Beneath the Troubles, the Cobblestones: Recovering the “Buried” Memory of Northern Ireland’s 1968
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: This short piece interrogates transnational perspectives of 1968 by briefly analyzing the place of Northern Ireland in the broader narrative. While the Northern Irish events appear to share many characteristics with popular memories of this period, they rarely feature in the ever-expanding roster of those having experienced a “1968.” The enduring marginalization of the province from the transnational collective memory is not to be understood by the specificities of the particular context there. Instead, one should look at the divergent post-’68 afterlife known as the Troubles to make sense of what is in fact an erroneous absence. However, since the onset of peace, possibilities to recalibrate this perspective have opened up, with valuable lessons for the broader challenge of managing the legacy of Northern Ireland’s contested past as part of the ongoing peace process. Let us begin with a brief outline of the events of 1968 in the “troubled province.” Following a period of building tension and mounting action around the issues of discrimination and inequality in the mid- to late 1960s, a second-ever, and peaceful, civil rights march took place on Derry/Londonderry’s Duke Street on October 5, 1968.1 The heavy-handed response of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), captured on camera and circulated locally, nationally, and internationally, triggered the beginning of Northern Ireland’s 1968. The ranks of those involved soon swelled and expanded, importantly bringing on board a youthful, student-based body known as the People’s Democracy (PD). Street protests and actions of civil disobedience multiplied, and by mid-November the government was dealing with a mass movement. Faced with this pressure, and despite much opposition from within his own ranks, the then prime minister, Terence O’Neill, was forced to offer concessions. His intended objective of halting protests failed as the PD pressed ahead with a controversial “Long March” (modeled on the U.S. civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965) between Belfast and Derry/Londonderry on January 1, 1969. The inevitable tensions provoked by this action came to a head on January 4 at Burntollet Bridge when a group of Unionist counter-protesters brutally attacked the peaceful marchers. This marked a significant turning point, as the sectarian tensions of the province—hitherto successfully contained during this period of protest—were now exposed and would become increasingly uncontrollable. O’Neill’s eventual reaction to call a general election for February 24, 1969, effectively marked the end of Northern Ireland’s 1968. Even a cursory consideration of the characteristics of this movement strongly suggests that it was part of what is now broadly considered to be a period of transnational protest. A famous student demonstration to Belfast City Hall on October 9, 1968. Image from the Belfast Telegraph Archive, supplied by the Belfast Telegraph. Used by permission. From a contextual point of view, Northern Ireland was exposed to the same socioeconomic and cultural developments that are considered to have been a critical factor in explaining the emergence of this period of protest elsewhere. Furthermore, when one thinks of the cast of 1968, images of young people pushing back the boundaries of the acceptable in a bid to break new ground and challenge the status quo come to mind. One’s reading of 1968 should of course not be limited to young people; the intergenerational interaction of this time is also a vital consideration. The prominence of the PD, together with its youthful, headstrong approach, which created tensions with the more moderate and cautious elements of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), places the province very much in line with experiences elsewhere. In addition, as protesters around the world observed, and were inspired by, their peers, the cross-fertilization of forms of action became a central factor in building a sense of transnational togetherness. The importance of space, sit-down protests, ultra-democratic structures, and the forms of expression on the streets of Belfast and Derry/Londonderry certainly testify to how activists there were plugged into the zeitgeist of protest sweeping the globe. The most visually striking example of this is surely the collection of PD posters that were directly influenced by the posters from the École de Beaux-Arts in Paris that have become iconic in representations of the paradigmatic French events of mai 68. Finally, while one must be careful to avoid simplifying ongoing debates about how this period can and should be interpreted, one particularly pertinent possibility is that it should be considered a revelatory crisis of some sort. That is, the protests, inspired by (but not limited to) the vigor and desires of a new generation declining the deference of their elders, exposed a whole raft of issues requiring attention that had been left to fester in the postwar era of relative comfort, stability, and prosperity. The case of Northern Ireland dovetails with such an interpretation.2 With these overlapping characteristics lending weight to the argument that Northern Ireland did indeed experience its very own “1968,” it is interesting to consider its place in the transnational narrative. Recognition that this was a period characterized by a wave of common revolt sweeping the globe has become an increasingly significant element in studies on this extraordinary moment.3 Furthermore, as well as a consolidation of the notion that a complete understanding of any “1968” is predicated on taking stock of the exceptional international context, recent trends have seen what can be described as peripheral ’68s being brought into the narrative, changing its overall structure.4 However, despite the quite obviously strong commonality between what happened in Northern Ireland and the general view of what took place elsewhere, it has been surprising to note an enduring marginalization of the province in transnational perspectives. While it is arguable that such an absence can be explained by the specificities of the Northern Irish context, this surely misses a vital point in making sense of this period. Every country, region, or area involved had its own specific contexts and demands. “1968” should be understood