On This Day / May 25, 1971
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19710525
Reference Date
19710525
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 25th May 1971, a bomb attack blasted a crowded British Legion Hall in Belfast while the Scarman Tribunal heard evidence of Stormont fears during 1969 unrest. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Revellers Blasted | On This Day – 25th May 1971
TWENTY people were in hospital – some of them in a serious condition – early today after a bomb was lobbed into a crowded hall in the Suffolk area of Belfast.
The horror happened at a British Legion Hall where a dance and social was in progress.
Earlier today a British soldier shot in the Cromac Street district of Belfast died in hospital.
The Suffolk explosion was the worst in the present spate of bombings.
Paisley Threat
SIR Robert Porter, QC, former Minister of Home Affairs, told the Scarman Tribunal yesterday that on August 14 and 15, 1969 there were already signs of a fierce Protestant reaction and if British troops had not intervened the consequences would have been very ugly.
Sir Robert agreed with Mr Justice Scarman that without military intervention, the situation on the 15th would have deteriorated and the Protestants would not have taken it lying down. [Taoiseach] Jack Lynch’s speech on the 14th had a very bad effect.
Sir Robert said that James Callaghan, British Home Secretary, indicated to the PM, Chichester- Clark that extensive use of troops would involve consideration of the constitutional position of NI by Westminster.
Both he and the Prime Minister were worried about a report in the Financial Times which stated that troops would only be used to restore order if the Northern Government agreed to surrender its authority to Westminster. H then travelled to London for talks.
There was evidence that the IRA had been involved in Derry and Belfast, he said.
He did not assume that the violence in August was a planned insurrection but there were various bodies involved.
They all had one aim -the overthrow of the state. The Cabinet met at noon on August 15 and within 25 minutes it was decided to ask for troops.
Sir Robert recalled that on August 4 he received a deputation led by the Rev Ian Paisley who protested against discrimination against Protestants.
Paisley said: ‘I am going to get the support of the Protestant people to preserve what is left of NI’.
Sir Robert said that the following day he became aware that Catholic houses and licensed premises needed protection. He was not attempting to associate [this] with Paisley.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: THE lobbing of a no-warning bomb into a British Legion Hall at Suffolk was seen as a nakedly sectarian IRA attack.
Meanwhile, the liberal unionist former minister ‘Beezer’ Porter disclosed turmoil at Stormont, a threat by Paisley to mobilise Protestants and Stormont’s fear of an IRA insurrection and civil war if troops were not deployed.)
On This Day – 25th May 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710525
Reference Date
19710525
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 25th May 1971, a bomb attack blasted a crowded British Legion Hall in Belfast while the Scarman Tribunal heard evidence of Stormont fears during 1969 unrest. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Revellers Blasted | On This Day – 25th May 1971
TWENTY people were in hospital – some of them in a serious condition – early today after a bomb was lobbed into a crowded hall in the Suffolk area of Belfast.
The horror happened at a British Legion Hall where a dance and social was in progress.
Earlier today a British soldier shot in the Cromac Street district of Belfast died in hospital.
The Suffolk explosion was the worst in the present spate of bombings.
Paisley Threat
SIR Robert Porter, QC, former Minister of Home Affairs, told the Scarman Tribunal yesterday that on August 14 and 15, 1969 there were already signs of a fierce Protestant reaction and if British troops had not intervened the consequences would have been very ugly.
Sir Robert agreed with Mr Justice Scarman that without military intervention, the situation on the 15th would have deteriorated and the Protestants would not have taken it lying down. [Taoiseach] Jack Lynch’s speech on the 14th had a very bad effect.
Sir Robert said that James Callaghan, British Home Secretary, indicated to the PM, Chichester- Clark that extensive use of troops would involve consideration of the constitutional position of NI by Westminster.
Both he and the Prime Minister were worried about a report in the Financial Times which stated that troops would only be used to restore order if the Northern Government agreed to surrender its authority to Westminster. H then travelled to London for talks.
There was evidence that the IRA had been involved in Derry and Belfast, he said.
He did not assume that the violence in August was a planned insurrection but there were various bodies involved.
They all had one aim -the overthrow of the state. The Cabinet met at noon on August 15 and within 25 minutes it was decided to ask for troops.
Sir Robert recalled that on August 4 he received a deputation led by the Rev Ian Paisley who protested against discrimination against Protestants.
Paisley said: ‘I am going to get the support of the Protestant people to preserve what is left of NI’.
Sir Robert said that the following day he became aware that Catholic houses and licensed premises needed protection. He was not attempting to associate [this] with Paisley.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: THE lobbing of a no-warning bomb into a British Legion Hall at Suffolk was seen as a nakedly sectarian IRA attack.
Meanwhile, the liberal unionist former minister ‘Beezer’ Porter disclosed turmoil at Stormont, a threat by Paisley to mobilise Protestants and Stormont’s fear of an IRA insurrection and civil war if troops were not deployed.)
On This Day – 25th May 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710525
Reference Date
May 25, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 25th May 1971, a bomb attack blasted a crowded British Legion Hall in Belfast while the Scarman Tribunal heard evidence of Stormont fears during 1969 unrest. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Revellers Blasted | On This Day – 25th May 1971
TWENTY people were in hospital – some of them in a serious condition – early today after a bomb was lobbed into a crowded hall in the Suffolk area of Belfast.
The horror happened at a British Legion Hall where a dance and social was in progress.
Earlier today a British soldier shot in the Cromac Street district of Belfast died in hospital.
The Suffolk explosion was the worst in the present spate of bombings.
Paisley Threat
SIR Robert Porter, QC, former Minister of Home Affairs, told the Scarman Tribunal yesterday that on August 14 and 15, 1969 there were already signs of a fierce Protestant reaction and if British troops had not intervened the consequences would have been very ugly.
Sir Robert agreed with Mr Justice Scarman that without military intervention, the situation on the 15th would have deteriorated and the Protestants would not have taken it lying down. [Taoiseach] Jack Lynch’s speech on the 14th had a very bad effect.
Sir Robert said that James Callaghan, British Home Secretary, indicated to the PM, Chichester- Clark that extensive use of troops would involve consideration of the constitutional position of NI by Westminster.
Both he and the Prime Minister were worried about a report in the Financial Times which stated that troops would only be used to restore order if the Northern Government agreed to surrender its authority to Westminster. H then travelled to London for talks.
There was evidence that the IRA had been involved in Derry and Belfast, he said.
He did not assume that the violence in August was a planned insurrection but there were various bodies involved.
They all had one aim -the overthrow of the state. The Cabinet met at noon on August 15 and within 25 minutes it was decided to ask for troops.
Sir Robert recalled that on August 4 he received a deputation led by the Rev Ian Paisley who protested against discrimination against Protestants.
Paisley said: ‘I am going to get the support of the Protestant people to preserve what is left of NI’.
Sir Robert said that the following day he became aware that Catholic houses and licensed premises needed protection. He was not attempting to associate [this] with Paisley.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: THE lobbing of a no-warning bomb into a British Legion Hall at Suffolk was seen as a nakedly sectarian IRA attack.
Meanwhile, the liberal unionist former minister ‘Beezer’ Porter disclosed turmoil at Stormont, a threat by Paisley to mobilise Protestants and Stormont’s fear of an IRA insurrection and civil war if troops were not deployed.)
On This Day – 25th 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.