Crocodile Tears
Throughout August 1969, the RUC were directly responsible for the killing of a number of Nationalist residents in Catholic areas of Belfast, including, Ardoyne and West Belfast. One of who was nine year-old, Patrick Rooney. In the aftermath of these killings and the burning of hundreds of Catholic homes across the city. There were many reports from local residents and senior Nationalist Politicans that the RUC had been instrumental in orchastrating the above violence.
As a result, the British and Stormont Government’s agreed to appoint a Scottish Peer, Lord Scarman to investigate the claims and make specific recommendations to ensure the same type of trouble did not occur again. Even though, he officially exonerated the RUC, he privately asked Whitehall to investigate the sectarian force further. The then British Prime Minister, soon asked another English Peer, Lord Hunt to look into the RUC and in particularly the B-Specials. After an exhaustive inquiry, he concluded that the B-Specials should be disbanded, proposing that a local Regiment of the British Army could be created. As well the enforcement of an unarmed RUC as all British Police were at that time.
Under pressure from London, the Stormont Government ordered that the RUC would be an unarmed force from then on and the Ulster Defence Regiment or UDR would also be created. The disbandment of the B-Specials, creation of the UDR and unarming of the RUC was supposed to ease real fears amongst the Nationalist populace in the Six Counties concerning a repetition of the August Pogroms. To some degree, it allayed the fears of the more middle-class within that section of the community. However, many working-class Nationalists continued to feel they were still at the mercy of the exclusively Unionist RUC.
Around the same time, there were many Republicans particularly in Belfast who felt that no matter how much tinkering was done to the RUC. The British and Stormont Regimes had little interest in the security of ordinary Nationalists and began rebuilding the IRA, which was in absolute disarray. Added to those tensions was the rising anger within the Unionist/Loyalist community about Nationalists gaining reforms within the Orange State. They too began to rebuild military structures and continued a low-intensity conflict against the Nationalist community. There were regular riots throughout Belfast and beyond which had Ardoyne residents constantly living in fear.
On February 28th 1971, a large group of Loyalists attacked the lower end of Ardoyne area at the junction of Alliance Avenue and Etna Drive. As ever, young Nationalists engaged the Loyalists and a riot ensued between the two groups. It was a particularly violent riot and a number of local Republicans were witnessed carrying weapons. According to a number of Provisonal IRA Volunteers on stand-by that day, two men one of who was a well-known Special Branch man, Cecil Patterson had been giving instructions to the Loyalist mob intent on invading Ardoyne. When their activities were reported to the Provisional Commander, ordered his Volunteers to continue monitoring the two men. After a short period, the Loyalist crowd seemed to be getting the upper-hand in the riot. Volunteers were ordered to open fire into the air, with one sniper ordered to shot Patterson and his sidekick. After a few minutes, Patterson and his friend lay on the ground injured and the crowd ran back into Glenbryn.
Later the same day, the RUC announced that D/Inspector, Cecil Patterson (45) and D/Constable Robert Buckley (31) had been killed in action while trying to quell a riot in North Belfast. What they failed to add was that both men had been involved in directing a violent mob of Loyalists to attacking Ardoyne. The Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for the killings and with their claim came the tag that the new IRA had been defending the Ardoyne community.
There was shock by most people in the North, as many believed the Government’s lies that the RUC was now reformed and unarmed etc. No-one outside of Ardoyne believed the PIRA claim that both RUC men had been involved in the riot. The deaths of two RUC men, violent and tragic as they were it had no major impact upon working-class Nationalists who had borne the brunt of the previous two years of violence at the hands of the British Police. Despite serious reservations about deep-rooted sectarianism within the RUC, the British government ordered the force to be rearmed.
The Provisional and Official sections of the IRA at that time, had little public support and despite these facts the Provisional’s decided to militarily engage the RUC and the British Army who had been deployed across the North 18 months beforehand. Within a couple of weeks of killing Patterson and Buckley, the PIRA shot dead three British soldiers on the outskirts of Ligoniel. The three men, two of who brothers, had been lured to the area and killed. As in the case of the two RUC men, John (17), Joseph (18) McCaig and Dougald McCaughey (23) of the Royal Highland Fusilers had been unarmed when they were shot. Their deaths were equally condemned and the Six County Government declared; “We are at War with the IRA”!
My opinion about Saturday’s death is that those who ordered and carried it out were following the same rules of engagement which the Provies followed. They abide by the same Army Constitution as all those Volunteers did in the past, they carry-out similar operations which the Provisional’s did before them and their goal is the same. There was no ‘Good Old IRA’, they all existed for the same reason all the other IRAs’ did in the past. To end British rule in Ireland and they did and do use every means at their disposal.
Every single death in this conflict is regrettable and tragic, whether that be of a British, Irish Combatant and indeed Civilians. However, crocodile tears from leading members of Sinn Fein about the killing of Ronan Kerr is nothing less than sheer hypocraisy. If the RUC/PSNI Constable’s death was wrong, how come the above five deaths were justified and in what context were they right? I’d much prefer that armed Volunteers would engage politically rather than militarily, but that is their choice and who am I to tell them how best to achieve a 32 County Democratic Socialist Irish Republic.
What is required to end generations of Irish Republicans from targeting and killing RIC, RUC and PSNI members. Is that the British Government give the Irish people as a whole the right to national self-determination and leave us in peace to decide our own future. Without such a declaration or date, killings such as those above will continue in the future.
