HC Deb 22 July 1975 vol 896 cc193-4W
Mr. Michael McNair-Wilson

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the recent shooting incidents in the Lower Falls district of Belfast involving the Army; and whether the situation in that part of the city has been reported to any incident centre, either those run by the security forces or by the Provisional IRA.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

I have received the following reports from the Army. At 42

Percentage of population 65+ visited
Service 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974
Health Visitor 8.3 8.8 11.4 11.3 10.4
Home Nurse 11.5 11.3 14.9 16.5 17.5
Percentage of population 65+visited (all locations)
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974
Chiropody 15.7 16.7 17.7 18.6
Number of visits made to patients' homes (all ages)
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974
60,873 66,918 75,818 79,743

Note:

Figures for 1974 are not yet available.

Mr. D. E. Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total number of elderly households in Wales in receipt of (a) meals in the home and (b) meals at centres in each year 1970 to

minutes past midnight on 13th July two men in a car made a deliberate attempt to avoid an Army vehicle checkpoint in the Lower Falls. When the security forces tried to stop them one of the two men in the car fired a shot at a member of the patrol. The partol returned fire and the car crashed. The two men were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds and at 2.45 on the afternoon of 13th July one of the men—Charles Irvine—died in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

There were five subsequent occasions on which shots were fired at Army patrols in the Lower Falls, one on 14th July, four on 15th. No member of the security forces was injured in any of these five incidents.

A message regarding these shootings was sent through our Belfast incident centre on 16th July. There have been no attempts to shoot members of the security forces in the Falls Road area subsequently.

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