A 'descent into terror' - N

Ireland's worst year

WE DNE S DAY 07 MAY 2014
Te arrest o! "erry Ada#s o$er te deat o! %ean Mc&on$ille as '(t 1)72 in
te s'otli*t a*ain+ &annel 4 News s'ea,s to a(tor S(san Mc-ay and re$isits
te worst year o! Nortern Ireland's con!lict+
1972 was a year that began with a rally against internment on 2 January,
and ended with the arrest of Martin McGuiness on 31 December - now
deuty first minister of !orthern "reland#
"n total, 3,$31 eole were %illed in the north of "reland between 19&9 and
2''1# (ut 1972 was the worst year by far in terms of fatalities# )f the *97
eole %illed, o+er half were ci+ilians# ,he deaths were also concentrated
on certain hotsots, namely west and north (elfast- while some eole in
!orthern "reland remained relati+ely untouched, others lost more than one
member of their family#
./hen eole are telling you stories from that time, e+en the incidental
details indicate how hellish it was,. 0usan Mc1ay, a 2ournalist and author
who has documented the stories of all those who died in the conflict,
told 3hannel * !ews# .,here was a sense of a descent into terror# Many
eole didn4t e+en get a +isit from olice when their relati+es were %illed# "t
2ust seems unbelie+able now#.
)ne of the eole she inter+iewed was the west (elfast resident 5nne
6ar%ey, whose sister was raed and nehew shot dead by loyalist
neighbours in 1972# Ms 6ar%ey recalled lea+ing the olice station only for a
grou of men to 2um out of a +an and start attac%ing them with hatchets#
.5nd that was 2ust a assing detail that she mentioned,. added Ms Mc1ay#
Tis 'iece#eal a''roac isn.t wor,in*+ And tere is !r(stration and an*er
a#on* $icti#s a/o(t a 'ercei$ed ierarcy0usan Mc1ay
,he tone for much of 1972 was set wee%s beforehand, on * December
1971, when 1$ 3atholics were %illed by a bomb at McGur%4s bar in north
(elfast - one of the single worst atrocities of the eriod# ,he 789 too%
resonsibility years later, but at the time security forces maintained that it
was an ":5 bomb that had gone off by mista%e, enraging the nationalist
community#
6ater in December, four ;rotestant ci+ilians, including two children, were
%illed by an ":5 bomb on the 0han%ill :oad# ,he ne<t day, on 12 December,
the 7lster 7nionist ;arty =77;> olitician John (arnhill was shot dead in his
home by the )fficial "rish :eublican 5rmy =)":5> - the first olitician to be
%illed in the conflict#
0loody S(nday
Al#ost two #onts a!ter te Mc"(r,'s /ar /o#/in*1 a ci$il ri*ts #arc sta*ed /y
te nationalist co##(nity in Derry descended into orror1 and 12 (nar#ed ci$ilians
were sot dead /y 0ritis Ar#y+ Anoter 12 were in3(red1 one !atally+ Tensions were
!(rter enra*ed wen te ar#y clai#ed tose wo died on 20 %an(ary were ar#ed
and wen te initial Wid*ery en4(iry ('eld te ar#y's acco(nt tat tey were !ired
on !irst+
It wasn't (ntil 2010 tat a 12-year-lon* in4(iry concl(ded tat soldiers ad in !act
!ired te !irst sot+
ITN 5e'orter "erald Sey#o(r was tere 6see $ideo7 and inter$iewed 8ater M(l$ey
on te scene1 alon* wit &olonel Dere, Wil!ord1 wo descri/ed te sootin* as
9(n!ort(nate9+
9We ca#e (nder !ire !ro# te /otto# o! te !lats+++ We were also 'etrol /o#/ed
and so#e acid in !act 'o(red on (s !ro# te to' o! te !lats19 e told ITN at te
ti#e+ 9I! yo('re /ein* !ired at1 yo( ret(rn !ire+ And tey 6te residents7 ,now tat
'er!ectly well+9
In its da#nin* re'ort on te incident1 te Sa$ile in4(iry 'ro$ed is acco(nt wron*1
