Mr. Samuel Rush

HC Deb 22 June 1973 vol 858 cc220-1W

Mr. Kilfedder

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how it happened that the Belfast-Bangor bus, driven by the late Mr. Samuel Rush, was allowed to enter an area where disturbances were already in progress; and why no action was taken by the security forces to divert or stop traffic.

Mr. David Howell

The incident in which Mr. Rush met his death occurred at 10.20 p.m. on 10th June 1973. Before that, there had been only one serious incident in the whole of East Belfast during the evening in question—at 7 p.m. when three shots were fired at Mountpottinger RUC Station, which is not on the route followed by the bus. The shot which killed Mr. Rush was fired during an attack on the Army vehicle check point at the junction of Woodstock Road and Albertbridge Road. This was the first intimation that the security forces had of a disturbance in the area. It is not correct to say that they permitted traffic to flow into an area where disturbances were already in progress.