The impact of the Prevention of Terrorism Act on the Irish community in Britain.
Under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the British police were given emergency powers where terrorism was suspected. Suspects could be detained for seven days without access to a lawyer or family.
In this town, the Irish say they live in fear of that act. Fear that to be Irish is somehow to be guilty.
The quintessentially English town of Braintree is home to a population of Irish immigrants. When the first Irish arrived on building sites in the town, more Irish followed. Generations later, some of these immigrant families run their own construction companies.
On 17 January 1979, the IRA carried out a bombing at Canvey Island oil depot.
It blew an 18 inch hole in a 130,000 gallon tank but the potential for total disaster stunned the public.
Soon after the bombing, the car believed to have been used to carry the bomb to Canvey Island was found in Braintree. A wave of police raids on the Irish community ensued. Members of the Irish community were detained and the entire Irish community felt vulnerable to the powers of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Measures included in the act allow for up to six months in jail or a £1,000 fine for wearing anything that suggests support for a prescribed organisation, and up to five years in jail for supporting a prescribed organisation or for not passing on information to the police.
This episode of 'Frontline' was broadcast on 5 March 1979. The reporter is Michael Ryan.
