Analysis: Taoiseach Jack Lynch's request followed many such demands by nationalists for the UN's engagement in Northern Ireland
By Melissa Baird, RIA
The latest volume of the Royal Irish Academy's Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series opens in June 1969 with an appeal to the Irish government from Paddy O’Hanlon, then nationalist MP at Stormont for South Armagh, to demand that a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force be sent to Northern Ireland. O’Hanlon urged that UN help was necessary to 'bring to an end the bloodshed and to stop the undoubted eventual loss of life that can only ensue’.
With little anticipation of the extent of violence to come, the Irish Government argued that the request was ‘not feasible’, only to be forced to change course two months later. Indeed, when O’Hanlon made his plea there had not been any fatalities resulting from sectarian violence since 1966, but 10 people were killed in July and August 1969 alone. The loss of life would total over 3,500 people by 2001.
While O'Hanlon’s call for a peacekeeping mission came in response to the latest outbreak of violence in Derry the previous weekend, it echoed multiple requests from Irish nationalists, both in Ireland and within the diaspora, to demand the UN’s engagement in matters relating to Northern Ireland. The Irish Government had faced criticism, especially within Irish America, for their failure to raise partition at the UN since Ireland’s entry to the organisation in 1955. This pressure was exacerbated when tensions escalated in Northern Ireland in response to the emergence of the civil rights campaign from the mid-1960s, especially after the RUC's violent reaction to a peaceful civil rights protest in Derry October 5th 1968.
But the Government resisted calls to engage the UN until August 1969. Throughout the 1960s, they had maintained that such engagement would be strategically unwise, citing factors such as Britain’s veto on the UN Security Council, the unlikeliness of the US to vote against British interests and the potential for such action to damage burgeoning north-south relations. Instead, the Government prioritised pursuing bilateral talks with respective British governments and, tentatively, with Stormont ahead of international mechanisms in their approach to Northern Ireland.
Ireland's Permanent Representative to the UN Cornelius Cremin reasoned in 1965 that the case should only be raised at an ‘opportune moment’. That ‘opportune moment’ came in August 1969 when rioting broke out in Derry after a march by the Apprentice Boys of Derry that paraded close to the predominantly nationalist Bogside area. The rioting lasted for three days during which barricades were erected around the Bogside to keep the police out and ‘Free Derry’ was declared. The violence sparked tensions in Belfast, too, where Catholics living in interface areas were burned out of their homes, many of whom fled across the border for safety.
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From RTÉ Archives, riots follow Apprentice Boys parade in 1969
The Irish Government had worried about the potential for disorder surrounding such loyalist marches. They had warned their British counterparts of these concerns in a meeting at the Foreign Office in London on August 1st. The British dismissed these fears, and the British Secretary of State reminded the new Irish Minister for External Affairs, Patrick Hillery, that Northern Ireland was, in British eyes, outside the Irish Government's area of responsibility.
When violence did break out, Taoiseach Jack Lynch made a number of unprecedented interventions, including finally requesting UN involvement in Northern Ireland. In a televised address on August 13th, after criticising the Stormont government’s failure to protect innocent civilians, Lynch announced that the Irish Defence Forces would establish field hospitals on the border for those who did not wish to receive medical treatment in Northern Ireland.
Lynch also called on the British government to request a UN peacekeeping force to restore order to Northern Ireland. This was not the same as raising the issue of partition, as others had previously lobbied for, but the violence of the summer of 1969 had shifted government priorities.
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From RTÉ Archives, Taoiseach Jack Lynch's televised address in August 1969 calling on the British government to request a peace-keeping force for Northern Ireland from the UN
From August 16th onwards, the Department of External Affairs canvassed support from other UN members to place Northern Ireland and a peacekeeping force on the agendas of both the Security Council and the General Assembly. The response was underwhelming. Unsurprisingly, the British government dismissed any such action, still maintaining that it was a domestic matter.
Meanwhile, the Government's earlier suspicions about American loyalties were realised. Under pressure from the British, the US Secretary of State instructed its UN representative to abstain from voting to formally inscribe Northern Ireland on the Security Council agenda. Although conversations with other UN representatives revealed a certain level of sympathy, it was clear few of the 15 countries on the Council were willing to go as far as voting Northern Ireland onto the agenda for meaningful consideration.
READ: It's 1970 and the Irish army are plotting to invade Northern Ireland
Finland's permanent representative to the UN proposed a compromise: Hillery was allowed to make Ireland’s case before the Security Council on August 21st, but the meeting was adjourned before a vote could be held. It was a similar story the following month when Hillery tried to raise the issue at the General Assembly. The Government’s concerns were noted for the record, but no further action would be taken at neither the General Assembly nor the Security Council.
While the Irish Government failed to secure UN intervention in the crisis, it represented the first time that they were ready to internationalise the deteriorating Northern Ireland situation in a meaningful way. Moreover, the move relieved some pressure on Lynch from those, including members of his own cabinet, who wanted his government to take firmer action regarding Northern Ireland.
Though unsuccessful in terms of tangible results, the Government’s attempts in 1969 to use the UN to solve the escalating crisis in Northern Ireland appeased some of its critics. More significantly, it showed a new willingness from the Government to move beyond bilateral talks with Belfast and London and opened up attitudes to pursuing solutions for Northern Ireland on an international stage.
Dr Melissa Baird is Assistant Editor with the Royal Irish Academy’s Documents on Irish Foreign Policy programme and is one of the editors of Documents on Irish Foreign Policy Vol. XIV: 1969-1973.
Documents on Irish Foreign Policy is a partnership between the Royal Irish Academy, the National Archives of Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
