{"id":807,"date":"2012-06-08T19:43:26","date_gmt":"2012-06-08T18:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=807"},"modified":"2012-06-09T12:54:15","modified_gmt":"2012-06-09T11:54:15","slug":"loyalist-internees-were-detained-for-political-reasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=807","title":{"rendered":"Loyalist Internees Were Detained For Political Reasons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Loyalist Internees Were Detained For Political Reasons<\/strong><\/p>\n

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On 9th<\/sup> August 1971 Operation Demetrius swung into action\u2014in dawn raids across Northern Ireland the British Army backed by the RUC rounded up almost 350 known Republicans and detained them in a variety of holding centres.\u00a0 There followed a massive upsurge in violence that continued incessantly and also had the effect of acting as a recruiting drive for the IRA.\u00a0 Although many Provisionals were amongst those in the first round up there were a number of Official IRA men captured as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a0The Irish Historical writer and journalist Tim Pat Coogan claimed that at the time the British Government had suggested to the then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Brian Faulkner that he should include a nominal number of Loyalists in the swoops but that Faulkner had refused.\u00a0 However eighteen months later, on the 1st<\/sup> February 1973 internment was indeed introduced for Loyalists at a time when Northern Ireland seemed to be heading for Civil War.\u00a0 In protestant communities there to was a fierce reaction to the detention of Loyalists.\u00a0 Protests led to disturbances which culminated in a day of serious trouble on the 7th<\/sup> February\u2014a day when a strike was called by the United Loyalist Council\u2014spearheaded by Vanguard leader Bill Craig.\u00a0 Four people died as a result of the violence that day\u2014a UVF man\u2014a UDA man\u2014a fireman and a soldier\u2014who was actually wounded but subsequently died from his injuries a few weeks later.\u00a0 An interesting note on the first Loyalist internees is that symbolically they represented both mainstream organisations\u2014UVF and UDA.\u00a0 One man from each organisation.\u00a0 Between February 1973 and late 1975 when internment was finally abolished 107 Loyalists were detained\u2014some for the duration of that time and others on more than one occasion.\u00a0 As was the case with Republicans some of the information used to arrest people was flimsy to say the least and there were cases of wrongful arrest.\u00a0 In the majority of cases in the compounds of Long Kesh the allegations levelled against the detainees were never proven\u2014many were ludicrous and merely designed to take someone off the streets.\u00a0 Now it has emerged through records accessed from London\u2019s Public Record Office that the decision to intern Loyalists almost forty years ago was a political one and designed as an evening up measure.\u00a0 Not that this information will be of any consolation to those who suffered the indignity of being imprisoned under false pretences or indeed their families who experienced many hardships during the years of incarceration.\u00a0 A legal case is now pending whereby the Loyalist internees are suing the Ministry of Defence\u2014the RUC, The Secretary of State and the Northern Ireland Office for unlawful detention and false imprisonment.\u00a0 Compensation may well be forthcoming but this is of little or no consequence to those who were interned.\u00a0 And it may also be a little on the late side for an apology\u2014many old internees have since passed away or been killed during the conflict.\u00a0 Unusually though, it might give just a tiny bit of satisfaction to hear that for once the auld Loyalists were actually hard done by and wronged. It makes a change because in recent years they have been blamed for most of the wrong doing during the conflict or indeed been the sole cause of it.<\/p>\n

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