Sir, – Brendan Ó Cathaoir (An Irishman’s Diary, October 2nd) quotes a speech made by Sir Edward Carson on July 12th, 1920 and implies that his remarks resulted in the subsequent expulsion of 5,000 Catholic workers from the Belfast shipyards on July 21st, 1920. To say the least this is an oversimplified interpretation of events.
The immediate context for the shipyard expulsions appears to have been a meeting held at the Harland and Wolff yard on July 21st to protest against republican violence. It was alleged that one worker shouted, “Up the rebels”. It is hard to say whether or not this claim had any substance; what matters is that it was used as a pretext for the expulsions.
Moreover, Carson deplored the violence in unambiguous terms on at least two occasions in the days after the expulsions. The first occasion was in the Commons on July 23rd, 1920 in response to remarks made against him by Joe Devlin, the Nationalist MP for West Belfast. On July 24th, 1920, The Belfast News-Letter reported a message given to its London correspondent by Carson. “I am asked by Sir Edward Carson to convey to the people an expression of his earnest hope that they will give the authorities all possible assistance in quelling disturbances, whether by keeping away from areas in which trouble is likely to arise or, where it can be done, by using their influence for the prevention of disorder. Any other course would be simply to play the enemy’s game”. – Yours, etc,