Ulster Unexpectedly Peaceful

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32349, 15 July 1970, Page 17

Ulster Unexpectedly Peaceful

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuler—Copyright)

BELFAST, July 14. The British Army eased its grip on Northern Ireland today, relieved that yesterday’s Protestant parades passed off without the violence expected.

An Army spokesman said that the military authorities would now consider whether they could dispense with some of the 11,000 troops at present stationed throughout the province.

A profound sense of relief followed the peaceful ending of the parades, in which 100.000 members of the Protestant Orange Order marched in 19 different parts of Ulster For weeks it had been predicted that the marches would provoke another violent conflict between Protestants and Roman Catholics. Last night. Northern Ireland's Minister of Development (Mr Brian Faulkner) told a press conference: “It should be regarded as a significant victory for commonsense that the occasion was without incident”

Crumlin Fires In Belfast and 18 other centres, men, women and children had marched to booming drums and band music to celebrate the major event in the Protestant calendar, the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne. On hand to keep the two religious communities apart was a total force of 17,000 troops and policemen in the largest security operation seen in the British Isles since the Second World War. Just before the Belfast procession of 40,000 Protestants got under way, about 50 Roman Catholic youths began setting fire to barricades and stoning Army vehicles in the Crumlin Road area. Protestants were quickly on the scene, and a few missiles were exchanged, .but the crowd dispersed on being assured by the Army that the parade would not come past the area. 2i-Hour Parade The Belfast marchers, on a five-mile trek to Finaghy Field, on the outskirts of the city, took two hours and a half to go by in a blaze of colour and noise.

There were dozens of brightly-uniformed bands, but the main part of the procession was taken up by the ranks of neatly-suited men wearing the sashes of the Orange Order, named after Prince William of Orange who defeated King James’s Roman Catholic force at the River Boyne in 1690 Some Orangemen carried shin swords, some tall pikes Many had bowler hats and furled umbrellas, symbolising the respectability of the movement Some struggled beneath the weight of huge, flapping banners which proclaimed loyalty to the Protestant faith, the Queen of England and, frequently to the virtues of temperance.

Unexpectedly the Roman Catholics stayed quietly in their own districts while the parades went by. Brigadier Michael Bayley, the British Army’s Assistant Chief of Staff in Northern Ireland, commented last night: “From the security forces’ point of view it was a very satisfactory day.” Only one incident had mar red the day—a fire-bomb attack late last night on an unoccupied Roman Catholicowned hotel near the Falls Road area. The building was badly damaged by fire but no-one was injured. Elsewhere in the city, the

day ended with soldiers, who had been on duty since dawn, getting down to sleep on the pavements.