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 government discrimination against
Irish Catholics and
nationalists. Civil rights marches were repeatedly attacked by both
Protestant loyalists and by the
Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), an overwhelmingly Protestant police force.
The disorder led to the
Battle of the Bogside in
Derry – this was 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 turned violent and 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 and businesses were burned-out, most of them owned by Catholics. In addition, thousands of mostly Catholic families were driven from their homes. The RUC was accused of helping the loyalists and of failing to protect Catholic areas. Events in Belfast have been viewed by some as a
pogrom against the minority Catholic and nationalist community.
[1][2][3]
The
British Army was
deployed to restore order 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.
