What I experienced living in the north of Ireland from 1970 until 1994 was a reign of terror carried out, with British government approval, by the UDR, the RUC and the British army and their allies in loyalist murder gangs. These were the real terrorists in Ireland and they were well trained in the art of terrorising. They were supported by the Unionist politicians. Many in the Catholic/nationalist community had a similar experience of British organised repression and terror. It was purely sectarian.
The reign of terror which began in 1970 was not the first such in Ireland. Irish people have over many centuries been terrorised by British soldiers and British agents as well as by the police. This time it was more highly organised under the watchful eye of the expert Frank Kitson and this time they had the support of the media in Britainespecially the BBC and the media in Dublin especially RTE. As a result the masses were completely brainwashed about what was going on.
Brigadier Kitson had a great deal of experience of using terror to stamp out insurrection-in Kenya, in Malaya and in Cyprus. He had taken time out in Oxford to reflect and write about his experiences and to offer his tactics for dealing with insurgency in his publication, Low Intensity Operations. On page 71, he writes that the government, “must promote its own cause and undermine that of the enemy by disseminating its view of the situation, and this involves a carefully plan and co-ordinated campaign of what, for want of a better word, must, regrettably, be called psychological operations.”
One regiment of the British army that were especially useful in terrorising was the locally recruited Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR). These were not sophisticated. They were made up of local members of the Orange order and small farmers. Their leaders were usually local businessmen.
The UDR replaced the B-men (Ulster Special Constabulary) on 1st January 1970. They were intended to be a mixed force in proportion to the population but that did not happen – except for a while in county Down. They soon became an entirely Protestant/Unionist force within the British army. Thus began a reign of terror throughout the north which concentrated on nationalist areas. They were instructed to identify, harass and intimidate Catholics in a certain age group who were suspected of being ‘enemies of the state’. You were considered ‘an enemy of the state’ if your name was Sean or Padraig or Eoin. You were an enemy of the state if you supported the republican prisoners in any way or were seen to attend republican functions. You were an enemy of the state if you were a Catholic priest who spoke out about injustice. At checkpoints, I had UDR men quoting or misquoting remarks I had made which they said the read in the local press-meaning ‘The Impartial Reporter’.
The RUC was a sectarian force -even though there were some Catholics in the force. The British army was sent over to put manners on the rebellious Irish. They were brainwashed and did what all soldiers do -carried out orders even to kill Irish citizens in their own homes and farmyards.
The reign of terror took the form of daily harassment at checkpoints or on the streets, the murder of innocent people, house searches, and torture. The reign of terror continued long after Kitson departed these shores until the peace talks began.
I have spoken to people in other countries who have had similar experiences of State terror. People I got to know in El Salvador and from Nicaragua, from East Timor and South Africa all had a similar experience of repression by the forces of ‘law and order.’ They were agreed that the worst of all were the local militias. We all understood too well how local people on the receiving end of such intimidation and harassment were driven to take up arms against the state and to engage their armed forces in a guerrilla war. One man who ahs written and spoken about his own personal experience of the UDR is former hunger-striker Lawrence McKeown. His story is typical of so many young nationalists who turned to the republican movement as a result of intense UDR/British/RUC intimidation and harassment. This reign of terror by the UDR, the British army and the RUC lasted for more than 20 years. (to be continued)
its still going on.
It sure is! Look at the media!!
plus the internment.continuity ruc ect..sure is.
From memory, approaching 4,500 stop-and-searches and over 250 house raids in a 4 year period in and around a tiny enclave like Ardoyne.
Only 2 convictions arising.
It seems that Repression and Second-class citizenship is still very much the order of the day for some.
Yet Sinn Fein don’t just stay silent, their “community workers” literally walk on by.
Kitson was given a Lab in which to experiment with his tactical theories. North’s Nats were the Lab rats.
Unfortunately our community took the bait and got into a dreadful conflict which was always unwinnable because control of the Press and TV were the most important weapon in the conflict.
Kitson outlines this in his book – I read it in 1970 so I am not sure what pages.
