On This Day / September 16, 1970

RUC Vote to Stay Unarmed

THE RUC has voted to remain an unarmed police service.

‘I remain convinced’, the PM, Major Chichester-Clark said, ‘that provided the police have adequate and swift access to arms where necessary, the present policy continues to be that which best serves the widest interests, not only of the police service but of the community as a whole.’

In a poll, 1,196 voted in favour of the continuation of the existing no-arms policy, with 1,085 against.

Mr John Hume said the referendum result showed there was still a ‘strong political motivation’ inside the force.

Fitt: ‘Action Needed on Discrimination’

FEARS that the Northern government, under severe pressure from the right-wing element of the Unionist Party, was backtracking on the proposed reforms, was expressed by the SDLP leader, Mr Gerry Fitt.

Mr Fitt said that while assurances had been given by the former Labour government and by the present Tory regime that there would be no going back on the reforms, there was a growing feeling of apprehension among many people that the Stormont Government was deliberately delaying the full implementation of the reforms in the hope that they could be amended in such a manner as to be acceptable to the ‘right wing’.

Mr Fitt said that as an opponent of the Unionist Party he must admit that the PM and some of his Ministers had shown courage in the manner in which they faced up to the extreme ring wing element.

They appeared to be genuine in their efforts to comply with the British government’s demands to bring NI into the twentieth century.

Mr Fitt said that on August 29 last year the Stormont Cabinet, after talks with Mr James Callaghan [Home Secretary] issued a communiqué in which it said that it was agreed that effective action would be taken in fields fundamental to the creation of confidence amongst the minority.

One of these measures was the creation of equality of opportunity for all in public employment without regard to religious or political considerations.

Unfortunately, added Mr Fitt, there has been little if any progress in this direction.

Discrimination in public appointments and in the case of commercial firms was just as rife as ever.

[Dr Phoenix notes: Given the emphasis on discrimination during the civil rights campaign it seemed extraordinary that little was done to address this issue until the Fair Employment Act of 1989.

The success of the campaign for the ‘MacBride Principles’ in the US and the revelation that Catholic men were two and a half times more likely to be unemployed than Protestant men forced the change.]