On This Day / July 10, 1971
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
July 10, 2021
Publication Date
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Summary: On This Day – 10th July 1971, two civilians were shot dead in Derry as John Hume demanded an inquiry and Brian Faulkner appealed for peace. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Two Shot in Derry | On This Day – 10th July 1971
WITH barricades last night almost cutting off the Bogside in a series of violent reactions to the fatal shooting of two young Derry men, it was claimed that neither victim was armed when fired on by troops.
Killed were 19-year-old George Desmond Beattie of Rosemount and Seamus Cusack (28) from Creggan.
Beattie died almost immediately when struck by a bullet near Free Derry Corner during a protest demonstration which followed Cusack’s death fifteen hours earlier in hospital in Letterkenny.
Mr John Hume, MP is demanding a full-scale inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the men’s deaths.
‘Eyewitness reports make it clear that, in spite of Army allegations, neither man was armed.
The Army action has caused widespread resentment in the community.’
The IRA Northern Command last night said Mr Cusack’s death was a brutal murder and a clear statement of the British Army’s role in the Six Counties:
‘The meaning of the Army’s shoot for effect is now horribly clear. It is simply a licence to murder Irish civilians’.
The British Army stated: ‘During the past few days small groups of terrorists and hooligans have been attempting to draw security forces into operations in the Bogside. Hence it has been necessary to return fire.’
Faulkner Pleads for Peace
THE Prime Minister, Mr Brian Faulkner, pleaded for peace in NI as the Stormont session ended for the summer recess yesterday.
But at the same time, he warned: ‘The security forces are not prepared to dally with a situation in which their lives and the lives of civilians are being put at risk’.
Mr Faulkner was replying to an adjournment debate opened by Falls MP, Mr Paddy Devlin (SDLP) on recent shooting incidents.
Mr Devlin said he was concerned that instructions being given to troops on the ground on when they might open fire were either being misunderstood or abused and he complained about a shot having been fired into a Ballymurphy family’s home.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: AS THE last Unionist government celebrated the 50th anniversary of the state, the security situation was rapidly deteriorating.
The killing of two civilians by the British army in Derry would have far-reaching consequences, triggering the withdrawal of the entire nationalist opposition from Stormont.
The parallels with the birth of the state in 1921 – serious violence, polarisation and nationalist alienation – could not have been clearer.
The coming months would seal the fate of the old Stormont regime.)
On This Day – 10th 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.