The fighting was between residents of the Bogside area and the Royal Ulster Constabulary .The rioting erupted after the RUC attempted to disperse Irish nationalists who...
(an inner suburb of the city) as the beginning of the Troubles. The 'Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday (1972)
Bloody Sunday —sometimes called the Bogside Massacre—was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in which twenty-six unarmed civil rights protesters and bystanders were shot by soldiers of the British Army...
' incident of 1972 also occurred in Derry. A total of 227 people were killed in Derry during the conflict.
Background
Derry has a long history of sectarian tension and violence. In particular, the city is known as the site of the Siege of DerrySiege of Derry
The Siege of Derry took place in Ireland from 18 April to 28 July 1689, during the Williamite War in Ireland. The city, a Williamite stronghold, was besieged by a Jacobite army until it was relieved by Royal Navy ships...
of 1689, in which the Protestant supporters of William III of England
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
held out against the mostly Catholic supporters of James II of England
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
for 105 days. The siege became an icon of Ulster Protestant culture, and since the early nineteenth century has been annually commemorated by the Apprentice Boys of Derry
Apprentice Boys of Derry
The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership of over 80,000, founded in 1814. They are based in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland. However, there are Clubs and branches across Ireland, Great Britain and further afield...
. Although Catholics had previously participated in ceremonies in honour of the Williamite victory, many regarded the Apprentice Boys' celebrations, particularly their parades, as triumphalist and sectarian. In the mid nineteenth century an investigation into riots in the city resulted in the recommendation that the Apprentice Boys' parades be banned. Despite the opposition of the British government, the parades continued.
When Northern Ireland became a separate state in 1922, Protestants/unionists were the majority and controlled the government of Northern Ireland
Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland
The Executive Committee or the Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland was the government of Northern Ireland created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Generally known as either the Cabinet or the Government, the Executive Committee existed from 1922 to 1972...
. Although Catholics were a clear majority of the Derry population, severe gerrymandering
Gerrymandering
In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
meant that unionists controlled the city government. Like councils elsewhere (nationalist as well as unionist, although unionists controlled more councils), unionist local politicians used their power to disproportionately allocate jobs and houses to Protestants. Although working class people from both communities suffered from poor housing and unemployment, Catholics were significantly more likely to live in crowded and generally inadequate housing and to lack jobs. In particular, working class Catholics were concentrated in the Bogside, an overcrowded suburb under the city walls. The housing situation was caused in part by unionist politicians wishing to keep Catholics concentrated in a small number of electoral wards, thus confining the nationalist vote to these wards. It was also felt that the Northern Irish government favoured the predominantly Protestant east of the country over the predominantly Catholic west. Both Protestant and Catholic residents of Derry were angered by issues such as the reduction of rail services and the siting of the University of Ulster
University of Ulster
The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...
in Coleraine
Coleraine
Coleraine is a large town near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast and east of Derry, both of which are linked by major roads and railway connections...
rather than Derry, but Catholics also saw this as sectarian discrimination.
Civil rights and city riots
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was an organisation which campaigned for equal civil rights for the all the people in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
(NICRA) and the Derry Housing Action Committee
Derry Housing Action Committee
The Derry Housing Action Committee , was an organisation formed in 1968 in Derry, Northern Ireland to protest about housing conditions and provision....
. These groups had strong links with nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
and republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
groups and although their focus was on rectifying injustice rather than abolishing partition, they were seen by many unionists as a front for republicanism. On 5 October 1968 these groups organised a march through the centre of Derry. Because of the political and sectarian connotations of parades in Northern Ireland
Parades in Northern Ireland
Parades are an important part of Northern Irish culture. Although the majority of parades are held ostensibly by Protestant, unionist or Ulster loyalist groups, nationalist, republican and non-political groups also parade. Parading is often considered to be an assertion of a group's control over a...
, loyalists
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
saw this as a republican claim on their iconic city, and the demonstration was banned. The marchers went ahead anyway and were batoned by the Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
. Further mass demonstrations and marches carried on in and around Derry, despite rising tension and sporadic bans.
In January 1969, a march by the radical group People's Democracy
People's Democracy
People's Democracy was a political organisation that, while supporting the campaign for civil rights for Northern Ireland's Catholic minority, stated that such rights could only be achieved through the establishment of a socialist republic for all of Ireland...
from Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
to Derry was attacked by loyalists at Burntollet
Burntollet
Burntollet was the setting for an infamous attack during the so called Troubles of Northern Ireland. A nationalist march from Belfast to Derry was attacked whilst passing through Burntollet on the 4th of January, 1969 . A loyalist crowd, numbering in the region of 200, attacked the civil rights...
