Thanks for your input.I can't answer for how the Great British public of the period or the Powers That Be in Westminster might react. I'll leave that to others more qualified than myself.
I can answer for what the British troops of the period thought.
They'd gone in to protect the Catholic minority; pretty much right from the start, the Catholic minority reacted as though it was an invading army, for all that the troops were protecting them. (It was commonplace for troops to insert themselves between Unionist rowdies and Nationalist protectees, and for bricks and bottles filled with urine to be thrown at the troops from the Nationalist side. Troops quickly learned to face in both directions). The Unionist troublemakers disliked the presence of the troops because this stopped them driving out the Nationalists.
Very quickly, the troops found themselves basically keeping Orange and Green maniacs apart from each other, and being vilified for it from both Orange and Green communities. The average soldier would have quite cheerfully left the province to its own devices. It was, as we saw it, an unpleasant little hell-hole with no redeeming features, where the biggest industry was sitting around collecting the dole and demonising the other side.
It does sound like a thankless job.
Always useful to see events from the soldier perspective.
The economy of Northern Ireland does seem to have become a cargo cult with both sides look for handouts and thinking the world owes them a living.
This is how a former Irish soldier and current serving American soldier saw the events.
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