‘Paras’ back in N. Ireland

Press, 13 April 1978, Page 8

‘Paras’ back in N. Ireland

NZPA staff correspondent London The “villains” of Northern Ireland’s “Bloody Sunday” in 1972 are back on duty in the troubled province amid fears of revenge raids by the Irish Republican Army. Men from the Ist Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, arrived back in Ulster at the week-end for a fourmonth tour of duty. It is the first time their distinctive red berets have been seen there since the Sunday in Londonderry w'hen they killed 1.4 civilians, the day that has gone down in Ulster history as “Bloody Sunday.” When the decision to send the paratroopers back was first announced, there was strong criticism from leading Roman Catholic politicians,

but their first few days back have passed without incident. | However, according to “The Times,” one of the British Army’s fears is that the Provisional I.R.A. may attempt to murder 14 mem« bers of the batalion as symbolic revenge for the events of “Bloody Sunday.” The batalion, 600 strong, has been redeployed in Ulster’s volatile South Armagh, the border countryside described as “bandit country.” “The Times” said the return of the highly-trainecr paratroopers has been interpreted by many political observers as further evidence of the determination of Mr i Roy Mason, the Secretary of i State for Northern Ireland. I to maintain a consistently I firm approach to the I.R.A. t