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The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA; ) was an organisation that campaigned for
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
for
Irish Catholics Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...
in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967,NICRA coverage
, cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 1 January 2016.
the civil rights campaign attempted to achieve reform by publicising, documenting, and lobbying for an end to discrimination against Catholics in areas such as elections (which were subject to
gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
and property requirements), discrimination in employment, in
public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...
and abuses of the Special Powers Act. The genesis of the organisation lay in the emergence of a more self-confident Catholic professional middle class who, following the example of the US civil rights movement, campaigned for equal rights and reform. The Campaign for Social Justice was formed in January 1964. A younger generation, inspired by the 1960s wave of worker and student protests across Europe was also ready to take to the street to protest. They would go on to form People's Democracy in 1968. The failure of the 1956-62 IRA border campaign encouraged
Irish Republicans Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...
to prioritise radical popular street campaigns rather than rely on traditional physical force tactics. In this rethink of Republican strategy a key meeting took place in
Maghera Maghera ( ; ) is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,235 in the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Formerly in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Loughinsholin within the historic County ...
in August 1966 between the Wolfe Tone Societies which was attended by
Cathal Goulding Cathal Goulding (; 2 January 1923 – 26 December 1998) was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Official IRA. Early life and career One of seven children born on East Arran Street in north Dublin to an Irish republican f ...
, then chief of staff of the
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
(IRA).English, p. 91. During its formation, NICRA's membership extended to trade unionists, communists, liberals, socialists, with republicans eventually constituting five of the 13 members of its executive council. The organisation initially also had some unionists, with
Young Unionist Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one's age is low, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an America ...
Robin Cole taking a position on its executive council.
Official Sinn Féin The Workers' Party () is an Irish republican, Marxist–Leninist communist party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The party formerly asserted a claim of direct descent from the History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn F ...
and
Official IRA The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a " workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerg ...
influence over NICRA grew in later years, but only as the latter's importance declined,Hanley & Millar 2009 when violence escalated between late 1969 until 1972, when NICRA ceased its work.


