OW that Sir Roger Casement’s remains are finally beneath Irish soil, and the Lemass/O’Neill talks have passed into history one would expect the ‘wind of change’ in this troubled island to be sweeping away intolerance and bigotry. For the first time in living memory the children in the overcrowded and badly-housed City of Belfast will be able to play on the swings in the Corporation parks on the Sabbath. The decision to unlock the swings was reached by the City Council in the following way. Sixteen anti- Unionists (made up of Northern Ireland Labour Party, Republican Labour Party and Independent Labour Party members), combined with fourteen apparently enlightened Unionist members to outvote a solid entrenched Unionist vote of 24; Le., there was a ‘free vote.” examination of the members voting reveals that only three people actually changed sides since the previous vote on this issue last November. The decision was reached not to unlock the children’s swings on Sunday by a majority of one vote. Discrepancies when compairing the figures are due to members being absent, abstaining, and the death of a councillor (Unionist) with the subsequent byelection (no change). From the time when it became known that the Lockwood Committee, set up by the Northern Ireland Government, had recommended Coleraine as the site best suited for the proposed new £20,000,000 university, there has been a steady build-up of public opinion opposing this recommendation. It has been felt that the claims of Londonderry, which already possesses the nucleus of a university at Magee University College, have been ignored largely on political grounds. Catholics and Protestants alike have joined in spontaneous demonstratons, travelling from Londonderry in a motorcade in order to make rep-
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March 17, 1965 — THE WEEK
resentations at Stormont, the
Northern Ireland Parliament building.
The Northern Ireland Prime Mini-
ster, Terence O’Neill, on realising the
strength of opinion opposing Cole-
raine as the site, threw over his
Minister of Education’s motion (that
the Lockwood Report be taken into
consideration) and substituted his
own (that the decision of the Gov-
ernment be approved). He thus
made the issue one of confidence
such that were his motion defeated a
political crisis would arise which
could bring about a General Election
in Northern Ireland. More than
one staunch Ulster Unionist member
of the Stormont Parliament attacked
their own leader in explicit terms,
referring particularly to the fact that
were it not an issue of confidence they
would vote against the recommenda-
tions of the Lockwood Committee.
The debate lasted until 3.0 a.m., a
rare occurrence in Stormont, and two
divisions at the end were as follows:
The Labour amendment that the
new university should be sited in
Londonderry was defeated by 27 - 19.
Two Unionist M.P.s voted with the
Opposition and one Unionist M.P.
abstained.
The Government’s motion asking
their policy to be endorsed was
passed by 26 - 18. One Unionist
M.P. voted with the Opposition and
three Unionist M.P.s abstained.
The figures indicate the extent of
the ‘wind of change’ in Irish politics,
particularly when only in 1962, at
the last General Election, a total of
twenty Ulster Unionist M.P.s were
returned unopposed.
W. Barratt (Belfast)
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