On This Day / April 19, 1971
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19710419
Reference Date
19710419
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 19th April 1971, sectarian violence erupted in East Belfast as St Matthew’s Church was attacked and tensions escalated at Unity Flats. Edited by Éamon Phoenix
St Matthew’s Attacked | On This Day 19th April 1971
SEVERAL abortive attempts were made by Protestant extremist mobs last night to set fire to St Matthew’s Catholic Church, Newtownards Road, Belfast and as petrol bombs rained down on soldiers surrounding the area, four were set on fire and afterwards treated in hospital for burns.
Three explosions were reported in the vicinity late last night – one in Templemore Avenue and another at Willowfield Street, but there were no reports of serious damage.
Earlier in the evening, Protestant mobs invaded the Catholic ‘pocket’ on the Newtownards Road behind the church when a Junior Orange parade passed on its way back from Carrickfergus and shots fired from one group struck a man and boy in another crowd.
St Matthew’s congregation numbers about 3,500 in an area of between 60,000 and 80,000 non-Catholics. It suffered several attacks in the 1920s and in one attack the nearby convent was set on fire.
The trouble broke out around 6 p.m. as the Junior Orange procession passed along the Newtownards Road. Orangemen claimed that a Tricolour was waved at them and insults shouted from Catholic streets.
Catholic residents denied this and reported that a breakaway mob from the crowd with the procession had stormed into the Catholic area. It was then, in the confusion that shots were fired by one Protestant mob at another.
Abuse at Unity Flats
RESIDENTS of Unity Flats in Belfast were yesterday subjected to three hours of the bitterest provocation from Orange mobs that they had experienced since the Troubles began in the city.
Despite an assurance by the Army authorities that they would not allow any people to assemble near the Flats, thousands of Orangemen and women, many of them waving Union Jacks, lined thoroughfares near the flats and began singing party songs and shouting anti-Catholic obscenities.
Police and military stood by without taking any action. Later a deputation, consisting of Councillor William Napier, Mr John Watson and Mr William Largey complained to the GOC, General Harry Tuzo about the conduct of the crowds.
General Tuzo, who was near the flats at the time, told them that he had witnessed something that day that had given him cause for serious concern.
NICRA Gets New Board
THE new officer board of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association is as follows: Chairman, Ivan Barr, Strabane; Vice-chairman, Frank Gogarty; Secretary, Mrs Edwina Stewart; Treasurer, Miss Ann Hope; Press Officer, Kevin Boyle.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: The build-up of interface tensions in 1971 mimicked the 1920s when East and North Belfast were hotbeds of sectarian violence and house-burning by mobs.
General Tuzo – a very political GOC- would oversee the Internment operation that summer.)
On This Day – 19th April 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710419
Reference Date
19710419
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 19th April 1971, sectarian violence erupted in East Belfast as St Matthew’s Church was attacked and tensions escalated at Unity Flats. Edited by Éamon Phoenix
St Matthew’s Attacked | On This Day 19th April 1971
SEVERAL abortive attempts were made by Protestant extremist mobs last night to set fire to St Matthew’s Catholic Church, Newtownards Road, Belfast and as petrol bombs rained down on soldiers surrounding the area, four were set on fire and afterwards treated in hospital for burns.
Three explosions were reported in the vicinity late last night – one in Templemore Avenue and another at Willowfield Street, but there were no reports of serious damage.
Earlier in the evening, Protestant mobs invaded the Catholic ‘pocket’ on the Newtownards Road behind the church when a Junior Orange parade passed on its way back from Carrickfergus and shots fired from one group struck a man and boy in another crowd.
St Matthew’s congregation numbers about 3,500 in an area of between 60,000 and 80,000 non-Catholics. It suffered several attacks in the 1920s and in one attack the nearby convent was set on fire.
The trouble broke out around 6 p.m. as the Junior Orange procession passed along the Newtownards Road. Orangemen claimed that a Tricolour was waved at them and insults shouted from Catholic streets.
