On This Day / July 5, 1971
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
July 5, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 5th July 1971, a bomb was defused during a Coalisland parade, while Scarman heard an RUC denial of Ian Paisley’s claims. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Parade Bomb Defused | On This Day – 5th July 1971
AN ARMY sergeant defused a five pound bomb in Coalisland while Orangemen marched ten yards away in their annual commemoration of the Battle of the Somme.
As they marched, police searched the County Tyrone town for three more bombs said to have been hidden behind a café, a shop and a bank. They found nothing.
Meanwhile Sergeant Clive Lambert defused the gelignite bomb which was timed to explode at 9.30 p.m. in the roof of the public toilet in the town square.
Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Sibbald said later: ‘It was quite a well-made device, a lot of people could have been hurt.’
RUC Man Repudiates Paisley
DETECTIVE Inspector Harry Taylor has denied the statement made by Rev Ian Paisley that he gave him information relating to Ardoyne Church, the Scarman Tribunal was told yesterday.
This was revealed by Mr Richard Chambers, QC for the RUC, a fortnight after Mr Paisley had told the Tribunal that he received information from the Detective Inspector that the church was being used by snipers in August 1969 and that the priests were handing out bullets.
Mr Chambers told the Tribunal that Detective Inspector Taylor wished to make it known that he denies giving such information to Mr Paisley.
The QC added: ‘Justice must be done to Detective Inspector Taylor and that is why I am stating this in open court’.
New Dunnes Store in Bangor
TRAFFIC was disrupted in Bangor yesterday when hundreds of housewives thronged the main street awaiting the official opening of Dunnes new store – the nineteenth in Ireland.
Mr Ben Dunne, the chairman of Dunnes Stores Limited, was born in Rostrevor and left the North as a youth, vowing that one day he would return.
His company is completely Irish-owned and 95 per cent of merchandise being sold is Irish-made.
Youths Fined for UVF Painting
TWO young men who pleaded guilty at Belfast Magistrate’s Court yesterday to painting the letters UVF on a Catholic house in Beechnut Street in a 98 per cent Protestant district in the city were each fined twenty pounds.
Arrested by the Army, Norman McGrath said: ‘I think it’s a bit daft. I never heard of anyone getting into trouble about this before, everyone does it.’
The RM – It is serious in the present climate of things in NI.
On This Day – 5th July 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.