On This Day / December 15, 1970
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19701215
Reference Date
19701215
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 15th December 1970, civil rights activist Paddy ‘Bogside’ Doherty protested political interference in a Derry housing post, as Falls MP Paddy Devlin clashed in court and Britain pushed ahead with plans to join the Common Market. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
‘Campaign Against Me’ – Rights Activist | On This Day – 15th December 1970
IN A statement yesterday Mr Paddy Doherty spoke of a campaign against his appointment to a housing post in Derry which, he said, had been mounted by ‘certain individuals in public life along with some organisations’.
Mr Doherty said he had learned with regret that the [Stormont] Ministry of Development had refused to approve the Derry Development Commission’s appointment of himself to the post of maintenance manager.
The Derry civil rights activist added: ‘I can only hope that the Minister [Brian Faulkner] did not have this in mind when he refused to accept the recommendations of the panel of experts …’
Mr Doherty said he had returned from the West Indies, where he held a supervisory post with a big British building concern, and had an opportunity of being interviewed for the post by a panel.
‘This distinguished panel not only recommended me for the post but suggested that my starting salary should be fixed above the recommended scale.
Falls MP’s Old Bailey Clash
A STORMONT MP shouted at a prosecuting counsel at the Old Bailey in London yesterday.
The Falls MP, Mr Patrick Devlin told Mr Brian Leary: ‘Don’t sneer at me. I am the MP for the area and I am not coming here to have anyone sneer at me.’
The Judge told Mr Devlin, who was giving evidence for a Belfast man accused of plotting to supply firearms: ‘Will you keep quiet?’
Mr Devlin was giving evidence for port superintendent, Joseph McBrinn (56), Belfast who had pleaded not guilty with three others to conspiring unlawfully to supply firearms to unauthorised people.
The prosecution alleges that the arms were destined for Catholics in Northern Ireland. Mr Devlin said that he had known McBrinn for about 25 years.
‘He is a highly respected member of our community,’ he said. The Irish Transport General Workers’ Union of which McBrinn was chairman, took an active part in helping families who had lost their homes.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: A former IRA internee, Paddy Devlin (1925-99) was elected as Labour MP for Falls in 1969.
A passionate socialist and founder member of the SDLP, which he later left, he was health minister in the 1974 power-sharing executive.)
Common Market Hopes
BRITAIN hopes that negotiations of her entry into the Common Market can be successfully concluded in a matter of months, Mr Anthony Royle, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, said yesterday.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Exactly 50 years before the UK’s disorderly exit from the EU, the Tory government of Ted Heath was impatient to join the European Common Market, an ambition they shared with the Irish government.)
On This Day – 15th December 1970
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19701215
Reference Date
19701215
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 15th December 1970, civil rights activist Paddy ‘Bogside’ Doherty protested political interference in a Derry housing post, as Falls MP Paddy Devlin clashed in court and Britain pushed ahead with plans to join the Common Market. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
‘Campaign Against Me’ – Rights Activist | On This Day – 15th December 1970
IN A statement yesterday Mr Paddy Doherty spoke of a campaign against his appointment to a housing post in Derry which, he said, had been mounted by ‘certain individuals in public life along with some organisations’.
Mr Doherty said he had learned with regret that the [Stormont] Ministry of Development had refused to approve the Derry Development Commission’s appointment of himself to the post of maintenance manager.
The Derry civil rights activist added: ‘I can only hope that the Minister [Brian Faulkner] did not have this in mind when he refused to accept the recommendations of the panel of experts …’
Mr Doherty said he had returned from the West Indies, where he held a supervisory post with a big British building concern, and had an opportunity of being interviewed for the post by a panel.
‘This distinguished panel not only recommended me for the post but suggested that my starting salary should be fixed above the recommended scale.
Falls MP’s Old Bailey Clash
A STORMONT MP shouted at a prosecuting counsel at the Old Bailey in London yesterday.