Origins

Since Northern Ireland's creation in 1921, the Catholic minority had suffered from discrimination from the Protestant and Unionist majority.
James Craig James or Jim Craig may refer to: Entertainment * James Humbert Craig (1877–1944), Irish painter * James Craig (actor) (1912–1985), American actor * James Craig (''General Hospital''), fictional character on television, a.k.a. Jerry Jacks * J ...
, the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, declared to the Stormont Parliament "we are a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State". Basil Brooke, who would later serve as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland for 20 years, in a speech to the
Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...
in 1933 stated "Many in this audience employ Catholics, but I have not one about my place. Catholics are out to destroy Ulster". Many historians regard the ethos of Northern Ireland as unambiguously sectarian. * Electoral representation. In order to ensure that the interests of minorities were protected and limit the electoral success of
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
, the Government of Ireland Act established
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
(P.R.) as the electoral system to be used in local government and the parliaments of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. It did, however, allow for the parliaments to change the electoral system three years after first meeting. The Government of Northern Ireland contemplated abandoning P.R. in 1924, but feared antagonizing the Labour-led British government, so shelved the idea. However, after the Unionist Party lost 8 seats in the
1925 Northern Ireland general election The 1925 Northern Ireland general election was held on 3 April 1925. It was the second election to the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It saw significant losses for the Ulster Unionist Party, although they maintained their large majority. Thi ...
,
first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
was introduced in time for the 1929 election. Despite losing more than 4% of the vote share compared with 1925, the Unionist Party managed to pick up 4 seats. Proportional representation for local government elections was abolished by the Northern Ireland government in 1920 for Northern Ireland's local elections in 1924.Foster, p. 529. :The property franchise (which granted votes in local elections only to those who owned property) weighted representation heavily in favour of the Protestant community, as did the plural business votes they enjoyed for parliamentary elections. The result was that many towns and cities with a Catholic majority, even a substantial one, were Unionist-controlled: examples included
Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
,
Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...
,
Dungannon Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Counci ...
, and
Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...
. Electoral boundaries were carefully engineered: Belfast's representatives in Stormont went from 4 to 16 in 1921, but there was no increase in the nationalist representation, and Belfast continued to return one Nationalist Member of Parliament (MP). :In the 1965 Stormont elections the Ulster Unionist Party won 34 out of the 52 available seats, while in the 1966 elections to the Westminster parliament they won 11 of Northern Ireland's available 12 seats. The Stormont Assembly returned the Ulster Unionist Party to office continuously between Northern Ireland's founding in 1922 and the abolition of the Parliament in 1972. * Policing. Of the institutions of state, the police in particular were rightfully, based on all available evidence, seen by Catholics and nationalists as supporting (and in many cases collaborating with) the Protestant majority and Unionist cause. Representation of Catholics in the
Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...
, formed in 1922, never exceeded 20% and by the 1960s had sunk to 12%. The reserve police force (the
Ulster Special Constabulary The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military Military reserve, reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, short ...
) was composed upon its formation largely of the paramilitary
Ulster Volunteers The Ulster Volunteers was an Irish unionist, loyalist paramilitary organisation founded in 1912 to block domestic self-government ("Home Rule") for Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Volunteers were based in the ...
and led by the Ulster Volunteers' former commander,
Wilfrid Spender Sir Wilfrid Bliss Spender (6 October 1876 – 21 December 1960) was a British Army officer, colonial administrator and civil servant who helped re-organise the paramilitary organisation the Ulster Volunteers (UVF) into the Ulster Special Constabu ...
and remained almost exclusively Protestant until its disbandment. * Employment. The 1971 census offered the first opportunity to assess the extent of any discrimination in employment, as it was the first census since 1911 that provided cross-tabulation by religion and occupation. The census documented that Protestant male unemployment was 6.6% compared to 17.3% for Catholic males, while the equivalent rates for women were 3.6% and 7% respectively. Catholics were over-represented in unskilled jobs and Protestants in skilled employment. Catholics made up 31% of the economically active population but accounted for only 6% of mechanical engineers, 7% of 'company secretaries and registrars' and 'personnel managers', 8% of university teachers, 9% of local authority senior officers, 19% of medical practitioners, and 23% of lawyers. * Housing. Housing was inter-related with electoral representation, and therefore political power at local and Stormont levels. The general vote was confined to the occupier of a house and his wife. Occupiers' children over 21 and any servants or subtenants in a house were excluded from voting. So the allocation of a public authority house was not just the allocation of a scarce resource: it was the allocation of two votes. Therefore, whoever controlled the allocation of public authority housing effectively controlled the voting in that area. Since 1964, the Campaign for Social Justice had been collating and publicising in its journal ''The Plain Truth'' what it regarded as evidence of discrimination. Its precursor, the Homeless Citizens League, had been holding marches to press for fair allocation of social housing. Both of these organisations had arisen at a time when the African-American civil rights organisation was headline news around the world. Both achieved success in bringing anti-Catholic discrimination to the attention of the media and, in the case of the Campaign for Social Justice, to politicians in Westminster.Purdie, p. 93. The idea of developing a non-partisan civil rights campaign into one with wider objectives as an alternative to military operations, which the
IRA Army Council The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about independence to the whole island of Ireland and the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and Great ...
had formally ceased on 26 February 1962, was pursued by the Dublin
Wolfe Tone Society The Wolfe Tone Societies (WTS) (National Archives Ireland
– Tuairisc: The n ...
, although redirecting the civil rights movement to assist in the achievement of republican objectives had been mooted previously by others (including C. Desmond Greaves, then a member of the
Connolly Association The Connolly Association is an organisation based among Irish emigrants in Britain which supports the aims of Irish republicanism. It takes its name from James Connolly, a socialist republican, born in Edinburgh, Scotland and executed by the Brit ...
