1969 Northern Ireland Riots
| 1969 Northern Ireland riots | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Troubles | |
|
|
| Date | 12–17 August 1969 (6 days) |
| Location | Mainly Derry, Belfast, Newry, Armagh, Crossmaglen, Dungannon, Coalisland, Dungiven |
| Methods | Demonstrations, rioting, house burnings, gun battles |
| Result |
|
| Casualties | |
| 8 killed 750+ injured (including 133 from gunshot wounds) |
|
During 12–17 August 1969, Northern Ireland was rocked by intense political and sectarian rioting. There had been sporadic violence throughout the year arising from the civil rights campaign, which was demanding an end to discrimination against Irish Catholics. Civil rights marches were repeatedly attacked by both Ulster Protestant loyalists and by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), a unionist and largely Protestant police force.
The disorder led to the Battle of the Bogside in Derry, a three-day riot in the Bogside district between the RUC and the nationalist/Catholic residents. In support of the Bogsiders, nationalists and Catholics launched protests elsewhere in Northern Ireland. Some of these led to attacks by loyalists working alongside the police. The most bloody rioting was in Belfast, where seven people were killed and hundreds more wounded. Scores of houses, most of them owned by Catholics, as well as businesses and factories were burned-out. In addition, thousands of mostly Catholic families were driven from their homes. In certain areas, the RUC helped the loyalists and failed to protect Catholic areas. Events in Belfast have been viewed by some as a pogrom against the Catholic and nationalist minority.
The British Army was deployed to restore order and state control and peace lines began to be built to separate the two sides. The events of August 1969 are widely seen as the beginning of the thirty-year conflict known as the Troubles.
Northern Ireland was destabilised throughout 1968 by sporadic rioting arising out of the civil disobedience campaign of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), which was demanding an end to discrimination against Catholics in voting rights, housing and employment. NICRA was opposed by Ian Paisley's Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC) and other loyalist groups.
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