On This Day / July 9, 1971

Summary: On this day, 9 July 1971, Catholic families fled intimidation in Belfast as sectarian tensions escalated ahead of the Twelfth. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.

Families Flee Gun Threats | On This Day – 9th July 1971

WITH six terrified Catholic refugee families sleeping in the classrooms of Holy Cross School, Butler Street, Belfast early this morning, two lorries were standing by outside ready to answer other emergency calls for help.

Five of the families from Silverstream and Tyndale housing estates left their homes under threats that they would be burned out.

The other family was bombed out of Greenisland.

Two other families are expected at the temporary refugee shelter and Ardoyne Relief Committee said that from the number of reports of intimidation they had received from the Silverstream and Tyndale estate areas, the flood of refugees would increases between now and the Twelfth.

Trouble on the Tyndale estate flared up at the weekend and typical of the stories told is that of 27- year old Mrs Anne Boyd as she settled her two children down for the night.

Mrs Boyd, whose husband Robert is a seaman, was at home at Tyndale Drive with their two children when she heard a commotion in the street.

She went out to see what was happening.

There were shouts of ‘Get the Fenians out’ and ‘Burn them out’.

It was then that the guns came out, said Mrs Boyd.

‘There were five men in the street who were strangers and they said were UVF men.

‘One of the five strangers had a brown-paper parcel. He opened it and handed out guns to three of the other men and took one himself. I was shocked and terrified.

‘One of them came face to face with me and told me to get out or be burned out. Other Catholic families were told the same.’

Last Chance for Shipyard

A GIGANTIC ‘no strings attached’ cash injection – an investment of £4 million in the company shares and up to £3 million in grant aid – to set Belfast Shipyard on a level keel was announced at Stormont yesterday.

However, Mr John Hume (SDLP) said that the Commerce Minister must ensure that the money that it was not used to discriminate against any class or creed.

(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: AS IN the summer of 1921, the approach to the marching season witnessed an escalation in sectarian intimidation of people – mainly Catholics – from their homes in Loyalist estates.

In these years Belfast reflected ‘a tale of two cities’ as fleeing Catholic families sought refuge in the Falls area and housing segregation increased. In Derry the Protestant flight from the West bank intensified.)

Note: this article has been updated to remove certain details to protect the privacy of individuals who were not public figures at the time of the events described.

On This Day – 9th July 1971

Further Reading on Irish History:

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Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive

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