) as "the way to undermine Ulster unionism". The idea shared certain attributes with that of infiltrating Northern Ireland's trade unions as a means of furthering republican objectives, which had previously been tried and abandoned by the IRA in the 1930s.Coogan, p. 56. The concept (set out in the August 1966 bulletin (''Tuarisc'') of the Wolfe Tone Societies) was to "demand more than may be demanded by the compromising elements that exist among the Catholic leadership. Seek to associate as wide a section of the community as possible with these demands, in particular the well-intentioned people in the Protestant population and the trade union movement." In 1969, after the civil rights movement had been active for several years, the strategy was described in ''Ireland Today'', published by the Republican Education Department, as requiring that "the civil rights movement include all elements that are deprived, not just republicans, and that unity in action within the civil rights movement be developed towards unity of political objectives to be won, and that ultimately (but not necessarily immediately) the political objective agreed by the organised radical groups be seen within the framework of a movement towards the achievement of a 32-county democratic republic." At a meeting which took place in
Maghera Maghera ( ; ) is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,235 in the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Formerly in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Loughinsholin within the historic County ...
on 13–14 August 1966 at the home of Kevin Agnew (a Derry republican solicitor), attended by the Wolfe Tone Societies of Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Derry, and County Tyrone, and the IRA's chief of staff,
Cathal Goulding Cathal Goulding (; 2 January 1923 – 26 December 1998) was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Official IRA. Early life and career One of seven children born on East Arran Street in north Dublin to an Irish republican f ...
, it was proposed that an organisation be created with wider civil rights objectives as its stated aim. After these discussions an ad hoc body was formed which organised a seminar on 8 November 1966 in Belfast. The main speakers were the president of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement,
Kader Asmal Abdul Kader Asmal (8 October 1934 – 22 June 2011) was a South African politician. He was a professor of human rights at the University of the Western Cape, chairman of the council of the University of the North and vice-president of the ...
, a South African-born lecturer in law at
Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
, and Ciarán Mac an Áilí, a Derry-born Dublin solicitor who was a member of the
International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is supported by an International Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland, and staffed by lawyers drawn from a wide range of jurisdi ...
and president of the Irish Pacifist Association. The Republican movement increasingly saw campaigning around civil rights as a more productive way forward than the traditional armed struggle of physical force Republicanism. However, it would be an oversimplification to state that the IRA set up the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association. This would ignore the importance of campaigns that were emerging within Northern Ireland, such as the Campaign for Social Justice, and the growing numbers of middle class Catholic professionals, Labour activists and left-wing students who were prepared to take to the streets over civil rights. It was agreed that another meeting should be called to launch a civil rights body and this took place in Belfast on 29 January 1967. Tony Smythe and James Shepherd from the National Council of Civil Liberties in London were present and there were more than 100 delegates from a variety of organisations, including Northern Ireland political parties.Purdie, p 133. A 13-member steering committee was tasked at the Belfast meeting with drafting NICRA's constitution. One member, Dolley, had taken part at the meeting at Agnew's house. The original committee consisted of: * 1. ''Chairman'': Noel Harris, a trade unionist and member of the Draughtsmen and Allied Trades Association and the Communist Party. * 2. ''Vice-Chairman'': Conn McCluskey, one of the founders of the Campaign for Social Justice.John Manley, "'Father' of civil rights movement dies", ''The Irish News'', 17 December 2013 * 3. ''Secretary'': Derek O'Brien Peters, of the Communist Party. * 4. ''Treasurer'': Fred Heatley, of the Wolfe Tone Societies. * 5. ''Information Officer'': Jack Bennett, a journalist with ''
The Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media, which also publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and various other newspapers and magazines in Ireland. Its ed ...
''. * 6. Betty Sinclair, a communist member of the
Belfast Trades Council Belfast Trades Council, also known as Belfast & District Trades Union Council, brings together trade unionists in and around Belfast in Northern Ireland. History The council was founded on 29 October 1881 at a meeting of eleven trade unionists. T ...
. * 7. Liam McMillen, vice-chairman of the
Republican Clubs The Workers' Party () is an Irish republican, Marxist–Leninist communist party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The party formerly asserted a claim of direct descent from the History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn F ...
and
Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...
of the IRA Belfast Brigade. * 8. John Quinn, of the
Ulster Liberal Party The Ulster Liberal Party was a liberal and non-sectarian political party in Northern Ireland linked to the British Liberal Party. The party was officially neutral on the constitutional position of Northern Ireland. Members expressed different v ...
. * 9. Professor Michael Dolley, of Queen's University Belfast, a civil libertarianCoogan, p. 57. and member of the National Democratic Party (Northern Ireland). * 10. Joe Sherry, of the
Republican Labour Party The Republican Labour Party (RLP) was a political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1964, with two MPs at Stormont, Harry Diamond and Gerry Fitt. They had previously been the sole Northern Ireland representatives of the Socialist R ...
. * 11. Jim Andrews, of the Ardoyne Tenants Association. * 12.
Paddy Devlin Patrick Joseph Devlin (8 March 1925 – 15 August 1999) was an Irish socialist, labour and civil rights activist and writer from Belfast. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a Stormont MP and a member o ...
, of the
Northern Ireland Labour Party The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987. Origins The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the Belfast Labour Party in 1892. Previously, in 1885 ...
. * 13. Tony McGettigan, unaffiliated. NICRA held a meeting to ratify the constitution on 9 April 1967. It was on this date that NICRA officially came into existence. There were some changes as the steering committee became NICRA's executive council, with Ken Banks of the Ardoyne Tenants Association replacing Jim Andrews; Kevin Agnew, a republican solicitor, replacing McMillen; and Terence O'Brien (unaffiliated) replacing McGettigan. Betty Sinclair became chairman. Robin Cole, a liberal member of the Young Unionists and chairman of the
Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
Conservative and Unionist Association, was later co-opted onto the executive council.