If moral outrage must be displayed about the past conflict our community was not the biggest offender. The Establishments in London/Dublin and their MSM friends have more to answer for than any group in the north. After all they are the moral guardians and respectable face of society – or so they have managed to make most people think.
Dublin’s role is even more reprehensible than London’s in that their abandonment of Northern Nationalist after Partition is Internationally shameful when similar ethnic/political difficulties are looked at.
Lynch had an opportunity in August 1969 to cause an International incident by sending troops over the border to Derry/Newry. He lacked the courage to it. Even more amazing is the fact that he had a Legal and Constitutional obligation to do so. If Lynch had done this the conflict would never have developed as it did.
He did say he would be our guarantor for Justice/security. Days after he said this the RUC/Bmen were given an Unconditional Amnesty by the Govn for actually starting the Conflict and using Battlefield weapons to kill a 9 yr old boy asleep in his bed – among other murders.
Dublin was powerless to intervene in this critical political decision which prompted many in my community to make fateful decisions.
10months later Kitson’s British Army imposed an illegal Curfew on Nationalist Falls Rd and killed civilians. Dublin did nothing!
The die was now set for further Govn actions against the Nationalist community which propelled us all into decades of horror.
The WP were Kitsons stooges in Ireland, fulfilling the role of local criminal gangs he supported in Kenya and elsewhere to undermine Independence movements.
Are PBP going to stand aside for John Finucane or will they continue the Worker Party’s traditional role of trying to divide Nationalists and allow Britain and Unionism to Conquer ?
@ PaulG
Of course not.
What a ridiculous suggestion.
John Finucane wasn’t even a Shinner this time last week, yet now you greet him like the Messiah.
And this time two weeks ago…KC was not blogging on this page…..I wonder why?… How noble of him to give us all his acquired knowledge …..nobody has been part of , or remembers anything of the last 50 years only KC …..and it is described so beautifully……well I was part of that hell ….and the Reds were definitely under the bed…..if not in the bed with the Brits…..my body is wrecked ,but my mind is still intact and I will not endure this inane rubbish…..another agent provocateur……obviously paid by and used by…..
So be it.
PBP will be Kitsons boys in a contest they have no chance in and keep Doddsy’s the fascist at Westminster.
The future local and assembly elections, PBP in West Belfast will be seen as collaborators and will lose all seats.
Will that decision be made by Richard ‘Rich Boy’ Barrett and the South Dublin set, to safeguard their cushy seats in the Dail ?
@ PaulG.
I hate to.mention this but Sinn Fein sit in a partitionist Assembly, in partnership with the DUP administering Tory policies.
Isn’t that “collaborating”?
No it’s called winning
By the way, Richard Boyd-Barrett takes the average industrial wage, a policy that Sinn Fein abandoned.
Tell me again about “cushy seats”….?
No.
SF are working towards Independence. If a situation arises where taking their seats in Westminster would help that , then they should do that too.
What they are not doing is, disenfranchising the Nationalist people by handing seats to Unionists who like to prop up Tory Governments and present their stolen seats as vindication of the Unionist position.
@ PaulG
You do realise what the word “disenfranchising” means, don’t you?
I apologise if the rest of us don’t see the World through your Green and Orange prism.
By standing as Reds, we are enfranchising people who aren’t interested in your sectarian, tribalist circus where the clowns laugh at the audience.
Oh dear Kevin! I am a red too but I do not do your sort of Dogma. Its like a religion this Orange/Green prism thing, its certaily a weapon in the hands of all who oppose real Democracy in Ireland. You are part of the problem and a weapon of the establishments north and south and in London.
Why is same not said by Irish so-called radicals about Jews/Muslins in Palestine. You adopt the Imperialist term for the divided here which is gave Brit Army excuse to say they were referees. They were never that. Every policy they developed was a Unionist friendly policy, or in your eyes Orange friendly.
Never did the reds who were once PLO ever talk this Imperialist tripe.
Never once did ANC talk that way either.
The problem in both these places was Imperialism and its new found local “Democracies” which became, like Partition, 20thCentury Status Quos.
Partition was a very well thought out and complex construct – look at the wriggly border! Why was so wriggly? Because it was worked out on where the Orange and Green lived.
A silk purse cannot be made from a pigs ear.
