Brookeborough & O’Neill

• Leaving Cert History

• Northern Ireland 1949-1973

Brookeborough in Power

• Basil Brooke Prime Minister N. Ireland 1949-1963

• ‘A Unionist State for a Unionist People’

• 1949 Election – Attlee guarantees

‘In no event will Northern Ireland or any part thereof cease to be a part of his Majesty’s dominions and of the United Kingdom without the consent of the parliament of Northern Ireland.’

• Brookeborough’s government seemed the most secure in western Europe.

• He felt no need to put forward legislation which would help to reconcile the Catholic minority to the continuation of partition

IRA Border Campaign 1956-1962

• IRA split in 1951• Fearing defections – IRA planned

attacks• ‘Operation Harvest’ – Dec. 1956• Attacks on police barracks along

the border• Governments North and South

introduced internment• Campaign had little support

among Catholics in the North

• Any concessions to Catholics would bring oppostion from hardline Unionists

• In 1959 Brookeborough declared:• ‘There is no change in the fundamental

character of the Unionist Party or in the loyalties it observes and preserves … If it is called inflexible then it shows our principles are not elastic.’

• Unionists more worried about opposition from Protestant workers losing their jobs than Catholics demanding their rights

Political Stagnation

• By 1962 NILP wins four Unionist seats • Unemployment rising and support for

Unionist Party declining• Brookborough forced to resign – replaced

by Terence O’Neill • O’Neill – Home Affairs and Education• O’Neill declared:‘Our task will be literally to transform Ulster’

‘make Northern Ireland economically stronger and prosperous … and to build bridges between the two traditions within our community’

O’Neill becomes Prime Minister

O’Neill meets Lemass• 1965 O’Neill invites Lemass to Belfast• Lemass tells O’Neill:‘I shall get into terrible trouble for this’ • O’Neill the one in trouble – didn’t tell his

cabinet until the morning of the meeting• Protest organised by Ian Paisley• O’Neill made reconciliation official policy • However, only introduced minor reforms• Tensions around anniversary of 1916 Rising• UVF reformed - ‘Known IRA men will be

executed mercilessly and without hesitation’ - killed two innocent Catholics and elderly Protestant woman

• Jan. 1964 - The Campaign for Social Justice in Northern Ireland was formed

• 1965 Gerry Fitt forms ‘Campaign for Democracy in Ulster’ - sponsored by sixty MPs

• Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (1967)

• Derry Unemployed Action Committee (1965)

• Derry Housing Association (1967)

Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Marches

• June 1968 – Housing controversy in Caledon, Co. Tyrone.

• Austin Currie MP occupies house• Protest march from Coalisland to

Dungannon• 5 Oct. - William Craig bans march

in Derry. RUC baton the crowd• N. Ireland becoming destabilised

O’Neill introduces reforms• Widespread protests now taking place• British government pressure O’Neill for

reforms• Londonderry Corporation was to be

replaced by an appointed development commission

• Councils were to allocate houses on a fair points system

• Sections of the Special Powers Act would be repealed

• An ombudsman would be appointed• Universal suffrage in local government

elections would be considered • O’Neill appeals for calm

Burntollet Bridge

• Against the advice of Nationalist leaders – Peoples Democracy and Young Socialists organise march from Belfast to Derry

• New Years Day 1969• March attacked by loyalists at

Burntollet Bridge• When march reaches Derry RUC

attack homes in Bogside• O’Neill resigns

• Presentation prepared by:

• Dominic Haugh• St. Particks Comprehensive School• Shannon• Co. Clare

• Presentation can be used for educational purposes only – all rights remain with author