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From Socialist Worker, Vol. No. 104, 11 January 1969, pp. 1 & 4.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
THE PEOPLE’S Democracy of Queens University, Belfast, decided early in December to. sponsor and organise a march from Belfast to Derry in support of civil rights in Northern Ireland.
The ‘reforms' offered by the O’Neill government the previous month in response to demonstrations all over Northern Ireland, we felt, had no relevance to the demands of the demonstrators.
The chief demands were:
O’Neill had promised us in return an Ombudsman, a points system for housing allocation and an appointed commission for Derry. Voting remains restricted and authorities remain gerrymandered.
So we marched.
The march was not banned. At no time during the march did any demonstrator carry a weapon, offer any violence, or express any wish other than to walk down the road towards Derry.
The reaction from, the supporters of the Rev Ian Paisley, his commander-in-chief, Major Ronald Bunting, and the police indicated all too clearly the nature of the Northern Ireland police state.
On the first day, New Year’s Day, we marched to Antrim, where we were stopped well short of a screaming mob, waving clubs.
The County Inspector, Cramsie, suggested that he would protect us through the crowd in twos and threes. We agreed.
Cramsie then went into conference with Major Bunting, who was marshalling his ‘troops’. After some delay, Cramsie told us that the deal was off.
Also present was Mr. Nap Minford, Parliamentary Under Secretary to the Minister of Development, and MP for Antrim, who refused to ask the government for police reinforcements for our protection or to ask the crowd to let us safely through.
Mr. Miniora was later heard to tell one of the crowd where we were staying for the night.
The next morning we were stopped again at Randelstown, and, after an hour’s wait, only through a small crowd by climbing into cars, many of which were lent to us by sympathisers.
At Toome Bridge we were stopped again. The County Inspector of the Royal Ulster Constabulary once again refused to guarantee us safe passage through any trouble and re-routed us several extra miles through country lanes.
One of our scouts told us there was no trouble of any kind on the road on which we were headed.
At one of the cross-roads, where a small crowd had gathered, a photographer from the Belfast Telegraph overheard a conversation between a man who said he was Chairman of the South Derry Ulster Protestant Volunteers (Paisleyites) and a senior policeman.
The officer gave him exact details of the route we were taking.
We stopped briefly at the village of Gulladuff, and I drove on ahead to spy out the situation.
The road to Maghera was thronged with Paisleyites armed with cudgels and iron bars.
No attempt of any kind was made to disperse the crowd. The marchers went on to their hall beyond Maghera in vehicles, intending to go back and march over the route the following day.
The Paisleyites, deprived of their prey, ran amok in Maghera, laying waste to the town’s Catholic area.
When the Catholics collected to defend themselves, they were baton-charged by the police.
On Thursday night, Major Bunting went to visit Major James Chichester-Clarke, Minister of Agriculture, and cousin of the Prime Minister.
Bunting asked Clarke to to get the march banned, and Clarke rang Home Secretary William Long, requesting him to ban the march. Long refused.
Chichester-Clarke who has a brother of the same name at Westminster, agreed to join the Paisleyites at a crossroads on the next day’s route.
The police then refused us permission to go back to Guladuff and march through Maghera.
On the Friday, January 3, we were stopped again by a police cordon at Dungiven, and warned that there was ‘serious opposition’ on the road to Claudy.
We were fed up by now and we pushed through the police cordon without much difficulty. On the road to Claudy we met with no resistance at all.
On the final morning we were stopped again at Cumber crossroads and told that a few hundred yards ahead, at Burntollet Bridge there were a few people who might throw stones.
No attempt was made to stop us.
As we came round the corner to the bridge we were ambushed by a huge, howling mob.
Each man had prepared a large pile of stones and bricks
They blocked the road in front and hurled stones from every side.
Many of the men had the shields and helmets of the B-Special police force, an emergency force drawn entirely from the Orange Order. Some of the men have since been identified as members of the B-Specials.
The first group of marchers got through without much injury, but the second half of the march were driven off the road and into the river.
Many were savagely beaten. One girl, Ann Devlin, had her arm broken by a couple of thugs.
At no time did the uniformed police attempt to restrain the mob and on one or two occasions they joined in the beatings.
When Ann Devlin was carried unconscious to a police van, the police refused to take her to hospital.
At the Irish Street (Protestant) housing estate at the entrance to Derry, we were ambushed again by a well-prepared crowd, throwing bricks.
We entered Derry under a hail of stones. I was hit myself and had to go to hospital with a broken head.
That evening after we held a large, triumphant meeting in Guildhall Square, the police ran riot through the Catholic areas of the City, breaking every ground-floor window in the Lecky Road.
As I write, the Catholics of Derry have barricaded themselves against the people who are supposed to maintain law and order.
The meaning of that law and order in Northern Ireland is now clear.
If you are a Paisleyite thug, you can expect full protection and co-operation from the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
If you intend to walk down the road in protest against a restricted franchise and a police state you can expect to get your head broken.
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