We look at the stories that were making the headlines in the Andersonstown News this week in 1985...
Editorial
WE hadn’t long to wait before we heard the first cuckoo holding forth on the Obins Street battle.
Father Pat Buckley from Larne would have all Nationalists rushing forth in defence of the R.U.C. for their "brave" stand against the Orange ruffians in Portadown. We are sure that Jack Hermon gave a sigh of relief when he heard that, seeing as he had paid out a packet on overtime and received quite a number of cracked skulls for the expressed purpose of having the same Nationalist cuckoos rush to his defence.
The whole episode was so blatantly manipulated that it surprised us that anyone would have fallen for it, even a priest all the way from Cork. For once we agree wholeheartedly with the Orange Order, that the Obins Street incident was contrived to make the R.U.C. look impartial for some reason or other. Whether it was because of the Fitzgerald/Thatcher detente or some obscure American pressure, we cannot be sure.
But we can be sure that if a few Orange heads were bumped in Portadown, then a greater number of Nationalist heads will not only be bumped but maybe even blown off with plastic bullet guns before very long.
To the majority of Nationalists in the ghetto areas of Belfast and elsewhere, the R.U.C. in Portadown were only a pale shadow of their usually robust selves, who actually allowed people to stand on their Land Rovers to get a vantage point, and whose plastic bullet guns suddenly started to veer skywards before discharging. This is something that has never happened on the Falls Road, where plastic bullet guns become deadly accurate, as the number of dead children and innocent women in this area will easily certify.
Does anyone in all seriousness believe that the British Government or the R.U.C. were the least bit concerned about the sensitivities of the handful of Nationalists in Obins Street? Or that they would have had any difficulty in containing any opposition from that quarter as they showed with great gusto a couple of nights previous. No. The whole thing was a politically motivated exercise aimed at hoodwinking the Nationalist population into accepting something quite unpalatable in the very near future, and anyone who thinks otherwise is, to use the old Falls Road saying, either "mad or mental".
Stoneyford
FIERY anti-Catholic statements by Unionist leaders are causing concern to Nationalists country areas around Belfast
First victims of the rabble-rousing efforts of the Loyalist spokesmen were Catholics living in Stoneyford on the outskirts of West Belfast, where last week, for the first time ever the Orange Order held a parade. Stoneyford is between one and two miles from Hannahstown, and the same distance from the newest developments in Poleglass.
The most serious incident over the Twelfth period occurred on the Eleventh Night when shots were fired into the home of a Catholic pensioner in Stoneyford village itself. The woman, who lives with her elderly brother, was uninjured in the attack. It is believed a local man has since been arrested and charged with the shooting, though this has gone unreported by the media. Earlier the same night, a Catholic man driving past the bonfire in Stoneyford village was stoned by Loyalists who had gathered to drink around the bonfire. The man's car was badly damaged in the attack, but he managed to drive clear of the area.
Both these incidents were reported to the R.U.C in Lisburn, but they told local people who had demanded a greater R.U.C. presence in the area on the 11th night, that they couldn't afford any men "because Lisburn was going mad." Shortly after the Twelfth itself a family in Stoneyford who hail originally from the Falls Road learnt from their Protestant neighbours that they had dissuaded an Orange mob from burning the Catholic family out.
The atmosphere in Stoneyford has eased considerably since the Orange parade on the Twelfth. One local man told our reporter that it had been an extremely tense time for local Catholics.
"We Nationalists here are pretty well isolated and were in a defenceless position", he said.
The decision by the Orange Order to hold "a field’ in Stoneyford is believed to be a deliberate part of their strategy to combat what they see as "Catholic infiltration" of Protestant areas. In recent years the local Catholic Church, St Peter's, or as it is more commonly known 'The Rock', has experienced a steady increase in parishioners in recent years. According to Church estimates, the number of parishioners in the Hannahstown Parish of which Stoneyford is part, increased from 2,600 in 1981 to almost 2,900 In 1985. To mark the Twelfth the Orange Order actually published a booklet detailing steps which Protestants should take to counter movement of Catholics into 'their' areas.
GRAND TOTAL: Pictured with a cheque for the Ethiopian Live Aid Famine Appeal back in July 1985 were the resident DJs at Lámh Dhearg Social Club, Marty McCartney, and Raymond Megaghey who, along with Sid Thompson, raised a staggering £1,050 at their usual Sunday night disco in the Hannahstown clubrooms last weekend
Need to discuss housing problems in Turf Lodge
A NEWLY elected Sinn Féin councillor is pressing the Housing Executive to meet with residents from Turf Lodge to discuss their housing problems.
Lily Fltzsimmons has stressed to the Executive that local people want to see action taken to reduce the risk of fire in their homes.
"Over the past year there have been six major fires in the estate leading to the death of two people and the loss of much personal property,” she said. "Locals feel that the standard of electric wiring in their homes is a fire hazard and wish to meet with the Executive to discuss urgent improvements."
Councillor Fitzsimmons has formally written to the Executive asking that a delegation of local people be allowed to discuss their complaints with local housing chiefs.
"There are a number of issues residents feel very strongly about. These include the need for central heating and severe dampness,” she said.
