The McCurtains home after the Army had finished with it As a Christmas present to Andersonstown, British soldiers in Belfast wrecked the home of tore up floorboards, smashed furniture, broke the McCurtain family in Ladybrook Drive. Soldiers, some of them reported to be drunk, open cupboards, tore out the entire fireplace, made holes through the roof and ceiling. While this was going on Cyril McCurtain was being tortured at Dunmurray RUC Barracks. The British Army later described this as a "routine" arms search.
Typical of the more petty forms of Army harassment was an incident at the Suffolk Inn, on the fringes of Andersonstown, Just before closing time on 22 December, soldiers poured into the har. One teenager refused to give his name, and was then drugged into a Sarucen, from which emerged screams and thuds, He was then taken to Fort Monagh, and was only released in the carly hours of the morning. after strenuous efforts by the People's Democracy.
INTERNEES The stingy gesture of releasing a small number of internees has only drawn attention to the fact that around 600 are still behind the wire. The delight of families who have had someone restored is outweighed by the bitterness of those who have been disappointed. And every one wonders how long some of the better known men will stay free, while some are worried that they may become targets for the UVF.
The big fear of the catholics is the possibility of a new UVF murder campaign. This would pose the Executive and the British Army with to erode the sectarianism of the six-counties Whitelaw had a disincentive to act against the previous murder campaign-it diverted loyalist energies, and increased demoralisation in the catholic areas. The same pressutes will be on the security forces in the event of a tenewed campaign. But this time the SDLI must bear partial responsibility for any failure to crush the protestant murder aguads.
DOWNTURN In this period of uncertainty there is an evident downturn in the catholic resistance movement. A meeting organised by the People's Democracy in Castle Street near the city centre, to protest at the force-feeding of the Wincheater prisoners, received only a sparse attendance; and a Sinn Fein protest inceting in the St. James district the following day attracted an even smaller turnout.
It is on this negative feeling of war-weariness, rather than on positive support for the Sunning dale deal, that British imperialism must rely to achieve a stabilisation. Jt is not that people have been won over by the settlement-the most intense efforts by the SDLP to sell the deal have only met with a cynical conviction that they are in it for the money, But lew can see an immediate alternative. And as 1973 fades out, the prevalent attitude in Belfast & Wait and see.
Bob Purdie An important precedent was set by Bristol Trades Council's public inquiry on 19 December into police raids on left-wing militants in the city The raids were carried out in April and September last year. The police sere allegedly Tooking for explosives, but concentrated on obtaining inforotation about the left groops in the area-address books, political documents,
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TRADES COUNCIL INQUIRY EXPOSES POLICE METHODS