NICRA's constitution, aims and philosophy

NICRA, as it eventually emerged, differed from what had been outlined in ''Tuarisc'' and discussed at Agnew's home in Maghera. The form which NICRA took was determined by the coalition of forces which came together to create it, of which republicans were only one element. Civil rights were the banner to which republicans, nationalists, communists, socialists, liberals and the unaffiliated could rally. NICRA's executive council brought together such diverse groups as the republican
Wolfe Tone Society The Wolfe Tone Societies (WTS) (National Archives Ireland
– Tuairisc: The n ...
and the Campaign for Social Justice, whose founders and leaders believed traditional nationalist politics were ineffective in serving the needs of the Catholic minority. The constitution of NICRA was based on that of the British National Council for Civil Liberties. NICRA's name was expressed in English only. The constitution emphasised the association's character as non-party and non-denominational, and as a body which would make representations on the broad issues of civil liberties and would also take up individual cases of discrimination and ill-treatment and stated NICRA's aims as "to assist in the maintenance of civil liberties, including freedom of speech, propaganda and assembly". NICRA's aims were: * 1. To defend the basic freedoms of all citizens. * 2. To protect the rights of the individual. * 3. To highlight all possible abuses of power. * 4. To demand guarantees for freedom of speech, assembly and association. * 5. To inform the public of their lawful rights. It had six main demands: * 1. "One man, one vote" which would allow all people over the age of 18 to vote in local council elections and remove the multiple votes held by business owners – known as the "business vote". * 2. An end to
gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
electoral wards to produce an artificial unionist majority. * 3. Prevention of discrimination in the allocation of government jobs. * 4. Prevention of discrimination in the allocation of council housing. * 5. The removal of the Special Powers Act. * 6. The disbandment of the almost entirely Protestant
Ulster Special Constabulary The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military Military reserve, reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, short ...
(B Specials).


Links with other civil rights associations

In conscious imitation of the philosophy of, and tactics used by, the American Civil Rights Movement, and modeled somewhat on the
National Council for Civil Liberties Liberty, formerly, and still formally, called the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), is an advocacy group and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, which challenges unjust laws, protects civil liberties and promotes huma ...
, the new organisation held marches, pickets, sit-ins and protests to pressure the
Government of Northern Ireland A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
to grant these demands. The Northern Irish movement incorporated much of the African American movement's vernacular, and protest songs such as "We Shall Overcome" and "We Shall Not Be Moved" became common at NICRA protests. In 1968, Derry civil rights leader Finbar O'Doherty would refer to Northern Irish Catholics as Ulster's "white negros" in a speech that gained traction in the world's press. This widespread attention, particularly in the United States, helped NICRA secure a much wider international and internal support than traditional nationalist protests had done. NICRA's innovation (drawing on the approach adopted by the Campaign for Social Justice) was to rely on and seek to vindicate civil rights, i.e. rights adhering to all citizens of Northern Ireland as ''British'' citizens under the existing constitutional settlement, rather than base its demands on the nationalist goal of reunification in a republic comprising the whole island of Ireland. For many supporters of NICRA, that did not mean accepting the constitutional settlement or entail any obligation of loyalty to the UK: assertion of those rights was a device by which the condition of the Catholic minority could be improved. However, from the outset there were tensions within the association between those advocating militant and confrontational methods, in particular the socialist and republican elements of the movement, such as
Eamonn McCann Eamonn McCann (born 10 March 1943) is an Irish political activist, former politician and journalist from Derry, Northern Ireland. McCann was a People Before Profit (PBP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2016 to 2017. In ...
, Michael Farrell and Cyril Toman, and those who remained wedded to the pacifist American civil rights model. Toman later joined Provisional Sinn Féin.


