Page 236 - They Also Served

and an O’Neill-supporting MP was kicked unconscious by Orange Order members at a political rally.
In December 1967, O’Neill met the new Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, in Belfast, followed by a reciprocal meeting in Dublin. However, a plea to improve cross-community relations resulted in O’Neill being pelted with eggs, flour and stones by his own supporters. Demonstrations by Catholic civil rights activists led to O’Neill being summoned to Westminster, where Harold Wilson threatened to place Northern Ireland under direct rule. Returning to Belfast, O’Neill introduced a series of reforms to improve the lives of the Catholic minority. However, these were rejected by Catholic hardliners, including future MP Bernadette Devlin, and a protest march from Londonderry to Belfast was organised. The march was ambushed on 4th January 1969 at Burntollet Bridge by Unionists, some of whom were off-duty policemen. The incident is generally considered to be the start of the ‘Troubles’.
O’Neill called a snap election and narrowly avoided defeat in his own constituency to Ian Paisley. His credibility undermined, he resigned on 28th April 1969. An interview he gave to the Belfast Telegraph a few days later sums up the vast divide between the two communities at the time: ‘It is frightfully hard to explain to Protestants that if you give Roman Catholics a good job and a good house, they will live like Protestants because they will see neighbours with cars and television sets; they will refuse to have 18 children. But if a Roman Catholic is jobless and lives in a ghastly hovel, he will rear 18 children on National Assistance. If you treat Roman Catholics with due consideration and kindness, they will live like Protestants despite the authoritative nature of their Church’.
Created Baron O’Neill of the Maine, he remained active in the House of Lords until shortly before his death in 1990. In the wake of the 30-year Troubles, O’Neill’s attempts at reform and improving the lot of Northern Irish Catholics have been largely forgotten by both communities.
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