, five miles outside Derry. When the marchers (many of whom were injured) arrived in Derry on January 5, rioting broke out between their supporters and the RUC, who were seen to have failed to protect the march. That night, RUC members broke into homes in the Catholic Bogside area and assaulted several residents. An inquiry led by Lord Cameron concluded that, "a number of policemen were guilty of misconduct, which involved assault and battery, malicious damage to property...and the use of provocative sectarian and political slogans". After this point, barricade
Barricade
Barricade, from the French barrique , is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction...
s were set up in the Bogside and vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
patrols organised to keep the RUC out. It was at this point that famous mural
Northern Irish murals
Murals in Northern Ireland have become symbols of Northern Ireland, depicting the region's past and present political and religious divisions.Northern Ireland contains arguably the most famous political murals. Almost 2,000 murals have been documented in Northern Ireland since the 1970s...
with the slogan "You are now entering Free Derry
Free Derry
Free Derry was a self-declared autonomous nationalist area of Derry, Northern Ireland, between 1969 and 1972. Its name was taken from a sign painted on a gable wall in the Bogside in January 1969 which read, “You are now entering Free Derry"...
" was painted on the corner of Columbs street by a local activist named John Casey.
In April, the first fatal attack arising out of the violence between nationalists and the RUC in Derry occurred. A local man, Samuel Devenny, was badly beaten with batons by RUC members who broke into his home after a riot in the Bogside on April 19, 1969. His teenage daughters were also beaten in the attack. Deveny died from his injuries on July 17 and is sometimes referred to as the first victim of the troubles.
After further rioting on July 12 ("The Twelfth
The Twelfth
The Twelfth is a yearly Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It originated in Ireland during the 18th century. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution and victory of Protestant king William of Orange over Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne...
"), arising out of the Orange Order parades on that day, republicans in Derry set up the Derry Citizens Defence Association
Derry Citizens Defence Association
The Derry Citizens' Defence Association , was an organisation set up in July 1969 in response to a perceived threat to the nationalist community of Derry in connection with the annual parade of the Apprentice Boys of Derry on 12 August. This followed clashes with the Royal Ulster Constabulary in...
, with the intention of preparing for future disturbances. The members of the DCDA were initially Republican Club (and possibly IRA) activists, but they were joined by many other left-wing activists and local people. This group stated their aim as firstly to keep the peace, but if this failed, to organise the defence of the Bogside. To this end, they stockpiled materials for barricades and missiles, ahead of the Apprentice Boys march on August 12.
The Battle of the Bogside
The Apprentice Boys annually paraded on 12 August to commemorate the lifting of the Siege of Derry. The extreme tension of the time meant that trouble was widely expected, but the Apprentice Boys and similar groups had significant political power and the march was not banned; it is also likely that any such ban would not have been effective. As the parade passed the Catholic Bogside area, stones were thrown by both sides. This escalated into a battle between Bogside residents and their supporters on one side and police and loyalists on the other. The police were inadequately trained and equipped for such circumstances, and petrol bombs and other missiles thrown by rioters were met by CS gas
CS gas
2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile is the defining component of a "tear gas" commonly referred to as CS gas, which is used as a riot control agent...
and batons from the police, with innocent residents inevitably suffering. Rioting spread to Belfast, leaving six people dead. After two days of nearly continuous rioting, the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. However the Lord Lieutenant, as with Governors-General in other Westminster Systems such as in Canada, chose to appoint someone...
, James Chichester-Clarke, took the unprecedented step of requesting the British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
for troops
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
to be sent to Derry. Soon afterwards a company of the Prince of Wales Own Regiment
Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire
The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was created in 1958 by the amalgamation of The West Yorkshire Regiment and The East Yorkshire Regiment...
relieved the police, with orders to separate the RUC and the Bogsiders, but not to attempt to breach the barricades and enter the Bogside itself. This marked the first direct intervention of the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
government in Ireland since partition
Partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
. The British troops were at first welcomed by most Bogside residents as a neutral force. No deaths resulted from the 'battle', but it is estimated that more than 1000 people were injured, many of them seriously. The Battle of the Bogside is often regarded as the point at which the Troubles properly began.
