One of the most successful of all the republican propaganda
campaigns waged in the past 40 years has been to destroy the
reputation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, at least in the
eyes of gullible observers in other countries.
Northern Ireland will never be able to repay the debt owed
to the brave men and women of the RUC who were in the front
line of the onslaught waged against this province by the IRA
during the long years of the Troubles.
They were murdered with shots in the back, the head, and
blown up by bombs and explosives, set alight by petrol bombs,
and subjected to constant vilification.
Yet the RUC held its line and prevented Northern Ireland
from going out of control and into civil war. Its reward was
to be consigned to the dustbin of history when it no longer
suited the purposes and objectives of those in authority in
London.
As a police force, the RUC was second to none. Its rate of
detection of ordinary crime was high, and would have compared
favourably with any other police force in the British Isles
or Western Europe.
As a police force able to deal with terrorism it was second
to none, and its counter-insurgency methods were often studied
by other forces, who didn't hesitate to call on the RUC for
assistance when required.
Having listened to programmes and viewed them on television,
dealing with the end of the British Army's Operation Banner',
I am sure many people will have shared my astonishment and
disappointment at the comment of a presenter on 'Newsnight'
on July 31.
Commenting on the Army's introduction to Londonderry and
Belfast in 1969, the presenter referred to the police force,
obviously the RUC, as being "not all that competent"
or words to that effect.
What a foolish remark. The RUC was under intense pressure
in the weeks leading up to the explosion of violence on August
12 of that year.
Nightly it had been subjected to missile throwing by mobs
of nationalist youths, in towns throughout the province. Indeed,
what brought the whole thing to a head was the decision of
republicans in Belfast to instigate similar attacks on Protestant
areas of the city.
The fact is that the RUC was stretched to its limits, and
many of its officers had been on duty for several nights,
without sleep.
The Northern Ireland Government of the time hesitated in
calling out the police reserve, the Ulster Special Constabulary.
It meant that the RUC never had the support of its reserve
force in Londonderry, and the Specials were only called out
in Belfast on the night of August 14 when republican mobs
tried to invade the Shankill, and were repulsed.
Instead of mobilising the USC throughout the country, the
Northern Ireland Government invited the British Government
to send in the Army. The rest, as they say is history, but
it certainly was not due to any incompetence on the part of
the RUC that things got out of control.
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