On This Day / May 1, 1971
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19710501
Reference Date
19710501
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 1st May 1971, troops sealed off Belfast’s Lower Falls, priests protested alleged injustice and calls grew for a stronger Nationalist political response. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
22 Arrested in Army Clampdown | On This Day 1st May 1971
ONE of the heaviest concentrations of troops since 1969 sealed off the Lower Falls area of Belfast last night and early this morning.
In a night of sporadic confrontations, 22 arrests were made, stones and bottles hurled at soldiers and two cars set on fire.
Residents claimed that they had been ordered indoors in a ‘mini curfew’ of the district and that protests, including one at Mulhouse Street army post against the deliberate provocation of the people of the area were brushed aside.
Trouble flared in the district early in the evening following a march and public meeting to protest against ‘legal injustice and selective arrests’.
Three arrests were made by the Army – two for alleged possession of offensive weapons, hurley sticks, and one for assault.
From then on as Army vehicles thundered through the streets and foot patrols stopped and searched people there were minor stone-throwing incidents – brought about, local residents claimed, by Army provocation’.
Priests Protest Against Injustice
MASSIVE support was forthcoming last night both from fellow-clergymen and from anti-Unionist groups throughout the country for the stand taken by the 27 priests in the Down and Connor Diocese against the partial administration of the law in Nl.
Eighteen priests in County Tyrone in a statement gave ‘unqualified support’ for the Down and Connor priests and Fr Denis Faul of St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon, whose criticism more than a year ago of the NI judiciary brought strong reaction in Unionist circles, said he ‘fully agreed with the views expressed by the priests’.
The priests in Down and Connor announced their intention of refusing to complete the Government’s census forms in protest.
Nationalist Party Shake-up Predicted
DELEGATES at yesterday’s Nationalist Party Conference in Derry pressed for a more vigorous executive and urged that grassroots members have more say in the party’s affairs.
A spokesman after yesterday afternoon’s private session said that a more aggressive Nationalism’ was the recurring theme of the meeting.
The party president, Mr Eddie McAteer said he was completely confident that more and more people were beginning to realise that the only prospect of stable peace, as distinct from truce periods, lay in a united Ireland.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Even before the introduction of internment by unionism’s last prime minister, Brian Faulkner, that August, allegations of a lack of impartiality in the administration of justice had triggered a mass protest by priests.
Many priests and teachers risked prosecution by refusing to return their census forms.
As IRA and street violence escalated in Belfast and Derry, the old Nationalist Party of Devlin, Healy and Eddie McAteer struggled to make itself relevant.)
On This Day – 1st May 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710501
Reference Date
19710501
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 1st May 1971, troops sealed off Belfast’s Lower Falls, priests protested alleged injustice and calls grew for a stronger Nationalist political response. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
22 Arrested in Army Clampdown | On This Day 1st May 1971
ONE of the heaviest concentrations of troops since 1969 sealed off the Lower Falls area of Belfast last night and early this morning.
In a night of sporadic confrontations, 22 arrests were made, stones and bottles hurled at soldiers and two cars set on fire.
Residents claimed that they had been ordered indoors in a ‘mini curfew’ of the district and that protests, including one at Mulhouse Street army post against the deliberate provocation of the people of the area were brushed aside.
Trouble flared in the district early in the evening following a march and public meeting to protest against ‘legal injustice and selective arrests’.
Three arrests were made by the Army – two for alleged possession of offensive weapons, hurley sticks, and one for assault.
From then on as Army vehicles thundered through the streets and foot patrols stopped and searched people there were minor stone-throwing incidents – brought about, local residents claimed, by Army provocation’.
Priests Protest Against Injustice
MASSIVE support was forthcoming last night both from fellow-clergymen and from anti-Unionist groups throughout the country for the stand taken by the 27 priests in the Down and Connor Diocese against the partial administration of the law in Nl.
Eighteen priests in County Tyrone in a statement gave ‘unqualified support’ for the Down and Connor priests and Fr Denis Faul of St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon, whose criticism more than a year ago of the NI judiciary brought strong reaction in Unionist circles, said he ‘fully agreed with the views expressed by the priests’.
The priests in Down and Connor announced their intention of refusing to complete the Government’s census forms in protest.
Nationalist Party Shake-up Predicted
DELEGATES at yesterday’s Nationalist Party Conference in Derry pressed for a more vigorous executive and urged that grassroots members have more say in the party’s affairs.
A spokesman after yesterday afternoon’s private session said that a more aggressive Nationalism’ was the recurring theme of the meeting.
The party president, Mr Eddie McAteer said he was completely confident that more and more people were beginning to realise that the only prospect of stable peace, as distinct from truce periods, lay in a united Ireland.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Even before the introduction of internment by unionism’s last prime minister, Brian Faulkner, that August, allegations of a lack of impartiality in the administration of justice had triggered a mass protest by priests.
Many priests and teachers risked prosecution by refusing to return their census forms.
As IRA and street violence escalated in Belfast and Derry, the old Nationalist Party of Devlin, Healy and Eddie McAteer struggled to make itself relevant.)
On This Day – 1st May 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710501
Reference Date
May 1, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 1st May 1971, troops sealed off Belfast’s Lower Falls, priests protested alleged injustice and calls grew for a stronger Nationalist political response. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
22 Arrested in Army Clampdown | On This Day 1st May 1971
ONE of the heaviest concentrations of troops since 1969 sealed off the Lower Falls area of Belfast last night and early this morning.
In a night of sporadic confrontations, 22 arrests were made, stones and bottles hurled at soldiers and two cars set on fire.
Residents claimed that they had been ordered indoors in a ‘mini curfew’ of the district and that protests, including one at Mulhouse Street army post against the deliberate provocation of the people of the area were brushed aside.
Trouble flared in the district early in the evening following a march and public meeting to protest against ‘legal injustice and selective arrests’.
Three arrests were made by the Army – two for alleged possession of offensive weapons, hurley sticks, and one for assault.
From then on as Army vehicles thundered through the streets and foot patrols stopped and searched people there were minor stone-throwing incidents – brought about, local residents claimed, by Army provocation’.
Priests Protest Against Injustice
MASSIVE support was forthcoming last night both from fellow-clergymen and from anti-Unionist groups throughout the country for the stand taken by the 27 priests in the Down and Connor Diocese against the partial administration of the law in Nl.
Eighteen priests in County Tyrone in a statement gave ‘unqualified support’ for the Down and Connor priests and Fr Denis Faul of St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon, whose criticism more than a year ago of the NI judiciary brought strong reaction in Unionist circles, said he ‘fully agreed with the views expressed by the priests’.
The priests in Down and Connor announced their intention of refusing to complete the Government’s census forms in protest.
Nationalist Party Shake-up Predicted
DELEGATES at yesterday’s Nationalist Party Conference in Derry pressed for a more vigorous executive and urged that grassroots members have more say in the party’s affairs.
A spokesman after yesterday afternoon’s private session said that a more aggressive Nationalism’ was the recurring theme of the meeting.
The party president, Mr Eddie McAteer said he was completely confident that more and more people were beginning to realise that the only prospect of stable peace, as distinct from truce periods, lay in a united Ireland.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Even before the introduction of internment by unionism’s last prime minister, Brian Faulkner, that August, allegations of a lack of impartiality in the administration of justice had triggered a mass protest by priests.
Many priests and teachers risked prosecution by refusing to return their census forms.
As IRA and street violence escalated in Belfast and Derry, the old Nationalist Party of Devlin, Healy and Eddie McAteer struggled to make itself relevant.)
On This Day – 1st May 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.