Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue
- Introduction
- 1 Drills, Fights and Defence
- 2 ‘Civil rights, unrest, death’ (1960s)
- 3 Football, Flags and Fighting (1970–71)
- 4 Protestants at War? (1971–72)
- 5 Convergence (1972)
- 6 From Boys Brigade Belts and Bibles to Bombs and Bullets (1972–75)
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Protestants at War? (1971–72)
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue
- Introduction
- 1 Drills, Fights and Defence
- 2 ‘Civil rights, unrest, death’ (1960s)
- 3 Football, Flags and Fighting (1970–71)
- 4 Protestants at War? (1971–72)
- 5 Convergence (1972)
- 6 From Boys Brigade Belts and Bibles to Bombs and Bullets (1972–75)
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
My father and his two brothers were ‘blown up’ in the original Shankill bomb in 1971 [the Four Step Inn bombing]. One uncle died, and my father and his other brother were badly injured. It's a bad day in Brighton when the sun doesn't come out. It's a bad day in Belfast when human blood trickles down the drains in the street.
Colin Crawford, interview with anonymous loyalist prisonerIf civil war does come, among those most eager to form the front lines at street-corner battles will be members of Protestant youth gangs known as the Tartans. Mostly boys between 14 and 20 years of age, they wear blue jeans and jackets and sport tartan scarves as symbols of their Scottish and Protestant ancestry.
Time, 29 May 1972More than young hooligans?
On the first anniversary of the previous June's events at St Matthews and Whiterock, tensions were inevitably running high in Belfast. The pace of conflict had accelerated in the period between June 1970 and June 1971 and attitudes had hardened further among both communities in Northern Ireland. Working-class Protestant neighbourhoods were increasingly seeking defence from within as the IRA stepped up its bombing campaign. During the early weeks of the traditional marching season, concerns began to be raised about the presence of the Tartans at Orange parades and demonstrations. In the week following the Whiterock Parade John Taylor, Minister for Home Affairs, responded to accusations by nationalist MPs that elements of the Orange Order had been intent on causing trouble at interface areas during the parade:
The hon. Member for Falls may also be seeking for a general condemnation of parades or wish to draw attention to the unruly elements who accompany some Orange parades. I think that it should be emphasised that almost without exception Orange parades are well disciplined … and orderly and the young hooligans who sometimes attach themselves to a parade are to be condemned in the strongest possible manner.
Austin Currie later responded:
I listened with interest to the Minister's reference to what he described as the young hooligans who accompanied the Orange parade on this occasion … I wonder if it is absolutely correct to describe these people as young hooligans.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Tartan Gangs and ParamilitariesThe Loyalist Backlash, pp. 107 - 143Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2016