Neither can the 6 Counties be treated as a real democracy with real left/right politics being the basis of debate, elections and driving policy.
Take off the blinkers kid! Lets together make a new State or even States – but the old northern one must be discarded/recycled. Then maybe we can have normal politics.
But until then we must call a Spade a Spade not a Shovel.
Boyd Barrett is financially very comfortable. His Dail salary is only pocket money.
And Dail seats without any salary, remain very cushy when all the perks are totted up.
@ PaulG
Have you insider knowledge on Richard Boyd-Barrett’s.bank accounts and expenses claims?
I suggest you contact the Indo immediately to start a smear….
#GraspingAtStraws
By the way, what’s your thoughts on the £1.2 million that Sinn Fein pick up in expenses from their Westminster seats that they don’t actually attend?
In all honesty, that’s what it was all about – it’s not about “The Cause”, it’s not about Ireland, it’s not about any sincere love of the EU – it’s all about getting their shouts in the trough and hoovering up all that lovely loot from Dublin, London and Brussels.
There’s no principle they wouldn’t sell.
I’m all for choice in a STV election. Gets more people voting and transferring if they’re doing it right.
No need to apologise. You have your red prism. There are many prisms we could look through, but the most relevant one in a FPTP Westminster election, is the one that guides us to getting the DUP out and Finucane in.
Post UI, SF could become as relevant as UKIP are now.
“The cause of Ireland is the cause of Labour and the cause of Labour is the cause of Ireland”.
Too soon to forget Connollys words.
@ PaulG
Connolly stood against bourgeois nationalists like Sinn Fein, he most certainly stand aside to give them a free run.
Finucane is undoubtedly a formidable candidate. But he wasn’t even a Shinner up til a week ago. That would concern me if i was a Shinner.
It seems to me that hr could just have easily slipped into a Stooper suit and be equally as welcome there.
He represents the new middle-class, professional politicians that Simm Fein now appeal to like MON,and Martin O’Millionaure,
There isn’t a hint of Socialism anywhere in their literature now. It’s just pan-Nationalist nonsense.
I could have sworn that was Connolly in the GPO with the Shinners.
I guess he didn’t think they were bourgeois nationalists after all.
I expect John Finucane’s family experience of the State would prevent him from joining the class of ‘Professionals’ and other Castle Catholics in the SDLP who have cashed in on the oppression of their fellow Irishmen.
If you can’t find the socialism in their literature then they must truly be part of your Lefty cabal which has traded the interest of the workers for political correctness and liberal niceties.
@ PaulG
You see thats a very common mistake, but Sinn Fein werent in the GPO!
Their leader Arthur Griffith spent the week at Eoin McNeills house fretting about their future careers.
He later described the Rising as “miserable”.
It was the British Army and Irish press that wrongly and cynically called it a “Sinn Fein Rising” in order to sectarianise it in the North.
Ps. Connolly was in no doubt that the Irish Citizens Army and the Volunteers were fighting fir very different things.
That’s why he instructed his men to hang onto their rifles.
I am aware of the origins of SF, Griffiths party and opinion and the British mis-naming the Rising as the Sinn Fein Rebellion.
What I don’t get, is how you invoke Connolly, when the fundamental difference between him and other socialists of the time was his decision that Ireland would need to get Independence, before achieving full economic and social justice.
SF are more in line with that position, while you seem to happy to help perpetuate the sectarian Orange, Masonic, Imperial State so long as you can wear your neuveau politically correct, anti-nationalist, clothes and pretend to the Nationalist working and unemployed class that Loyalists in Ballysillan and Tigers Bay, want to link arms with them and no longer want to assault them until they accept second class status.
And the South Dublin PBP ‘right on brigade’ can continue with the British and Dublin 4/RTE propaganda that the North is a bunch of Nordie Paddy’s who like fighting each other. If only someone could show them how they’re all the same and teach them to get along. Enter PBP as the long awaited saviour… Not.
@ PaulG
Listen to Gerry Adams maiden speech in the Dail. He doesn’t mention Socialism once.
Nor does their document “Towards a United Ireland”.
The word would turn to vinegar in the mouths of the Leadership.
