§ 77. Mr. Roseasked the Minister of State for Defence what special action is being taken by the military authorities to prevent civil disorder in Northern Ireland following the imprisonment of the hon. Member for Mid-Ulster (Miss Devlin) and in view of parades planned for 12th July, 1970.
§ Mr. Ian GilmourSubstantial reinforcements have been sent to Northern Ireland over the last few weeks.
§ The Rev. Ian Paisleyasked the Minister of State for Defence why troops were not available to give immediate protection to the citizens of the lower part of Newtownards Road, Belfast, from gunfire coming from the Roman Catholic Church in that area on the early morning of 28th June.
§ Mr. Ian GilmourOn the night of 27th-28th June all available troops had been deployed to deal with serious disturbances in the centre of Belfast. When trouble arose in the Newtownards area, where there had been no reason to expect this, it took some time to redeploy troops. The first request for military assistance in the area was received at 12.30 a.m. and troops arrived there at 1.50 a.m.