Allegations against NICRA and ties with republicanism

The Northern Ireland government accused NICRA of being a front for republican and
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
ideologies. Unionists suspected that NICRA was a front for the IRA. The involvement of republicans, such as IRA chief of staff
Cathal Goulding Cathal Goulding (; 2 January 1923 – 26 December 1998) was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Official IRA. Early life and career One of seven children born on East Arran Street in north Dublin to an Irish republican f ...
, and groups like the
Irish National Foresters The Irish National Foresters' Benefit Society (''Coillteoirí Náisiúnta na hÉireann'' in Irish) is an Irish friendly society. The INF began in 1877 as a breakaway from the Ancient Order of Foresters after political disagreements. The INF g ...
, the
Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...
and the
Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone (; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a revolutionary exponent of Irish independence and is an iconic figure in Irish republicanism. Convinced that, so long as his fellow Protestantism in ...
Societies would only further fuel their suspicions. After the failure of the IRA's Border Campaign, republicans had been seeking peaceful ways of advancing their cause by joining
Trade Unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
and the
Northern Ireland Labour Party The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987. Origins The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the Belfast Labour Party in 1892. Previously, in 1885 ...
, and then NICRA when it was formed in 1967. On 4 October 1968, a day before NICRA's Derry march, the IRA admitted that it was infiltrating trade unions as well as civil rights marches. NICRA arose from a meeting of the republican Wolfe Tone Societies. The republican movement was influential in getting NICRA to participate in protest marches, however, due to the various different groups that made up NICRA, it could not control the organisation's direction. The radical views of individuals within NICRA were highlighted by a commission of inquiry set up by the British Government following the spread of civil unrest in 1969. The report by a Scottish judge, Lord Cameron stated, "certain at least of those who were prominent in the Association had objects far beyond the 'reformist' character of the majority of Civil Rights Association demands, and undoubtedly regarded the Association as a stalking-horse for achievement of other and more radical and in some cases revolutionary objects, in particular abolition of the border, unification of Ireland outside the United Kingdom and the setting up of an all-Ireland Workers' Socialist Republic." Yet despite this, the aims of the NICRA executive, as set out in April 1969, maintained an aversion for an outright call for constitutional change in Northern Ireland and did not call for the end of partition. Bob Purdie has maintained that the outright republicanism of NICRA was more an issue of perception than of purpose and that the "civil rights movement was perfectly sincere in its view of its marches as non-sectarian".


First civil rights march

In an effort to highlight the issue of public housing being allocated preferentially to Protestants in County Tyrone,
Austin Currie Joseph Austin Currie (11 October 1939 – 9 November 2021) was an Irish politician who served as a Minister of State with responsibility for Children's Rights from 1994 to 1997. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency ...
, at a meeting of NICRA in Maghera on 27 July 1968, proposed holding a protest march from Coalisland to Dungannon Market Square. There was opposition to the idea from some in NICRA's executive, in particular from the NICRA chair and veteran communist Betty Sinclair who felt that unionists would see the march simply as a nationalist demonstration. After extended discussion the proposal was agreed and a march organised for 24 August. A counter-protest was planned by
Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader from Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and ...
's Ulster Protestant Volunteers, who viewed the proposed march through the unionist-dominated Market Square as provocative. Hoping to avoid a confrontation, the UUP MP for South Tyrone,
John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar is the name of: Academics *John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487 * John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar *John Taylor (English publisher) ...
, tried to get Paisley to abandon the counter protest, and have the NICRA march rerouted. The call for a reroute was supported by the Unionist mayor of Dungannon district. Late on 23 August arrangements were made to halt the march near Quarry Lane at Thomas Street, Dungannon, and divert it to Anne Street. The Tyrone Brigade of the IRA sought permission from its Dublin headquarters to participate, resulting in a call for as many republicans to attend from Northern Ireland as possible. The NICRA march took place on 24 August 1968, attracting around 2,500 people and was followed by five nationalist marching bands from Coalisland to Dungannon.Hanley & Millar 2009 pp. 103–04. RUC officers prevented the march from entering Dungannon while 1,500 counter demonstrators jeered. Speeches were generally considered 'mild' with the exception of the address given by
Gerry Fitt Gerard Fitt, Baron Fitt (9 April 1926 – 26 August 2005), was a politician from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was a founder and the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a social democratic and Irish nationalist party. ...
who said: The march is considered to have passed off peacefully, though there are accounts of minor stone throwings with several marchers trying to break through the police line only to be rebuffed by the RUC and restrained by the marshalls. The chairperson of NICRA Betty Sinclair managed to convince the marchers to restrain themselves and show that they were "peaceful people asking for our civil rights in an orderly manner". The crowds dispersed without incident. Footage of the march can be found in the RTE archives.


