Northern Ireland dominates 1971 State Papers

The worsening situation in the North, and particularly the introduction of interment, dominate the State Papers for 1971. The papers have been released in Dublin, Belfast and London.

They reveal that the introduction of internment was opposed by the British Army authorities, and show that both Dublin and London were strongly critical of the Unionist Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Brian Faulkner.

Amid continuing IRA violence, hard-liner Brian Faulkner became Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in 1971, a development viewed with concern in both Dublin and London.

Jack Lynch complained that his cabinet contained "many hard-line and sectarian members", while the British Government's own representative in Belfast said he was a short-term thinker, incapable of understanding that there could not be a military solution to the problems of Northern Ireland.

On 9 August, Faulkner introduced internment, with 342 men being picked up in down swoops throughout the North. The senior British soldier in the North, Sir Harry Tuzo, had warned that internment would, on balance, have a harmful effect on the security situation.

The State Papers in Dublin also reveal strong concerns raised by the Army about its ability to ensure the security of the State. Senior generals warned the Government that they had neither the men nor the equipment to deal with sustained subversion.

While the Government approved extra defence spending, the Department of Finance later cut back on planned equipment purchases, leading the Chief of Staff to warn in November that "the forces necessary to contain a limited internal security threat ... cannot now be provided in full".