After nine weeks the RUC are to go back on patrol in the Falls area of Belfast and the Bogside in Derry.
In August 1969 the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) withdrew from the Falls in Belfast following a night of violence in which three people were killed. Nine weeks later RUC patrols will return to the area officers will also go back on the beat in the Bogside in Derry.
In both areas however they will be unarmed and accompanied by military police.
In advance of the new RUC inspector general Sir Arthur Young tours the Falls to pave the way for his staff. He is accompanied by Father Padraig Murphy, Chairperson of the Central Citizens' Defence Committee Jim Sullivan, and Brigadier Peter Hudson.
Sir Arthur Young appeals to a group of local people in the Falls to give the RUC a chance,
We are coming back tomorrow, and I hope you'll all agree we are coming back as your friend.
He requests they,
Criticise us when we are wrong, give us your help when we're right.
Once the RUC can patrol with a reasonable level of security Sir Arthur Young believes they can do so without the assistance of the British Army. Asked if Catholic officers will be selected to patrol the Falls and the Bogside areas, he replies,
I don't see any Catholics, I don't see any Protestants, I only see policemen, I only see people.
Sir Arthur Young is confident when the RUC return to the Falls they will be given a chance to show they are a service and a friend to the people.
An RTÉ News broadcast on 16 October 1969. The reporter is Barry Linnane.
