On This Day / November 5, 1970
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19701105
Reference Date
19701105
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 5th November 1970, as Belfast reels from riots and the first use of nail bombs, it becomes increasingly clear a new force is rising: the Provisional IRA. Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
Army’s grim warning | On This Day – 5th November 1970
AS CALM settled over the riot areas of Belfast yesterday after a weekend of violence, a British Army spokesman warned that missile-throwers faced the danger in future of being shot.
The warning came after a new weapon, the ‘nail bomb’ – gelignite mixed with nails in an outside container – was brought into use in the city.
Major Peter Spurgeon, Acting Commander of 41 Marine Commando, said that if stone-throwers were in the company of bomb-throwers the stone-throwers could also be shot.
Troops Attack Condemned
THE ‘alarming events’ when grenades and automatic weapons were used against the military at Ardoyne were commented on last night in a statement on the disturbances by the Central Citizens’ Defence Committee (CCDC).
The statement said that this must be ‘condemned by all decent citizens’.
The CCDC added: ‘The irresponsible faction who used these weapons took advantage of the plight of the residents of Ardoyne in an attempt to provoke a full-scale battle on the streets. That such a situation did not arise was due to the restraint of the military.’
Meanwhile an appeal to ‘parents and people of influence to prevent the young from being led astray by those apparently interested only in maintaining strife and disorder’ was made last night by the Most Rev Dr William Philbin, Bishop of Down and Connor.
From the pulpit of Holy Cross Church in Ardoyne, he said the people of the parish and other parts of Belfast were ‘utterly disgusted’ with the recurring incidents of violence and crime – ‘foreign to your disposition and to your Christian principles’.
He asked all heads of families to warn them against joining organisations where they would be regarded as bound to execute orders which may be contrary to the law of God.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: By late 1970 it was clear that a new ‘player’ was active in Belfast, Derry and border areas – the Provisional IRA.
The rapid escalation of the situation in areas like Ardoyne meant that there was no longer any role for the well-meaning Citizens’ Defence Committees, thrown up after the sectarian mob attacks of 1969.
In the violent months and years ahead, neither the Catholic Church nor the civil rights-oriented Opposition at Stormont could prevent the descent into conflict and deepening community polarisation.)
Black Taxi Service for West Belfast
TURF Lodge estate in West Belfast has made a counter-attack on the decision of Belfast Corporation to increase bus fares by fifty per cent.
A fleet of cars belonging to one of the city’s biggest taxi firms will be at the ready at the estate to convey workers to the city centre from the 1,500-house estate.
On This Day – 5th November 1970
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19701105
Reference Date
19701105
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 5th November 1970, as Belfast reels from riots and the first use of nail bombs, it becomes increasingly clear a new force is rising: the Provisional IRA. Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
Army’s grim warning | On This Day – 5th November 1970
AS CALM settled over the riot areas of Belfast yesterday after a weekend of violence, a British Army spokesman warned that missile-throwers faced the danger in future of being shot.
The warning came after a new weapon, the ‘nail bomb’ – gelignite mixed with nails in an outside container – was brought into use in the city.
Major Peter Spurgeon, Acting Commander of 41 Marine Commando, said that if stone-throwers were in the company of bomb-throwers the stone-throwers could also be shot.
Troops Attack Condemned
THE ‘alarming events’ when grenades and automatic weapons were used against the military at Ardoyne were commented on last night in a statement on the disturbances by the Central Citizens’ Defence Committee (CCDC).
The statement said that this must be ‘condemned by all decent citizens’.
The CCDC added: ‘The irresponsible faction who used these weapons took advantage of the plight of the residents of Ardoyne in an attempt to provoke a full-scale battle on the streets. That such a situation did not arise was due to the restraint of the military.’
Meanwhile an appeal to ‘parents and people of influence to prevent the young from being led astray by those apparently interested only in maintaining strife and disorder’ was made last night by the Most Rev Dr William Philbin, Bishop of Down and Connor.
From the pulpit of Holy Cross Church in Ardoyne, he said the people of the parish and other parts of Belfast were ‘utterly disgusted’ with the recurring incidents of violence and crime – ‘foreign to your disposition and to your Christian principles’.
He asked all heads of families to warn them against joining organisations where they would be regarded as bound to execute orders which may be contrary to the law of God.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: By late 1970 it was clear that a new ‘player’ was active in Belfast, Derry and border areas – the Provisional IRA.
The rapid escalation of the situation in areas like Ardoyne meant that there was no longer any role for the well-meaning Citizens’ Defence Committees, thrown up after the sectarian mob attacks of 1969.
In the violent months and years ahead, neither the Catholic Church nor the civil rights-oriented Opposition at Stormont could prevent the descent into conflict and deepening community polarisation.)
Black Taxi Service for West Belfast
TURF Lodge estate in West Belfast has made a counter-attack on the decision of Belfast Corporation to increase bus fares by fifty per cent.
A fleet of cars belonging to one of the city’s biggest taxi firms will be at the ready at the estate to convey workers to the city centre from the 1,500-house estate.
On This Day – 5th November 1970
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19701105
Reference Date
November 5, 2020
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 5th November 1970, as Belfast reels from riots and the first use of nail bombs, it becomes increasingly clear a new force is rising: the Provisional IRA. Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
Army’s grim warning | On This Day – 5th November 1970
AS CALM settled over the riot areas of Belfast yesterday after a weekend of violence, a British Army spokesman warned that missile-throwers faced the danger in future of being shot.
The warning came after a new weapon, the ‘nail bomb’ – gelignite mixed with nails in an outside container – was brought into use in the city.
Major Peter Spurgeon, Acting Commander of 41 Marine Commando, said that if stone-throwers were in the company of bomb-throwers the stone-throwers could also be shot.
Troops Attack Condemned
THE ‘alarming events’ when grenades and automatic weapons were used against the military at Ardoyne were commented on last night in a statement on the disturbances by the Central Citizens’ Defence Committee (CCDC).
The statement said that this must be ‘condemned by all decent citizens’.
The CCDC added: ‘The irresponsible faction who used these weapons took advantage of the plight of the residents of Ardoyne in an attempt to provoke a full-scale battle on the streets. That such a situation did not arise was due to the restraint of the military.’
Meanwhile an appeal to ‘parents and people of influence to prevent the young from being led astray by those apparently interested only in maintaining strife and disorder’ was made last night by the Most Rev Dr William Philbin, Bishop of Down and Connor.
From the pulpit of Holy Cross Church in Ardoyne, he said the people of the parish and other parts of Belfast were ‘utterly disgusted’ with the recurring incidents of violence and crime – ‘foreign to your disposition and to your Christian principles’.
He asked all heads of families to warn them against joining organisations where they would be regarded as bound to execute orders which may be contrary to the law of God.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: By late 1970 it was clear that a new ‘player’ was active in Belfast, Derry and border areas – the Provisional IRA.
The rapid escalation of the situation in areas like Ardoyne meant that there was no longer any role for the well-meaning Citizens’ Defence Committees, thrown up after the sectarian mob attacks of 1969.
In the violent months and years ahead, neither the Catholic Church nor the civil rights-oriented Opposition at Stormont could prevent the descent into conflict and deepening community polarisation.)
Black Taxi Service for West Belfast
TURF Lodge estate in West Belfast has made a counter-attack on the decision of Belfast Corporation to increase bus fares by fifty per cent.
A fleet of cars belonging to one of the city’s biggest taxi firms will be at the ready at the estate to convey workers to the city centre from the 1,500-house estate.
On This Day – 5th November 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.