Catholic residents denied this and reported that a breakaway mob from the crowd with the procession had stormed into the Catholic area. It was then, in the confusion that shots were fired by one Protestant mob at another.
Abuse at Unity Flats
RESIDENTS of Unity Flats in Belfast were yesterday subjected to three hours of the bitterest provocation from Orange mobs that they had experienced since the Troubles began in the city.
Despite an assurance by the Army authorities that they would not allow any people to assemble near the Flats, thousands of Orangemen and women, many of them waving Union Jacks, lined thoroughfares near the flats and began singing party songs and shouting anti-Catholic obscenities.
Police and military stood by without taking any action. Later a deputation, consisting of Councillor William Napier, Mr John Watson and Mr William Largey complained to the GOC, General Harry Tuzo about the conduct of the crowds.
General Tuzo, who was near the flats at the time, told them that he had witnessed something that day that had given him cause for serious concern.
NICRA Gets New Board
THE new officer board of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association is as follows: Chairman, Ivan Barr, Strabane; Vice-chairman, Frank Gogarty; Secretary, Mrs Edwina Stewart; Treasurer, Miss Ann Hope; Press Officer, Kevin Boyle.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: The build-up of interface tensions in 1971 mimicked the 1920s when East and North Belfast were hotbeds of sectarian violence and house-burning by mobs.
General Tuzo – a very political GOC- would oversee the Internment operation that summer.)
On This Day – 19th April 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710419
Reference Date
April 19, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 19th April 1971, sectarian violence erupted in East Belfast as St Matthew’s Church was attacked and tensions escalated at Unity Flats. Edited by Éamon Phoenix
St Matthew’s Attacked | On This Day 19th April 1971
SEVERAL abortive attempts were made by Protestant extremist mobs last night to set fire to St Matthew’s Catholic Church, Newtownards Road, Belfast and as petrol bombs rained down on soldiers surrounding the area, four were set on fire and afterwards treated in hospital for burns.
Three explosions were reported in the vicinity late last night – one in Templemore Avenue and another at Willowfield Street, but there were no reports of serious damage.
Earlier in the evening, Protestant mobs invaded the Catholic ‘pocket’ on the Newtownards Road behind the church when a Junior Orange parade passed on its way back from Carrickfergus and shots fired from one group struck a man and boy in another crowd.
St Matthew’s congregation numbers about 3,500 in an area of between 60,000 and 80,000 non-Catholics. It suffered several attacks in the 1920s and in one attack the nearby convent was set on fire.
The trouble broke out around 6 p.m. as the Junior Orange procession passed along the Newtownards Road. Orangemen claimed that a Tricolour was waved at them and insults shouted from Catholic streets.
Catholic residents denied this and reported that a breakaway mob from the crowd with the procession had stormed into the Catholic area. It was then, in the confusion that shots were fired by one Protestant mob at another.
Abuse at Unity Flats
RESIDENTS of Unity Flats in Belfast were yesterday subjected to three hours of the bitterest provocation from Orange mobs that they had experienced since the Troubles began in the city.
Despite an assurance by the Army authorities that they would not allow any people to assemble near the Flats, thousands of Orangemen and women, many of them waving Union Jacks, lined thoroughfares near the flats and began singing party songs and shouting anti-Catholic obscenities.
Police and military stood by without taking any action. Later a deputation, consisting of Councillor William Napier, Mr John Watson and Mr William Largey complained to the GOC, General Harry Tuzo about the conduct of the crowds.
General Tuzo, who was near the flats at the time, told them that he had witnessed something that day that had given him cause for serious concern.
NICRA Gets New Board
THE new officer board of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association is as follows: Chairman, Ivan Barr, Strabane; Vice-chairman, Frank Gogarty; Secretary, Mrs Edwina Stewart; Treasurer, Miss Ann Hope; Press Officer, Kevin Boyle.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: The build-up of interface tensions in 1971 mimicked the 1920s when East and North Belfast were hotbeds of sectarian violence and house-burning by mobs.
General Tuzo – a very political GOC- would oversee the Internment operation that summer.)
On This Day – 19th April 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.