On This Day / May 27, 1921

Summary: On This Day – 27th May 1921, Belfast’s Partition election was marked by intimidation and mob violence as thousands of Anti-Partition voters faced attacks at polling stations. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.

Brutal Intimidation at Polls | On This Day – 27th May 1921

NOT merely in the opinion but to the knowledge of men who have had experience of elections in Belfast during the past forty years, the circumstances under which people polled in this city yesterday were wholly unprecedented.

It is no exaggeration to say that thousands of Catholic voters were brutally prevented from exercising the franchise.

Large numbers were driven away from the polls in parts of North and South Belfast, but it was in East and West Belfast that deliberately organised and carefully prepared arrangements for preventing people from going to the polling booths were put into practical operation.

In these two divisions there were no parliamentary elections in the real sense of the word. There were displays of brutal mob violence…

From an early hour the booths in many districts were surrounded by excited gangs of people, the major portion of whom were shipyard workers who spotted Catholic voters with unerring precision and proceeded to fill the hospital wards.

Things were almost as bad in the hostile districts of West Belfast.

Scenes of terrorism and violent intimidation during which Anti-Partition voters were stabbed, beaten and mercilessly maltreated marked Ulster election day in the Newtownards Road.

Voters were brutally attacked, knives were used on them and in cases victims made ‘footballs’ of by Unionist hooligans who were allowed to monopolise the thoroughfare.

Taxi-cabs conveying Anti-Partition voters from the Foundry Street district were stoned.

The Catholics had their first sample of Partition and free exercise of the franchise under its regime.

The number of police on the Newtownards Road and about the polling booths was totally inadequate to afford protection to voters.

An armoured car patrolled the entire district.

The most amazing affair of the terror scenes of the day arose during the escort of voters to Saunders Street [Newtownards Rd].

An old man named Harry Crawford alighted at Saunders Street, registered his vote and in emerging from the station was jumped on by a ferocious mob.

The poor old chap was severely maltreated before being rescued by an armoured car.

During the day the two Anti-Partition candidates, Messrs T J Campbell, KC [Nat] and Archie Savage [Sinn Fein] were engaged in making representation to the authorities in order to secure protection for their supporters.

(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: In Belfast, in particular, the first elections to the NI Parliament were marked by scenes of mob violence and intimidation as thousands of nationalist voters, displaced during the sectarian expulsions of 1920, returned to their former districts to claim their votes.

Outside the city, however, there were few incidents. Overall there was a record poll of 89 per cent.)

On This Day – 27th May 1921

Further Reading on Irish History:

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Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive

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