On This Day / October 31, 1970
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19701031
Reference Date
19701031
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 31st October 1970, Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark announced ‘One Man, One Vote’ in local elections, the Irish News reports, and revealed Cabinet discussions on proportional representation. Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
One man, one vote conceded | On This Day – 31st October 1970
THE PM, Mr James Chichester-Clark made a dramatic intervention in the debate on the Macrory Report on local government reform at Stormont last night when he intimated that legislation would be brought in to provide that all future vacancies in local government elections would be fought on a new extended ‘One Man, One Vote’ register.
He also made the surprising disclosure that the Cabinet had given serious consideration to the policy of introducing some form of PR for both central government and local authorities.
The Premier’s announcements were enthusiastically received by members of the Opposition but Unionist back-benchers remained silent and looked disappointed.
There were strong indications that Unionist right-wingers resented the proposals.
Mr Harry West MP said he was alarmed at the Premier’s statement, adding: ‘I know there will be a day of reckoning for all this.’
Currie Raises Oath
MR AUSTIN Currie (SDLP) asked the Minister of Finance at Stormont yesterday to list the positions in the public service where an Oath of Allegiance or other tests of loyalty are compulsory in order to obtain employment.
The Minister, Mr Herbert Kirk, said that by the Promissory Oaths Act (1923) every person serving in an established capacity in the NI Civil Service or otherwise employed full-time by any Department of the Government was required to take an oath in the form prescribed.
The legislation applied not only to civil servants but to the employees of public bodies, such as Hospital Authority and teachers.
Mr Currie said he would raise the matter again.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: Imposed by the Craig government in the first years of the new state, the Oath of Allegiance had always been resented by Nationalists. It was eventually abolished under Direct Rule in 1973.)
Machine-gun Fire in Ardoyne
THREE British soldiers were injured – one seriously – when several explosions rocked the riot-torn Ardoyne area of Belfast. Heavy machine-gun firing was also reported at Flax Street, off Crumlin Road and at North Queen Street where three bullets hit an Army patrol vehicle.
Paisley in Derry – 10 Arrests
A LARGE-SCALE military and police security operation was mounted in Derry last night when the Rev Ian Paisley, MP visited the city to address an Ulster Protestant Volunteer rally in the Guildhall.
The rally was attended by about 800. Later stones were thrown at an Army post in Waterloo Place.
Promotion for Westminster Unionist
Sir John Eden, Minister of Industry in the Conservative government of Edward Heath has appointed Mr Rafton Pounder, MP for Belfast South, as his Parliamentary Private Secretary.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: Until 1973 when the Heath government signed the Sunningdale Agreement, the Ulster Unionists were part of the Tory party.)
On This Day – 31st October 1970
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19701031
Reference Date
19701031
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 31st October 1970, Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark announced ‘One Man, One Vote’ in local elections, the Irish News reports, and revealed Cabinet discussions on proportional representation. Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
One man, one vote conceded | On This Day – 31st October 1970
THE PM, Mr James Chichester-Clark made a dramatic intervention in the debate on the Macrory Report on local government reform at Stormont last night when he intimated that legislation would be brought in to provide that all future vacancies in local government elections would be fought on a new extended ‘One Man, One Vote’ register.
He also made the surprising disclosure that the Cabinet had given serious consideration to the policy of introducing some form of PR for both central government and local authorities.
The Premier’s announcements were enthusiastically received by members of the Opposition but Unionist back-benchers remained silent and looked disappointed.
There were strong indications that Unionist right-wingers resented the proposals.
Mr Harry West MP said he was alarmed at the Premier’s statement, adding: ‘I know there will be a day of reckoning for all this.’
Currie Raises Oath
MR AUSTIN Currie (SDLP) asked the Minister of Finance at Stormont yesterday to list the positions in the public service where an Oath of Allegiance or other tests of loyalty are compulsory in order to obtain employment.
The Minister, Mr Herbert Kirk, said that by the Promissory Oaths Act (1923) every person serving in an established capacity in the NI Civil Service or otherwise employed full-time by any Department of the Government was required to take an oath in the form prescribed.
