On This Day / October 21, 1971
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
October 21, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 21st October 1971, SDLP MPs brought allegations of the torture and mistreatment of internees to political leaders in London, while Dutch police investigated an IRA arms shipment. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
‘Torture’ Allegations | On This Day – 21st October 1971
THE torture and brainwashing of internees in NI was spotlighted in London yesterday by three SDLP MPs, Messrs John Hume, Austin Currie and Paddy O’Hanlon.
After a day spent in talks with political leaders, the MPs said they were satisfied that at last the plight of the internees was being brought forcibly home in Britain.
Before his meeting with the British Prime Minister, Mr Heath, the Opposition leader, Mr Wilson was fully briefed by the MPs with documented evidence that internees had been tortured.
The SDLP delegation gave Mr Wilson a dossier containing the statements of many internees about mistreatment by the Army and RUC Special Branch.
The MPs were completely disappointed with the terms of the subsequent Downing Street statement that the ‘brainwashing’ allegations were within the scope of the inquiry by Sir Edmund Compton into complaints of physical violence.
Later Mr Currie told the BBC of the 22 different types of torture which had been documented had been tried out on Mr Patrick Joseph McClean of Beragh in an effort to break him.
The Irish News commented: ‘There is something larger than coincidence in the number of complaints of brainwashing and sheer brutality which accompany interrogations now being carried out at Palace Barracks…’
Dragnet for IRA Chief
DUTCH police were last night searching for Mr David [Daithi] O’Connell, believed to be Chief of Staff of the Provisional IRA in connection with the seizure in Amsterdam of an air consignment of four tons of arms.
The police suspect the arms were destined for NI. Dutch police yesterday also pressed on with a nationwide search for an Irish girl, Miss Moira Maguire (23) believed to be accompanying Mr O’Connell.
O’Connell (33) , a native of Cork, is a teacher at Ballyshannon Vocational School. He was active in the IRA border campaign.
Notice from the Government of Northern Ireland
THE civil disobedience campaign – Parliament has now passed laws to counter the campaign of civil disobedience…. Do not be misled. Civil wrongs secure no rights.
Civil disobedience will not build houses or bring jobs. The Rent and Rates Strike is a self-inflicted wound.
By helping to end the present campaign, you will help yourself, your family and your fellow-citizens.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: BY OCTOBER 1971 allegations of the use of torture in the case of a number of internees, known as the ‘hooded men’ and including Civil Rights campaigner, PJ McClean, were the subject of the Compton Inquiry.
Meanwhile IRA attempts to smuggle in modern weapons from Eastern Europe were revealed while the Faulkner government sought to curb the escalating rent and rates strike by punitive measures.)
On This Day – 21st October 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.