The early years of the Troubles
After the Battle of the Bogside, rioting and battles with police occurred in Derry on a semi-regular basis, although until 1971 no one was killed in Derry except a group of people who died after an IRA bomb prematurely detonated in the bomb-maker's home. In February 1971 a British Army soldier died after his vehicle was petrol bombed in the Bogside. In July that year, two rioters in the Bogside were shot dead by soldiers in disputed circumstances. In response, the Provisional Irish Republican ArmyProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
, which had previously had little profile in Derry, began a campaign of violence in the city. By this stage the level of violence across Northern Ireland was such that the government introduced internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
without trial in August 1971. Despite paramilitary violence coming from loyalists as well as republicans, internment was directed almost exclusively against republicans. Widespread rioting resulted, with 21 people being killed in three days of rioting across the country. By December 1971 seven soldiers had been killed in Derry, mostly by the Official
Official IRA
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA is an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to create a "32-county workers' republic" in Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Irish Republican Army in December 1969, shortly after the beginning of "The Troubles"...
or Provisional IRA. The army had also killed several civilians, including 14 year old Annette McGavigan. Extensive barricades were erected in Catholic suburbs of Derry, organised mostly by the two IRAs. These were intended to prevent access to the army, police, and loyalist mobs, and many were impassable even to the British Army's one-ton armoured vehicles. Due to rioting and damage to shops caused by incendiary device
Incendiary device
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus....
s, an estimated total of £4 million worth of damage had been done to local businesses.
Bloody Sunday
Numerous journalists were present and the events were widely reported, causing horror and fury around the world, but especially in both parts of Ireland. Irate crowds burned down the British embassy in Dublin. Anglo-Irish relations hit one of their lowest ebbs, with Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland)
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is the senior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the Government of Ireland. Its headquarters are at Iveagh House, on St Stephen's Green in Dublin; "Iveagh House" is often used as a metonym for the department as a whole.The current...
, Patrick Hillery
Patrick Hillery
Patrick John "Paddy" Hillery was an Irish politician and the sixth President of Ireland from 1976 until 1990. First elected at the 1951 general election as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Clare, he remained in Dáil Éireann until 1973...
, going specially to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in New York to demand UN involvement in the Troubles. The British government commissioned a tribunal to investigate the events of the day; its report (the Widgery Report) supported the Army's account and was widely seen as a 'whitewash'. In August the following year, the city's coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
, retired British army Major Hubert O'Neill, issued a statement describing the events as 'sheer unadulterated murder'. On May 29, 2007 it was reported that General Sir Mike Jackson, second-in-command of 2 Para on Bloody Sunday, said: "I have no doubt that innocent people were shot". This was in sharp contrast to his insistence, for more than 30 years, that those killed on the day had not been innocent. A second inquiry into Bloody Sunday was established in 1998.
Bloody Sunday had a massive and negative impact on the Northern Irish conflict. Support for the IRA rose, and hatred for the Army became widespread amongst the Catholic community. The IRA and other republican paramilitaries used the events to justify a campaign against the British Army and other agents of the British state including the police and the Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
. In late February the Official IRA
Official IRA
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA is an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to create a "32-county workers' republic" in Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Irish Republican Army in December 1969, shortly after the beginning of "The Troubles"...
bombed the Aldershot
Aldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
headquarters of the Parachute Regiment (see 1972 Aldershot bombing
1972 Aldershot Bombing
The Aldershot bombing was a car bomb attack by the Official Irish Republican Army on 22 February 1972 in Aldershot, England. The bomb targeted the headquarters of the British Army's 16th Parachute Brigade and was claimed as a revenge attack for Bloody Sunday. Seven civilian staff were killed and...
), but only succeeded in killing six support staff and a Catholic chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
. In May, they also kidnapped and shot dead a Derry man who was home on leave from the British Army. The following day 500 women marched to the Republican Club offices in protest. Nine days later, on 29 May, the Official IRA declared a ceasefire, which it has kept to ever since. A month later the Provisional IRA also announced a ceasefire but this quickly broke down.
Operation Motorman
In mid 1972 much of the Bogside was still off limits to the security forces, with barricades preventing their entry and the IRA controlling the area. The no-go areaNo-go area
A no-go area or no-go zone is a region where the ruling authorities have lost control and are unable to enforce the rule of law.-Rhodesia:The term 'no-go area' has a military origin and was first used in the context of the Bush War in Rhodesia...
s had been in place since the introduction of internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
in August 1971. The British and Northern Irish governments were unwilling to tolerate this, and at 4am on 31 July 1972 a massive British Army mobilisation began. This involved almost 22,000 soldiers, 27 infantry and two armoured battalions aided by 5,300 UDR
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
men. The number of troops was approximately four percent of the entire strength of the British Army. There were also several tanks used, the only time that they were deployed during the Troubles. During the operation two 15 year old boys were shot and killed. One was a member of the IRA and bled to death while in the custody of British soldiers; the other was an uninvolved civilian. Neither branch of the IRA attempted to resist the operation as they were outnumbered and outgunned. After this there were no more no-go areas in Northern Irish cities although British patrols remained cautious when in the Bogside.