But Bobby Sands knew what he was laying down his life for, a socialist republic.
Ps. There were SDLP representatives killed in the Troubles, some horrifically.
That didn’t stop them becoming stooges for the State, did it.
Kevin, what is it about Sinn Fein that makes them bourgeois?
And before you you even try to mention the industrial wage thing try to remember even McCann took money from the British media writing stories to try and damage SF. The money earned working from the Sunday World would have meant he got more than the wage the industrial wage. (note how I haven’t made up a derogatory name for one of your heroes?)
How can you criticise the republican movement’s violence then glorify Bobby Sands?
Sinn Fein would happily become irrelevant tomorrow if a United Ireland was realised , not all shinners are socialists , but all shinners are nationalist.i would happily join whichever main stream party represented my political views post UI.
PBP, SDLP , all they can do is retard progress , so what value do the have to the people of the North or South ?
Never thought I’d see the day when a socialist criticises someone for taking benefits they’re entitled to from an Imperial state.
Anyway, I’m sure you’re aware that the financial costs are accrued in the constituency and not sitting on one’s arse on the Green Benches in the Commons.
@ PaulG
They’re not “benefits”, they’re supposed to be expenses genuinely accrued helping constituents with their issues.
Gerry Carroll rightly asks Paul Maskey actually does for the people of West Belfast, one of the most impoverished constituencies in the so-called UK.
34 years after Sinn Fein first took the seat, what have they actually achieved?
I’m more than happy for you to answer on Maskeys behalf…..because let’s be honest, he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Your not even a knife and trust me with your oh so obvious inferiority complex all you will be ever able to do is denigrate and complain about those who can and have sacrificed there lives and livelihoods to better the lot of the nationalist community .
@ Eoin.
I asked a simple question….answer it.
What have Sinn Fein materially done for the people of West Belfast in the 34 years since they first took the seat
As for ‘snouts in the trough’, if there’s any party you can’t throw that muck at it’s Sinn Fein.
Many have put their lives on the line. Several shot, several killed.
It was for the money ? Really ? And McGuinness was living in the small house but letting his minnions have mansions, really?
it seems you’ve been well and truly brainwashed.
The Sinn Fein of today is NOT the same Sinn Fein of the 80s.
Back then a vote for the Shinners was a vote against the Establishment.
Now, they are the Establishment.
Ps. You’ll know about Gerry As villa in Donegal.
Gerry K’s villa in Portugal.
Martin O’Millionaires publicly funded chauffeur. And McGuinness’ wife has, reputedly, a whole row of shops around her hairdressers.
These fellas aren’t roughing it.
That’s a debate for a PR election.
For now it’s Dodds or Finucane. You should still be able to tell the difference between your rivals and your enemies.
It doesn’t matter if don’t see yourself as Green or Orange, when you’re enemies do when they come for you.
The state needs overthrowing. You may be able to overthrow SF soon after, if you’re right and they have become too establishment.
@ PaulG.
But we aren’t Nationalists or Unionists.
We aren’t Green or Orange.
We reject that sectarian tribalism.
We are Red.
We are Socialsts.
We are out for the workers 32 that Connolly fought for.
I’ve no interest in a re-Catholicised Ireland with the Homeless piled up in the streets and a privatised health care system.
There is no enthusiasm for an Ireland with Kenny as Chief, and Arlene as Tanaiste cos that’s what the numbers today would give us today – a coalition of two right-wing lunatic parties.
The only thing that is going to unite this country, and avert a possible sectarian conflict is class unity.
Sinn Fein can’t offer that. They are toxic outside of their own tribal hinterlands.
Enjoyed the banter between Kevin and Paul.
Although,there views were very different,they
allowed each other’s viewpoint in a civilized manner.
I have to agree with Kevin’s outlook for N.I.
Socialism will serve the people much better,rather than
the hodge pole that seems to exist now.
Connelly was one of my Heros and he fought for
socialism for Ireland,along with many others.
The best to you both.
Michael
Hi Michael,
What’s your view on whether PBP and the SDLP should stand against Finucane and if they do, should non-Unionists (say socialists, greens, alliance voters etc from nationalist areas or background) vote tactically to get rid of Dodds ?