and concl(ded tat &olonel Wil!ord so(ld not a$e led 'aratroo'ers into te !ray+
Direct 5(le
0loody S(nday is wat de!ines 1)72 !or #any1 and it ad (*e re'erc(ssions1 wit a
lar*e n(#/er o! disill(sioned nationalists *i$in* (' o'e in te ci$il ri*ts ca#'ai*n1
and 'led*in* alle*iance to te I5A+9Money1 *(ns and recr(its !looded into te I5A19
"erry Ada#s wrote in is #e#oirs+
Te i##ediate conse4(ence o! te ,illin*s was 'layed o(t /y te I5A in En*land on
22 8e/r(ary: te *ro(' ,illed se$en 'eo'le in /o#/ e;'losions at te Aldersot
0arrac,s in <a#'sire1 /(t instead o! 'aratroo'ers1 teir $icti#s incl(ded a &atolic
'riest1 a *ardener and !i$e wo#en wor,in* in caterin*+
Anoter I5A /o#/ in 0el!ast's A/ercorn /ar in Marc ,illed two sisters and in3(red 70
'eo'le+
=olitically1 te increasin* $iolence and an*er led to te dissol(tion o! Nortern
Ireland's Stor#ont 'arlia#ent at te end o! Marc and te re*ion was '(t (nder
direct r(le !ro# West#inster+ Tis was #et wit o(tra*e /y >nionist 'oliticians and
NI =ri#e Minister 0rian 8a(l,ner+ Willia# &rai* or*anised #ass stri,es and rallies
wic alted '(/lic trans'ort and ca(sed 'ower c(ts in 'rotest at wat was
considered a concession to te I5A+
0loody 8riday
,he 21 July, 1972
subse?uently became %nown as
(loody 9riday# "n resonse to the brea%down of tal%s with the (ritish
go+ernment, the ":5 e<loded around 2' bombs across (elfast in the sace
of around @' minutes#
,he ":5 said the intention had been to hit commercial centres, and said it
had gi+en notice about the e<losions, but nine eole were %illed including
two (ritish soldiers, and an estimated 13' eole were in2ured# ,he +ideo
abo+e shows the confusion caused by the barrage of bombs, as eole tried
to run from the blasts without %nowing where the ne<t e<losion would be#
5gain the conse?uences of (loody 9riday were far-reaching# ,en days later,
the (ritish 5rmy decided to enter those areas that had been ta%en o+er by
reublican aramilitaries in (elfast and Derry# 1nown as )eration
Motorman, it was the biggest (ritish military oeration since the 19$& 0ueA
3risis#
;hoto- (ritish soldiers co+er u :eublican grafitti
%ean Mc&on$ille
,he death of the widowed mother of 1' haened towards the end of the
year in December# (ut with so many deaths in that year, and because of
rumours that she had abandoned her children and was li+ing with a loyalist,
it wasn4t until years later that her name - and her children4s search for their
mother4s %illers - made headlines#
"n 0usan Mc1ay4s +iew, it was a .sectarian. murder of someone who wasn4t
trusted by her community in a tense and aranoid eriod- a ;rotestant,
married to a 3atholic, she had been intimidated out of east (elfast with her
family# ,hen in the nationalist west (elfast, she was again considered an
outsider for the fact that her husband had been a (ritish soldier#
5nd while the arrest of the 0inn 9ein leader has sent shoc%wa+es through
!orthern "reland4s already fragile olitical framewor%, turning the sotlight
on this %illing has also raised the ?uestion of how to deal with the ast for
the many relati+es of those who died#
.;oliticians ha+e failed themsel+es to come u with a mechanism to deal
with the ast, and ha+e ut too much of the onus on the olice to deal with
it# 9ar too much has fallen to the resonsibility of the olice,. Ms Mc1ay
told 3hannel * !ews#
.,his iecemeal aroach isn4t wor%ing# 5nd there is frustration and anger
among +ictims about a ercei+ed hierarchy#.