On This Day / November 13, 1971

Summary: On This Day – 13th November 1971, Bishop Cahal Daly warned of anarchy amid escalating violence, Brigadier Frank Kitson denied torture allegations and Emily Groves was blinded by a rubber bullet. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.

Bishop on Irish Crisis | On This Day – 13th November 1971

‘IRELAND, as a whole, is passing at the present time through the most serious crisis since our Civil War.

If the present vicious spiral of violence and repression continues, the entire island could be plunged into anarchy and chaos.

The whole achievement of half a century of freedom and hard-won democratic structures, our insipient and fragile economic progress, are all threatened by every bomb exploding in the North, as well as by every maltreated internee and shot civilian.’

So said Bishop Cahal Daly, Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, when he addressed the Longford Association in London.

‘Unless peace is restored and quickly, nothing but anarchy, unemployment, poverty and disintegration of society can result.

Violence will become a way of life for many and can permanently warp the personalities of youth.

The effects could be with us for decades in terms of violent crime, gangsterism, lawlessness and psycho-social illness.

Nothing can justify the present campaign of violence: it is morally evil and opposed to every Christian principle.’

Brigadier Denies Torture Claims

BRIGADIER Frank Kitson, the British Army officer serving in NI named in newspaper reports of internee torture allegations, hit back yesterday.

An Army statement from Lisburn HQ said: ‘Dr John O’Connell [a Labour TD] claimed that certain serious allegations had been made against the Brigadier when serving in Kenya.

Brigadier Kitson categorically denies that allegations of this nature have ever been made against him.’

Brigadier Kitson has been commanding the British Army Forces in Belfast for the past fourteen months.

He is also credited with playing a leading role in the breakdown of the wall of silence which has protected IRA activities.

Woman Blinded by Rubber Bullet

A 51 YEAR OLD Belfast woman is blind for life as a result of being struck in the face by a rubber bullet last week.

The family of Mrs Emily Groves were told of her condition by a RVH surgeon on Saturday.

Mr William Groves, her husband, said she was standing at the window of their home when she was struck. The Army had been carrying out a search operation at the time.

(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: BORN in Loughguile, Co Antrim, the son of a teacher, Cahal Daly (1917-2009) was one of the 20th century’s most influential Irish Catholic Churchmen.

From a northern nationalist background, he justified the Irish struggle for independence after 1916 but condemned the IRA campaign in the Troubles.

Brig Frank Kitson, an expert in ‘low-intensity operations’, served in Belfast from 1970-72 and is widely seen as the architect of the British army’s anti-IRA strategy and the ‘coercive control’ of the nationalist population.)

On This Day – 13th November 1971

Further Reading on Irish History:

List of other On This Day columns

Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive

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