The legislation applied not only to civil servants but to the employees of public bodies, such as Hospital Authority and teachers.
Mr Currie said he would raise the matter again.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: Imposed by the Craig government in the first years of the new state, the Oath of Allegiance had always been resented by Nationalists. It was eventually abolished under Direct Rule in 1973.)
Machine-gun Fire in Ardoyne
THREE British soldiers were injured – one seriously – when several explosions rocked the riot-torn Ardoyne area of Belfast. Heavy machine-gun firing was also reported at Flax Street, off Crumlin Road and at North Queen Street where three bullets hit an Army patrol vehicle.
Paisley in Derry – 10 Arrests
A LARGE-SCALE military and police security operation was mounted in Derry last night when the Rev Ian Paisley, MP visited the city to address an Ulster Protestant Volunteer rally in the Guildhall.
The rally was attended by about 800. Later stones were thrown at an Army post in Waterloo Place.
Promotion for Westminster Unionist
Sir John Eden, Minister of Industry in the Conservative government of Edward Heath has appointed Mr Rafton Pounder, MP for Belfast South, as his Parliamentary Private Secretary.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: Until 1973 when the Heath government signed the Sunningdale Agreement, the Ulster Unionists were part of the Tory party.)
On This Day – 31st October 1970
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19701031
Reference Date
October 31, 2020
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 31st October 1970, Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark announced ‘One Man, One Vote’ in local elections, the Irish News reports, and revealed Cabinet discussions on proportional representation. Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
One man, one vote conceded | On This Day – 31st October 1970
THE PM, Mr James Chichester-Clark made a dramatic intervention in the debate on the Macrory Report on local government reform at Stormont last night when he intimated that legislation would be brought in to provide that all future vacancies in local government elections would be fought on a new extended ‘One Man, One Vote’ register.
He also made the surprising disclosure that the Cabinet had given serious consideration to the policy of introducing some form of PR for both central government and local authorities.
The Premier’s announcements were enthusiastically received by members of the Opposition but Unionist back-benchers remained silent and looked disappointed.
There were strong indications that Unionist right-wingers resented the proposals.
Mr Harry West MP said he was alarmed at the Premier’s statement, adding: ‘I know there will be a day of reckoning for all this.’
Currie Raises Oath
MR AUSTIN Currie (SDLP) asked the Minister of Finance at Stormont yesterday to list the positions in the public service where an Oath of Allegiance or other tests of loyalty are compulsory in order to obtain employment.
The Minister, Mr Herbert Kirk, said that by the Promissory Oaths Act (1923) every person serving in an established capacity in the NI Civil Service or otherwise employed full-time by any Department of the Government was required to take an oath in the form prescribed.
The legislation applied not only to civil servants but to the employees of public bodies, such as Hospital Authority and teachers.
Mr Currie said he would raise the matter again.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: Imposed by the Craig government in the first years of the new state, the Oath of Allegiance had always been resented by Nationalists. It was eventually abolished under Direct Rule in 1973.)
Machine-gun Fire in Ardoyne
THREE British soldiers were injured – one seriously – when several explosions rocked the riot-torn Ardoyne area of Belfast. Heavy machine-gun firing was also reported at Flax Street, off Crumlin Road and at North Queen Street where three bullets hit an Army patrol vehicle.
Paisley in Derry – 10 Arrests
A LARGE-SCALE military and police security operation was mounted in Derry last night when the Rev Ian Paisley, MP visited the city to address an Ulster Protestant Volunteer rally in the Guildhall.
The rally was attended by about 800. Later stones were thrown at an Army post in Waterloo Place.
Promotion for Westminster Unionist
Sir John Eden, Minister of Industry in the Conservative government of Edward Heath has appointed Mr Rafton Pounder, MP for Belfast South, as his Parliamentary Private Secretary.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: Until 1973 when the Heath government signed the Sunningdale Agreement, the Ulster Unionists were part of the Tory party.)
On This Day – 31st October 1970
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.