as an opening that empowered widespread challenges to status quos everywhere. The transnational commonality was based not on similar demands, but instead on the shared gateway opened at this time that provided the possibility for them to be voiced and heard. Northern Irish ’68ers were granted access, too. Instead, the absence of the province is to be understood by its very different post-’68 afterlife. In the history of Northern Ireland, 1968 is generally considered to be the year the Troubles began. The untenability of O’Neill’s position as prime minister was made clear in the February 1969 elections, as was the further entrenchment of communal divides. Over the course of the next six months, tensions continued to mount, and the specter of violence became ever more present. Northern Ireland was, from this point on, set on the nightmarish descent into the Troubles.5 Clashes between the nationalist population and the security forces increased in intensity, culminating in the Battle of the Bogside in August 1969. The British Army was called in to help bring order, and over the course of the next three years, violent and radical forces grew in prominence on both sides of the community. The tragic events of Bloody Sunday in 1972 were confirmation that Northern Ireland had reached the point of no return. The conflict raged until 1998, with more than 3,600 people losing their lives.6 As well as this horrific death toll, the period was defined by violence, destruction, hatred, and division. No one involved in the protest movements of 1968 envisaged or intended to trigger the horror that was to follow. However, the fact that the conflict did emerge so soon afterward set the province apart and provides the key to understanding the absence of Northern Ireland from the transnational story. In the case of France, soixante-huitards have arguably been the most important vector in the construction of a very positive national collective memory of 1968. In the immediate aftermath of les événements and, crucially, on every decennial anniversary since, the “memory barons” of mai 68 have been wheeled out to regale anyone prepared to listen to the tales of the heady, iconic days of their glorious past.7 Such an outlook has come to dominate transnational perspectives of the period, with 1968 largely considered to be a positive, progressive step forward for those having experienced it. The same clearly cannot be said in the case of Northern Ireland. In the short term, those involved were forced to maintain a low profile, as any association with the protest of 1968 in the context of the Troubles was a risk to personal security. In the medium to long term, as the casualties and deaths mounted, a certain degree of guilt and responsibility for precipitating such horror was felt by some of those involved. The obvious consequence of this divergent post-’68 afterlife has been a very different process of memory construction. In contrast to France, there was no immediate desire in Northern Ireland to forge a positive narrative. This was confirmed as the province spiraled further into the nightmare of the Troubles. During the conflict, there was no clamor to take ownership of the legacy of 1968 in the same way obvious elsewhere. Therefore, from both within and without, the memory of Northern Ireland’s ’68 can be described as having been buried beneath the horror that was the Troubles, thus explaining the absence of the province from the popular memory of this period. However, the current peacetime, post-Troubles context provides the grounds for a recalibration of the memory of this time and the possibility to write Northern Ireland into the transnational narrative. The signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 effectively brought the conflict to an end.8 The subsequent era of (albeit fragile) peace has led to many changes. One such area concerns perspectives on the province’s contested past. 1968 is a potent example of how this new context has provided an opportunity to reframe memories of such significant moments. The first peacetime anniversary of 1968 took place in 2008. Forty years on, and for the first time, this period was subjected to the same commemorative glare that has become so commonplace elsewhere.9 A whole plethora of events that took place to mark this anniversary fed into (and fed off) an undoubted surge in interest. In the conferences, workshops, concerts, and screenings, most notable was the widespread involvement of former participants, now keen to tell their stories and make their voices heard. Furthermore, having hitherto been afforded little attention, 1968 became the focus of a tense battle between the two dominant nationalist political parties (Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic and Labour Party) over the ownership of this period’s legacy, again marking an important change. Finally, there was a quite obvious effort made in this commemorative period to situate the events of Northern Ireland’s 1968 within the exceptional international context of the time. This shift, as signaled by 2008, highlighted the possibilities opened up in the era of peace to right the wrong that is the absence of the province from the transnational memory of 1968. Such a recalibration broadens the contextualization of this period, which can only help enhance understandings of this pivotal moment and provides valuable lessons for the significant challenge of confronting the difficulties of the contested past as part of the peace process. The ongoing recovery of the buried memory of Northern Ireland’s 1968 is sure to characterize the fiftieth anniversary of these seminal events. Chris Reynolds is Associate Professor of Contemporary French and European Studies at Nottingham Trent University. His main research interests are in relation to the events of 1968 from a French, Northern Irish, and European perspective. In addition to a wide range of articles and chapters on these topics, he is the author of Memories of May ’68: France’s Convenient Consensus (University of Wales Press, 2011) and Sous les pavés … The Troubles: Northern Ireland, France and the European Collective Memory of 1968 (Peter Lang, 2015). He is currently leading a significant project with the Ulster Museum on the question of Northern Ireland’s 1968.
Source: The American Historical Review
Author: Chris Reynolds
Language: English
Topic: Irish and British Studies
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2806555585