Derry March

The Coalisland-Dungannon march was considered a "disappointing anti-climax" and some more radical marchers felt that the police barricade should have been broken and that future police barricades would be broken. The Derry Housing Action Committee requested that the next march be held in Derry and was supported by the Derry Labour Party, the Derry Labour Party Young Socialists, the Derry Housing Action Committee, the Derry City Republican Club, the James Connolly Society and NICRA. On 8 September, a notice of the "Derry march" was submitted, with the march taking place on 5 October 1968. The route proposed on behalf of the Civil Rights Association was one commonly followed by 'Protestant' and 'Loyalist' marches in Derry. It was to start from the Waterside Railway Station, east of the
River Foyle The River Foyle () is a river in west Ulster in the northwest of the island of Ireland, which flows from the confluence of the rivers Finn and Mourne at the towns of Lifford in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, and Strabane in County Ty ...
, cross the river along
Craigavon Bridge The Craigavon Bridge is one of three bridges in Derry, Northern Ireland. It crosses the River Foyle further south than the Foyle Bridge and Peace Bridge. It is one of only a few double-decker road bridges in Europe. It was named after Lord Cra ...
and proceed to the Diamond, the central point of the city. This route traversed certain Protestant districts and ended within the city's walls, which have major significance in Orange tradition. Local Unionists objected to the route of the march through what was viewed Unionist-dominated territory, and were concerned that the
Diamond War Memorial Erected in 1927, the Diamond War Memorial is located on The Diamond in the centre of Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is dedicated to the citizens of the city who lost their lives while in military service during World War I. Pla ...
would not be respected. Unionist opposition hardened after
Cathal Goulding Cathal Goulding (; 2 January 1923 – 26 December 1998) was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Official IRA. Early life and career One of seven children born on East Arran Street in north Dublin to an Irish republican f ...
, then IRA chief of staff, appeared on Ulster television on 27 September claiming that the IRA were actively supporting the civil rights campaign. On 1 October, the
Apprentice Boys of Derry The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society founded in 1814 and based in the city of Derry, Ireland (now part of Northern Ireland). In 2021 it had over 10,000 members worldwide, with membership open to Protestant men only. T ...
announced their intention to march the same route on the same day and time, although its governor said he knew nothing of a planned parade. William Craig, the Northern Ireland Home Affairs Minister, banned both the civil rights march and the Apprentice Boys' march on police advice in the hope of avoiding serious disorder. Craig said he was not against freedom of expression but that it should not be done in areas where it is likely to cause provocation, especially as he saw NICRA as "a republican-nationalist organisation". With the march banned, and fearing that the presence of radicals may lead to violence, some members of NICRA's executive believed that they should withdraw their support for the march and unsuccessfully lobbied the Derry Housing Action Committee to call the march off. At a meeting of the South Derry IRA it was decided to push any of the politicians present on the day of the march into the police lines if marchers were blocked. The banned march started at the Waterside station, and attracted 400 protesters with local organisers duly insisting that MPs McAteer, Currie and Fitt should lead the march.
Eamonn McCann Eamonn McCann (born 10 March 1943) is an Irish political activist, former politician and journalist from Derry, Northern Ireland. McCann was a People Before Profit (PBP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2016 to 2017. In ...
(one of the organisers of the march) estimated that a further 200 watched from the pavements. Others there included Republican Labour MP
Gerry Fitt Gerard Fitt, Baron Fitt (9 April 1926 – 26 August 2005), was a politician from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was a founder and the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a social democratic and Irish nationalist party. ...
, who brought three British Labour Party MPs with him, and members of the media. The marchers decided to ignore the rerouting and were stopped by the
Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...
before it had properly begun. After several marchers were hit by police batons, with Fitt being hospitalised, the marchers sat down and gave short speeches. This was followed by some retaliation from the marchers who hurdled stones and placards at the police. The police eventually moved in with batons, chasing and hitting those who fell by the wayside.