The Falls MP, Mr Patrick Devlin told Mr Brian Leary: ‘Don’t sneer at me. I am the MP for the area and I am not coming here to have anyone sneer at me.’
The Judge told Mr Devlin, who was giving evidence for a Belfast man accused of plotting to supply firearms: ‘Will you keep quiet?’
Mr Devlin was giving evidence for port superintendent, Joseph McBrinn (56), Belfast who had pleaded not guilty with three others to conspiring unlawfully to supply firearms to unauthorised people.
The prosecution alleges that the arms were destined for Catholics in Northern Ireland. Mr Devlin said that he had known McBrinn for about 25 years.
‘He is a highly respected member of our community,’ he said. The Irish Transport General Workers’ Union of which McBrinn was chairman, took an active part in helping families who had lost their homes.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: A former IRA internee, Paddy Devlin (1925-99) was elected as Labour MP for Falls in 1969.
A passionate socialist and founder member of the SDLP, which he later left, he was health minister in the 1974 power-sharing executive.)
Common Market Hopes
BRITAIN hopes that negotiations of her entry into the Common Market can be successfully concluded in a matter of months, Mr Anthony Royle, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, said yesterday.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Exactly 50 years before the UK’s disorderly exit from the EU, the Tory government of Ted Heath was impatient to join the European Common Market, an ambition they shared with the Irish government.)
On This Day – 15th December 1970
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19701215
Reference Date
December 15, 2020
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 15th December 1970, civil rights activist Paddy ‘Bogside’ Doherty protested political interference in a Derry housing post, as Falls MP Paddy Devlin clashed in court and Britain pushed ahead with plans to join the Common Market. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
‘Campaign Against Me’ – Rights Activist | On This Day – 15th December 1970
IN A statement yesterday Mr Paddy Doherty spoke of a campaign against his appointment to a housing post in Derry which, he said, had been mounted by ‘certain individuals in public life along with some organisations’.
Mr Doherty said he had learned with regret that the [Stormont] Ministry of Development had refused to approve the Derry Development Commission’s appointment of himself to the post of maintenance manager.
The Derry civil rights activist added: ‘I can only hope that the Minister [Brian Faulkner] did not have this in mind when he refused to accept the recommendations of the panel of experts …’
Mr Doherty said he had returned from the West Indies, where he held a supervisory post with a big British building concern, and had an opportunity of being interviewed for the post by a panel.
‘This distinguished panel not only recommended me for the post but suggested that my starting salary should be fixed above the recommended scale.
Falls MP’s Old Bailey Clash
A STORMONT MP shouted at a prosecuting counsel at the Old Bailey in London yesterday.
The Falls MP, Mr Patrick Devlin told Mr Brian Leary: ‘Don’t sneer at me. I am the MP for the area and I am not coming here to have anyone sneer at me.’
The Judge told Mr Devlin, who was giving evidence for a Belfast man accused of plotting to supply firearms: ‘Will you keep quiet?’
Mr Devlin was giving evidence for port superintendent, Joseph McBrinn (56), Belfast who had pleaded not guilty with three others to conspiring unlawfully to supply firearms to unauthorised people.
The prosecution alleges that the arms were destined for Catholics in Northern Ireland. Mr Devlin said that he had known McBrinn for about 25 years.
‘He is a highly respected member of our community,’ he said. The Irish Transport General Workers’ Union of which McBrinn was chairman, took an active part in helping families who had lost their homes.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: A former IRA internee, Paddy Devlin (1925-99) was elected as Labour MP for Falls in 1969.
A passionate socialist and founder member of the SDLP, which he later left, he was health minister in the 1974 power-sharing executive.)
Common Market Hopes
BRITAIN hopes that negotiations of her entry into the Common Market can be successfully concluded in a matter of months, Mr Anthony Royle, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, said yesterday.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Exactly 50 years before the UK’s disorderly exit from the EU, the Tory government of Ted Heath was impatient to join the European Common Market, an ambition they shared with the Irish government.)
On This Day – 15th December 1970
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.