A Troubled Runaway

A Troubled Runaway
By Paul McCann
It was the summer of 1969 and all around me houses burned .
The illegal paramilitary were armed and placed snipers who perched
themselves on roof tops .
One by one they picked off innocent targets on the street .

In Belfast we learned to zig zag when we ran and help those who were
hit .
I stood there with many others and watched the senseless destruction of
hundreds of homes in my village .
But what a difference a day makes because the very next day a promise
was made to rebuild the houses and give them back at no cost to a
community who had seen enough of violence at their door .
A great sense of pride returned to the district as three streets of new
homes where built . An unconditional love was placed in every brick
that was layed . There was a heartfelt generosity from all sectors of
the community .
Business people donated building products and tradesmen offered their
skills free of charge .
After six years the homes were finished but not the troubles .
During this time their had been many assassinations in the district
.
Some of the local people were forced to take matters into their own
hands .
They formed a group of vigilantes to protect the people in the district
.
One of these men was Jackie .

I knew Jackie well and respected his efforts over they years in
appealing for peace and calm between the British Army who were seen as
the invaders and the community of North Belfast .
I laughed the day Jackie jumped up and sat on the top of a armoured car
screaming out to the people for peace . Jackie sat there up on top of
the vehicle waving his arms in the air . The British Army never
bothered to pout him off and so Jackie began to echo his opinions about
the injustice of war .
Before long he had a crowd gathered around .
Most of the audience were women and children who cheered each time
Jackie finished talking .

The British Army saw no problem with Jackies antics and slowly drove
along the Crumlin Road with Jackie on the roof of their armoured car
.People marched behind the armoured car and it was all just harmless
fun .

It was like watching a movie that suddenly slowed down when it happened
.
Out of nowhere a car pulled up in front of the armoured car .
This man got out and fired off arcs of bullets from his sub machine
guns into the small streets were I lived . Jackie was hit and fell to
the ground . People dived for cover as the British Army returned fire
.
So it was on that evening in March after Jackie had been shot dead that
the picture turned very ugly .

Gang leaders emerged and run territories around the province .

Armed thugs and villains roamed the streets applying force as they saw
fit .
On the other hand Jackie's death spurred on a new fight for law and
order .
The civil rights movement had been formed .

At last people spoke of an equality .
No one was in minority and no longer would anyone be manipulated and
trodden underfoot . No longer would people turn away in fear .

No one really expected this uneasy peace to last but it did for a
moment in time until a new situation erupted .
The IRA began their offensive against the British army .

In 1969 as internment was introduced the IRA went on an all out fight
to the end . For some it was their last stand . Death or freedom was
the cry as the gun battle in our tiny streets never let up .
The British Army kicked in front doors and dragged out all the men and
boys over 16 years of age . Everyone was deemed a suspect .

All suspects where put into interment camps and prisons without a fair
trail .
Many of those large families where then left without a Father , husband
, brother or son . Those members who were left behind felt bitter and
cheated by those who had been sent to keep the peace .

No longer could they trust England and the occupation of their army
.
The troubles escalated from that day with daily rioting , and looting
.
Young men grew up and took up the gun as their Fathers spent their days
in prison . Locked behind the barbed wires of Long Kesh internment camp
and other hastily built interment camps . Suddenely an entire
generation of men were locked up without trial and had to accept the
law that had put them in there .

On the outside a new breed of freedom fighters emerged . Ruthless and
relentless in their cause to push England out of Ireland . There were a
series of operations that began that involved car bombs and kidnapping
.
Then came the senseless killing and confusion .
New electronic warfare was introduced and double agents and
supergrasses were employed on all sides of the divide .
It was serious stuff and tit for tat assassinations began as names and
secrets were being passed around the various paramilitary groups in
Northern Ireland . No one felt safe answering a knock on their door and
when anyone left their front door each day it was never sure if you
would return .

A rent strike had been in existence along with the gas meter strikes in
the catholic districts .

Anti-social behaviour had crept into every corner of the city which
gave birth to the local community police force .

The underground paramilitaries kept things under control with knee cap
jobs , tar and featherings and punishment shootings .

A new breed with a new culture emerged from the rubbles a city street
being blown apart . They had a new blend of music and new batch of
songs .They had attitude and grudges and found a hardness not many had
known or experienced before .

All around the little streets barricades and grenades fell among the
people who stood and watched helpless .
There was no work because there was no industry .There was no peace and
no hope left as hard times brought a gritty substance into the
expression give us this day our daily bread .
The church seats were not as popular as they once were and many hard
questions were being asked .
Families began to hurt deeply and a hunger for justice cried out loud
.

God seemed absent there and grief filled every household in the
district .
Hard times indeed .
More and more factories where burned to the ground as were many small
businesses and soon the intimidations began .
It was dangerous to travel and even more dangerous to talk of peace
.
Those who did found claims on their life .
Somehow my family and I found an escape hatch .

Dad applied in desperation for emigration to Australia .
It all happened so quickly .
We had been accepted for emigration and were given two weeks to prepare
to leave Belfast and enter Australia .
A new life in a new country awaited but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go
.
It was devastating to leave behind everything that meant anything to me
in life
The last week was hectic . Saying farewell to my friends was difficult
.
Everyone told me how lucky I was to get away out of Northern Ireland
.
I wished I could have taken them all with me .

On my last night in Belfast I took my long walk home along Etna Drive
.
What a shock I got when a sniper from the end of the Street opened up
with a semi-automatic weapon . I hit the deck and could feel the
bullets skimming past my ears . Some women came to their door and
shouted
"Are ye all right son ? "
"Take off inside missus there's sniper on the roof up there "
I replied .
The gunman stopped to reload his weapon and I made a dash for the
nearest garden wall and dived over into safety behind a thick hedge
.
As morning came I got up with only one thought for the day .

My very last day ay home struck like a dagger in the heart .
When the taxi pulled up at the house all our neighbours stood at their
doors waving goodbye .
I took a last look at Black Mountain and as the gentle hue of a
morning
sun peered over the rooftops I felt no warmth in its kiss .
When I arrived in Australia I thought to myself .

Is the war really over ?

The End