On This Day / October 24, 1970

Summary: On This Day – 24th October 1970, Maurice Hayes appealed to the ‘silent majority’ to oppose extremism, while Paisleyites attacked a Civil Rights picket at Crumlin Road Prison. Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.

Appeal to ‘silent majority’ | On This Day – 24th October 1970

‘IT SHOULD be fairly clear that in a democratic society, minorities rarely dominate except by tacit condonation of the majority,’ said Mr Maurice Hayes, chairman of the Northern Ireland Community Relations Commission in an address to Bangor Rotary Club.

There was a tendency in the average citizen to consider the decisions relating to the life of the society to which he belonged as a matter of fate over which he had no influence. ‘This, of course, is the malaise of the silent majority that we hear so much about,’ said Mr Hayes.

‘The huge, incoherent, unorganised mass of basically decent people who theoretically recoil from bigotry and discrimination, who wish to live at peace and justice with their neighbours and are prevented only by the activities of minority groups of violent extremists on each side of the political divide. Too few people are prepared to unequivocally condemn violence [ from their own communities],’ he said.

Paisleyites attack picket

MEMBERS of Fermanagh Civil Rights Association who picketed Crumlin Road Prison in Belfast on Saturday were attacked by a group of Paisleyites who flung stones and other missiles at them. They shouted anti-Catholic slogans and called on the picketers to ‘go away back to the South’.

The picket was in protest against the imprisonment of a number of members of the Fermanagh Civil Rights Association.

‘Catholic areas invaded’

AT THE Scarman Tribunal, Mr Samuel Bradley, RUC Assistant Chief Constable, agreed that Catholic areas had been invaded on the evening of August 14 [1969] and that infinitesimal damage had been caused to Protestant property.

He also agreed that most of the fighting and burning took place in the heart of Catholic territory and that, if there was an invasion of Catholic territory by people intent on burning or destroying, that the natural reaction of Catholics would be to defend their property.

A machine-gun was fired from St Comgall’s School early on August 15. ‘My view was that this was not a riot. It was an armed uprising by the IRA.’

Ireland wants to keep UK trade links

IRELAND yesterday made a plea to maintain its special trading relationship with Britain – at least for a transitional period – if and when both countries enter the Common Market.

Sean Morrissey, the Irish Assistant Secretary for External Affairs, pointed out that Ireland already had a kind of Common Market relationship with Britain.

On This Day – 24th October 1970

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