White Paper: Belfast
Holding fire
Paddy Reynolds
For the first twelve hours of White Paper day plus one in Ulster neither the army nor police headquarters had logged a single 'incident.' This was not merely remarkable. It was extraordinary.
The absence of instant violence was of course a source of great relief and indeed some surprise. The security forces were on full red alert and not so long ago there had been dire predictions of Civil War and ' shoot to kill ' talk by loyalist leaders such as Mr William Craig. There were fears too that the IRA would not only escalate its activities in Ulster on this day of days in Irish history but might even strike again in Britain. If it was not a bloddbath on a genocidal scale that had been forecast then it was the fear of an immediate general strike to bring Ulster to its knees. Fearing such a crisis, many families had stored up supplies of tinned food, candles and camp stoves in preparation for siege conditions. Other families fled across the border to the Republic to get away from it all. Civilian defence associations were on the alert — and still are — to meet any incursions by the enemy.
Happily all was so peaceful, at least thus far, that there was a feeling of an undeclared ceasefire in the air. But an element of apprehension still persisted that this was only an ephemeral phase, and a realisation that it would take some time yet for the full implication of the White Paper fully to percolate tg the grass roots of Ulster's divided community. Militant leaders still seemed to be holding fire on their next line of action with the question stil 'not finally answered: war or peace.
A lot of the heat has already been taken out of the situation by one of the men responsible for causing so much of it, Mr Craig. He has decried that because the new charter neither restores full parliamentary democracy to Ulster nor does it provide for integration with Britain it must be made unworkable by 'loyalists' until they get their way. But undoubtedly Mr Craig on his own has adopted a new stance. He personally is willing at least to go ahead with the elections to the new assembly to see what happens after that.
The former Prime Minister, Mr Brian Faulkner, who appears still to be determined not to go down in history as the last of the Ulster Prime Ministers seems optimistic that in the final analysis the new assembly will eventually emerge as a stronger institution than Stormont ever was.
A quick vox pop held in Belfast on the morning after the White Paper revealed considerable consternation and disquiet, especially among what might be described as run-of-the-mill unionists. It was obvious they hankered for a return of the old Stormont with all its pomp and ceremony. But they could not help feeling that the days of 'Right Honourable friends,' Serjeants at Arms,' ' Black Rods' and 'Mr Speakers' had gone for ever. Although their future seems secure, with the assurance that Ulster remains part of the United Kingdom as long as the majority want it, there is a suspicion that the prospect of a Council of Ireland leaves the way still open to the eventual goal of a united Ireland.
Paddy Reynolds is a staff reporter in the Belfast offtce of the Irish Press
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