Parades Case Study

The British government re-introduced internment without trial under the Special Powers Act on 9th August, 1971 at the request of Faulkner to the British Prime Minister, Edward Heath (Broad & Downing, 1980). The British Cabinet proposed that Unionist paramilitary members also be targeted as part of the interment process and a ban on all parades should be imposed so that the introduction of internment would not be seen as only targeting the Catholic population. Faulkner put forward the case that there was no Loyalist terrorism and that the banning of parades would be unworkable. The British Government conceded to a six-month ban on parades and no internment of Loyalist suspects.

The decision to re-introduce internment had been made the

These men were to become known as ‘The Hooded Men’ or ‘The Guinea Pigs’ (McGuffin, 1974) as they endured many hours with hoods over their heads and new interrogation techniques were practised on them. They were taken to the Ballykelly Unit, a specially designed building in a remote area of County Derry. Over seven days they were deprived of sleep, food and drink, brutally beaten and exposed to white noise. They were also thrown, hooded, from helicopters hovering one foot above the ground. These interrogation techniques left the fourteen men with serious mental issues.

Nine of the remaining “Guinea Pigs” have recently enlisted the help of the Irish Government in their appeal to the European Court of Human Rights against the British Government that stress positions, white noise and threats to kill are recognised forms of torture. The case contests that the British Army broke the Human Rights Act when torturing these men. (Gallagher,

Though she herself had not been interned her two close friends had been. Her friends had been arrested whilst attending a civil rights protest march and each was interned for over a year. She could not understand how people could think that internment was justified, especially in the case of the ‘Guinea Pigs’. (Interview, see Appendix 2) Mrs Moore agreed to ask two people, one from each side of the divide, to describe their personal experiences of being an internee but warned that it may not be easy as most former internees are reluctant to relive this period of their