On This Day / September 8, 1920

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Reproduced with permission from The Irish News.

19200908

Reference Date

19200908

Publication Date

Craig and UVF

THERE was no renewal of the disturbances in Belfast yesterday.

Apparently a lull had set in. The city was quiet all day and last night the Curfew regulations were enforced very rigorously with very good results.

The chief feature was the continuance of removals of families from the Unionist districts despite the deployment of the military authorities.

A meeting also took place of the Ulster Unionist Council [UUC]. The conclusions were not made known but it is practically certain that the question of the employment of the UVF under authority in the streets was under consideration.

As far as can be gathered, the proposal was laid before the Government in a broad way and was not turned down by them.

But the opinion of the military authorities in Ireland has since been found to be against this suggestion.

 

Devlin Success

Mr Joseph Devlin, MP has been in negotiation in London with the Ministry of Labour in connection with the distress caused in Belfast by the expulsion of large numbers of Catholic workers.

The Press Association is informed the claims of the expelled workers will be conceded.

This means in effect that the men and women workers will receive their unemployment benefit.

 

Sectarian Evictions

Donegall Avenue is now entirely cleared of Catholics.

The last of them, Mr M J Dempsey was evicted with the loss of more than £100 worth of furniture. The departure was made under police protection.

[Dr Phoenix notes: From his privileged position as a junior minister at Westminster, Craig had succeeded in his efforts to have the UVF enrolled in a new Ulster Special Constabulary, funded and armed by the British government.

The idea of using a nakedly sectarian force was opposed by the Irish GOC, General Macready.

At the same time, a separate administrative authority was established for the six counties to prepare the way for partition.

Critically, the northern nationalists were not consulted.]

19200908

Reference Date

19200908

Publication Date

Craig and UVF

THERE was no renewal of the disturbances in Belfast yesterday.

Apparently a lull had set in. The city was quiet all day and last night the Curfew regulations were enforced very rigorously with very good results.

The chief feature was the continuance of removals of families from the Unionist districts despite the deployment of the military authorities.

A meeting also took place of the Ulster Unionist Council [UUC]. The conclusions were not made known but it is practically certain that the question of the employment of the UVF under authority in the streets was under consideration.

As far as can be gathered, the proposal was laid before the Government in a broad way and was not turned down by them.

But the opinion of the military authorities in Ireland has since been found to be against this suggestion.

 

Devlin Success

Mr Joseph Devlin, MP has been in negotiation in London with the Ministry of Labour in connection with the distress caused in Belfast by the expulsion of large numbers of Catholic workers.

The Press Association is informed the claims of the expelled workers will be conceded.

This means in effect that the men and women workers will receive their unemployment benefit.

 

Sectarian Evictions

Donegall Avenue is now entirely cleared of Catholics.

The last of them, Mr M J Dempsey was evicted with the loss of more than £100 worth of furniture. The departure was made under police protection.

[Dr Phoenix notes: From his privileged position as a junior minister at Westminster, Craig had succeeded in his efforts to have the UVF enrolled in a new Ulster Special Constabulary, funded and armed by the British government.

The idea of using a nakedly sectarian force was opposed by the Irish GOC, General Macready.

At the same time, a separate administrative authority was established for the six counties to prepare the way for partition.

Critically, the northern nationalists were not consulted.]

19200908

Reference Date

September 8, 2020

Publication Date

Craig and UVF

THERE was no renewal of the disturbances in Belfast yesterday.

Apparently a lull had set in. The city was quiet all day and last night the Curfew regulations were enforced very rigorously with very good results.

The chief feature was the continuance of removals of families from the Unionist districts despite the deployment of the military authorities.

A meeting also took place of the Ulster Unionist Council [UUC]. The conclusions were not made known but it is practically certain that the question of the employment of the UVF under authority in the streets was under consideration.

As far as can be gathered, the proposal was laid before the Government in a broad way and was not turned down by them.

But the opinion of the military authorities in Ireland has since been found to be against this suggestion.

 

Devlin Success

Mr Joseph Devlin, MP has been in negotiation in London with the Ministry of Labour in connection with the distress caused in Belfast by the expulsion of large numbers of Catholic workers.

The Press Association is informed the claims of the expelled workers will be conceded.

This means in effect that the men and women workers will receive their unemployment benefit.

 

Sectarian Evictions

Donegall Avenue is now entirely cleared of Catholics.

The last of them, Mr M J Dempsey was evicted with the loss of more than £100 worth of furniture. The departure was made under police protection.

[Dr Phoenix notes: From his privileged position as a junior minister at Westminster, Craig had succeeded in his efforts to have the UVF enrolled in a new Ulster Special Constabulary, funded and armed by the British government.

The idea of using a nakedly sectarian force was opposed by the Irish GOC, General Macready.

At the same time, a separate administrative authority was established for the six counties to prepare the way for partition.

Critically, the northern nationalists were not consulted.]

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.

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* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.