Very few would want the Catholic Church back in the powerful position they had, but if the Irish people voted for Enda and Arlene then that’s a mistake they’d be democratically entitled to make.
Go and take 3,000 votes from Loyalist areas of North Belfast in a PR election and then come back and tell us you’re not Orange or Green and we’ll believe you’re not the puppet designed to split the Nationalist FPTP vote , helping keep the North British and subservient to a Monarchy.
Joe
Before I give this some badly needed context and remove the ACME brand of MOPEry laden bias, could you please inform me of how many British Soldiers you actually know/knew? (on a civil level)
“What I experienced living in the north of Ireland from 1970 until 1994 was a reign of terror carried out, with British government approval, by the UDR, the RUC and the British army and their allies in loyalist murder gangs.”
I understand the mechanics of the mantra ‘repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth’ but in this age of information at our fingertips it should (in theory) be more difficult for fibs and exaggerations to obtain their apotheosis of truth-like status.
This statement is basically what happens when people read ‘Lethal Allies’ and take every last suggestion for gospel truth.
The bottom line is that there were over 100 000 British military personnel who passed through NI over a quarter century. Were they part of an organised campaign of terror then the death toll would have been tremendous.
“Many in the Catholic/nationalist community had a similar experience of British organised repression and terror.” Can’t disagree with that.
“It was purely sectarian.”
Highly unlikely, it’s not like there weren’t lots of Catholics or atheists in the British army (UDR notwithstanding).
“The British army was sent over to put manners on the rebellious Irish”
No, they were sent to try and put the lid on the tremendous clusterf*ck that was caused by Stormont.
If they were sent over to ‘put manners on the Irish’ then they wouldn’t have been greeted with cups of tea, would they? (Or have we forgotten about that short era?)
I don’t doubt at all the hardship of living in a nationalist area constantly being overseen by the UDR and the British army but this poor summary leaves a lot out and any one of journalistic bent would at least consult some soldiers to see if these assertions actually apply (but we all know what would happen if Joe did this…).
Furthermore, in El Salvador 10 000’s of thousands of people were killed
In Nicuragua also, tens of thousands were killed.
In NI, the ‘British war machine’ accounted for deaths that were in the 3 figures region. Over a period of quarter century.
Granted, too many deaths but either the British Army are no good at murder or your appraisal of the situation is incorrect, which is it?
Am Ghobsmacht
How many deaths would have had to occur to achieve ‘ tremendous ‘status in your eyes?
The religious status of the soldiers is totally irrelevant though since you brought it up many of Irish descent refused to serve in the six counties , including a member of my own family. The fact that the presence of the soldiers propped up a sectarian government ,made them sectarian.
The cups of tea were poured from a pot of naivety .
The cluster fuck was caused by partition which was set up by the British government , Stormont was the weapon used to maintain it.
What would Joe ask the soldiers ?
Maybe ‘did you shoot and kill unarmed civilians on your tour of duty?
Perhaps. ‘ do you see your presence here as helpful to the nationalist community ‘?
In NI, the ‘British war machine’ accounted for deaths that were in the 3 figures region. Over a period of quarter century.
Granted, too many deaths but either the British Army are no good at murder or your appraisal of the situation is incorrect, which is it?
Neither ,quite simply 60 million or so Irish Americans lived in the United States and the death squads in Central America were funded and trained by the US government ask Ollie North.
Your rebuttal is facile.
Am Ghobsmact,
The fact that you actually took time to consider that argument before posting, suggests you are in a state of utter denial and/or completely misunderstand the conflict.
The terror campaign perpetrated against ordinary Nationalists in certain areas is not only measured by the thousand or so murders committed by the security forces and their loyalist agents, but also by the tens if not hundreds of thousands street searches, house searches, beatings, arbitrary arrests, death threats, internment, torture, fabricated prosecutions, pogroms and so on.
Protestants may have had the terror of the hooded man at night, but for nationalists, when the dawn came, the hooded man was wearing an RUC or Army uniform. That is a relentless, perpetual, inescapeable terror.