Aftermath

The footage of police brutality garnered global attention, the event having since been recalled, colloquially and academically, as the onset of
the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
. Northern Ireland
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Terence O'Neill Terence Marne O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, Privy Council of Northern Ireland, PC (NI) (10 September 1914 – 12 June 1990), was the fourth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and leader (1963–1969) of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). ...
made his "Ulster at the crossroads" speech on television on 9 December, appealing for calm. As a result of the announcement of various reforms, NICRA declared a halt to marches until 11 January 1969, while People's Democracy disagreed with this stance. Leading Derry Housing Action Committee member,
Eamonn McCann Eamonn McCann (born 10 March 1943) is an Irish political activist, former politician and journalist from Derry, Northern Ireland. McCann was a People Before Profit (PBP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2016 to 2017. In ...
, later admitted that, "our conscious if unspoken strategy was to provoke the police into over-reaction and thus spark off a mass reaction against the authorities".


1969 riots

Events escalated until August 1969, when fighting broke out at the annual Apprentice Boys of Derry march as it marched through the city's walls and past a perimeter with the nationalist Bogside area. Initially some loyalist supporters had thrown pennies down from the walls onto Catholics and mocked the Bogside's poverty. Catholics then threw nails and stones at loyalists leading to an intense confrontation. The RUC intervened, and a three-day riot ensued known as the
Battle of the Bogside The Battle of the Bogside was a large three-day riot that took place from 12 to 14 August 1969 in Derry, Northern Ireland. Thousands of Catholic/Irish nationalist residents of the Bogside district, organised under the Derry Citizens' Defence ...
. Rioting quickly spread throughout nationalist areas in Northern Ireland, where at least seven were killed, and hundreds wounded. Thousands of Catholics were driven from their homes by loyalists. In a subsequent official inquiry,
Lord Scarman Leslie George Scarman, Baron Scarman, (29 July 1911 – 8 December 2004) was an English judge and barrister who served as a Law Lord until his retirement in 1986. He was described as an "outstanding judicial figure, entrusted with the most hi ...
concluded, "We are satisfied that the spread of the disturbances n Derry in August 1969owed much to a deliberate decision of some minority groups to relieve police pressure on the rioters in Londonderry. Amongst these groups must be included NICRA, whose executive decided to organise demonstrators in the Province so as to prevent reinforcement of the police in Londonderry." In December 1969 and January 1970, both
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
and the IRA split into "
Official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...
" and " Provisional" wings, with the "Official" wings retaining influence in NICRA.


Internment and Bloody Sunday

The British government introduced
internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...
on 9 August 1971 at the request of the Northern Ireland Prime Minister,
Brian Faulkner Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, (18 February 1921 – 3 March 1977), was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972. He was also the Chief Executive ...
.English, p. 139. The British Army, in co-operation with the RUC, arrested and interned 342 people suspected of being involved with the IRA. 116 of those interned were subsequently found to have no involvement with the IRA and were quickly released. The introduction of internment was not a closely guarded secret, with newspaper editorials appearing and discussion on television. The IRA went underground or fled across the border. As a result, fewer than 100 arrested were from the IRA. By this stage, support for NICRA began to wane, however NICRA continued to organise anti-internment marches. In
Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
, on 30 January 1972, NICRA took part in a mass anti-internment march which had also been banned.Bardon, p. 686. Fourteen unarmed demonstrators were shot and killed by the Parachute Regiment during the march, and it became known as
Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday may refer to: Historical events Canada * Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia * Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence agai ...
.


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *


References


External links


Key Events – Civil Rights Campaign (1964–1972)
– ''from the
University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...
's CAIN project''
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement
– ''from the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
History website'' {{OIRA/WP 1967 establishments in Northern Ireland The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Civil rights organisations in the United Kingdom Political advocacy groups in Northern Ireland Organizations established in 1967 Electoral reform in Northern Ireland