That they didn’t kill 10,000 is because this time, they didn’t need to. The fear they could generate was sufficient to keep most Catholics down.
Certainly they had killed many multiples of that in previous incarnations.
In Britain and Ireland we may even be a little more developed than in El Salvador or since the days of Spencer, Cromwell or Travelllian. With the exception of RUC, UDR and other Loyalists in the Glennane gang etc., even the hawkish protaganists did not seek a genocidal finale.
Advances in media as well as a powerful Irish American lobby were also factors restraining British militarists.
In the very early days, of course the first troops were sent here to protect the Catholic population, but very quickly the Army picked a side, and the immoral but practical choice was to side with the Protestants who had all of the weapons, all of the power, all of the key jobs in power stations etc and of course claimed to be loyal to the flag, Queen and state.
However, once the battle lines were drawn, Joe is absolutely correct that certain British Regiments were sent in to teach Paddy a lesson, most notably the Parachute Regiment in Ballymurphy and Derry.
We’re they sectarian? probably some, others anti-Irish racists, some ultra British nationalists, some sadists, some criminals, the odd psycopath and the ordinary majority who followed the lead of the others. You don’t need to know individual soldiers to know the composition of an army and what it will do if unleashed on a civilian population.
Your ‘bottom line’ is entirely erroneous and is a poor choice to build an argument on, much less to arrogantly accuse Joe, of repeating a lie often enough until it becomes truth!
And now you think nationalists should interview their oppressors before recounting their crimes! Why, to get them to guesstimate the percentages of racism, sectarianism, sadism or monarchism behind their actions? Pull the other one.
Am Ghobsmacht, Something else to bear in mind:
Most squaddies had no idea what they were doing in Ireland. The 3 soldiers I knew while living in England believed some very weird crap. One (thinking I was unionist), told me that nationalist school children in Derry were painting the walls white to make it easier for IRA snipers. I knew that the council were painting walls white to cover graffiti. The same soldier told me his friend was killed by sniper fire while operating a radio in a helicopter in county Derry (I called BS and he got really offended, the British always said no one was ever killed in the air?) One soldier told me that women would bang bin lids to scare the soldiers- ‘I thought did the soldiers get told nothing’ did they really not know they were warning safe houses that they were coming? Later I found out there was a deliberate policy to rotate soldiers through the North very quickly and keep them in the dark. Apparently the MOD had discovered many ‘normal’ soldiers would quickly gain sympathy for the Nationalists- something that really scared the MOD.
On psy ops- many soldiers were engaged in this without even knowing. The odd piece of graffiti, putting up sectarian posters claiming to be from the IRA etc. In Derry there were a group of soldiers pretending to be devil worshippers and sacrificing animals to scare children from a wooded area. The parish priest warned parents to keep their children away. We caught soldiers leaving animal entrails on a tree stump, later we discovered 2 soldiers in a hidden observation post. With hindsight the whole bizarre episode was to scare children off to hide the spying on republicans.
The whole counter insurgency was directed by a small number, the British terrorist units were made up of small very secretive groups (even the government didn’t have oversight). But they did use the whole machine at their disposable (only a small group would carry out the worst crimes to ensure plausible deniability)
The British were never sectarian (in last 100 years anyway) but they always used sectarianism to ensure loyalty from the majority of the population (if you read Kitson’s work you will see more on this)
We will never know how many deaths can be attributed to the ‘British War Machine’. Many deaths attributed to loyalist were actually carried out by British terrorist units. Most of the ‘successful’ loyalists were given supplies, clear access, and advice from the British.
It is impossible to defend the lie that the British were impartial or weren’t carrying out a dirty war in Ireland. It is good that some truth is slowly seeping out- but as Am Ghobmacht shows a lot of people still believe the propaganda from the British.
“The whole counter insurgency was directed by a small number, the British terrorist units were made up of small very secretive groups (even the government didn’t have oversight). But they did use the whole machine at their disposable (only a small group would carry out the worst crimes to ensure plausible deniability)”
Am Ghobsmacht for sure knows this but continuously ignores and deflects and would rather peddle the Brit army were piggys in the middle narrative.
Glad to see good sense has prevailed and PBP will not stand in N. Belfast.