How the ‘exodus’ was viewed then

Minutes of a 1978 meeting between Mr Ross, Mr Mason and Bishop Robin Eames acknowledged the reluctance of the Chief Constable of the RUC at the time, Kenneth Newman, to endorse a relocation as this would have necessitated a number of sub stations on the cityside.

But Mr Ross insisted: “In fact this would be a good thing. There should also be a new state primary school close to the Fountain area. A speed-up in the re-development of the Fountain would be useful.”

Bishop Eames told the Minister they had not come to “make sectarian points” but “in the cause of a genuinely integrated city.”

“Families were now moving out of the city rapidly,” Bishop Eames warned. “It was urgent that the Protestants West of the Foyle should feel wanted and reassured.”

He also said: “The RUC was in the category of a status symbol. Protestants in Londonderry were prepared to take moderate leadership but Ian Paisley was trying to get a foothold and it was possible that people at the grass roots would soon turn to extremists.”

The Secretary of State said he could not promise anything but would see what could be done.

After Mr Ross and Bishop Eames left he asked NIO official Mr Huckle to undertake a serious study to see if the Protestant drift from the West Bank could be halted.

This prompted a meeting in December between Mr Huckle and the Assistant District Development Officer in Londonderry Sam McIlwaine who was enthusiastic about a quick study to quantify the phenomenon of population drift but viewed it as something of a lost cause.

A minute reveals Mr McIlwaine’s view was: “It was not a case of trying to prevent a drift; the drift had already occurred and might actually be destabilising if not, with improved security, even going slowly into reverse.”

Mr McIlwaine pessimistically warned they were “probably embarking on a cosmetic exercise, although there were several positive measures that he felt might, given the necessary political will, be adopted to improve and/or alleviate social conditions in Protestant (and Catholic) estates in Londonderry.”

The Londonderry development chief said NIHE and education statistics confirmed it was not just “a question of population drift but of relative demographic decline; proportionately, the Protestant population of Londonderry had certainly stopped growing if had not actually reduced.”

He said the drift had been dramatic. In the 1960s, the area bounded by the Abercorn Road and Bishops Street Without had been 90 per cent Protestant; now it was predominantly Catholic.

The same applied to Rosemount Avenue, Oakfield (Marlborough Avenue, Marlborough Road, Marlborough Street), and Belmont.

Both the Northland and the Glen (Cloughglass) estates had been thriving Protestant areas; now they were almost mixed estates.

The Fountain was under less pressure and had been wholly redeveloped with modern housing at reduced density, claimed Mr McIlwaine.

But Mr McIlwaine believed little could be done to “prevent or reverse a pre-existing trend that had probably already run its course.”

He said: “The supposed threat was largely psychological and territorial and could only be removed, if at all, by psychological measures.

“Londonderry, he said had never really, suffered from the same interface/intimidation problems so common in Belfast and the security situation had much improved.”

Crucially, Mr McIlwaine saw merit in Mr Ross’ suggestion that the main RUC station in Londonderry should be moved nearer the Fountain. Although this would later be ignored by the Secretary of State and the NIO.

“He did, however, see much in Mr Ross’ argument that policing should be improved in W. Londonderry. The Strand Road police station was being renovated and a new station was to be built in Racecourse Road Shantallow, but the closure of the local stations e.g. in Lecky road and Bishops Street had been a retrograde step.

“A police presence and/or effective policing in the Protestant (or even Catholic) estates on the west bank should, he said, go a long way to reduce Protestant fears,” he had said.

Following this meeting an eight page paper was prepared by Mr McIlwaine’s colleague, the Londonderry District Development Officer David White, and was sent to Permanent Secretary at the Department of the Environment Kenneth Bloomfield, for approval and ultimately for submission to the Secretary of State.

‘Londonderry: Population Movement From West Bank To East Bank’ provided the bald facts of the exodus in some detail and claimed the main causes were political fear; violence and destruction; murders and intimidation; a change of residence to the East Bank by virtually all RUC personnel; and the transfer of places to work to the East Bank.

According to Mr White some Protestants where afraid the Foyle could be used as a natural political boundary and that they would be abandoned to the Irish Republic.

He also claimed daily confrontations between hooligans and the army and violence and destruction on Saturdays during peak shopping was deterring people from entering the city.

Mr White’s report noted “several assassinations or serious personnel attacks in ‘mixed’ areas, e.g. of RUC, reserve policemen, UDR, prison warders, businessmen.”

He argued: “The result has been a gradual exodus of remaining Protestants. While there has not been a great deal of overt intimidation there has been some e.g. at Belmont close to the large and growing Shantallow development and what was once ‘mixed’ with a small Protestant majority is now almost wholly Roman Catholic.”

The development chief advised the decision of most RUC officers to move to the Waterside - just two remained on the cityside in 1979 - was having a demoralising effect.

“While the very real concern of RUC men for the safety of themselves and their families is appreciated, the reaction of many Protestant people is a very natural one.

“They reason that if the RUC ‘cannot protect themselves’ then protection may not be capable of being afforded to greatly outnumbered Protestant residents on West Bank in the event of a resurgence of violence,” wrote Mr White.

He suggested this may have been “one of the strongest factors in the whole complex situation coupled with the existence for a long time of ‘no go’ areas.” He noted how the Belmont Estate (where the RUC lived) was 95 per cent Protestant in 1969 but only 7 per cent Protestant by 1975.

The report concluded that the consequences of the exodus would have “wide ramifications and unhappy consequences.”

“Old and cherished traditions and associations are liable to disappear and a City which is alien to many present and former citizens is emerging.

“The deeper political implications are for study and action at another level but it is not difficult to visualise the acute problems which would face the RUC if there were to be a continuing exodus of persons who are sympathetic to the Police,” wrote Mr White.

The Development boss was - like his colleague Mr McIlwaine - downbeat in terms of a solution.

“Speaking quite bluntly from personal knowledge of and long residence in Londonderry I do not believe the flow can be reversed.

“Even though many people appear to regret having moved, they would find it very difficult to bring themselves to move back into what have become unfamiliar and unsympathetic surroundings.

“It is one thing knowing neighbours near whom they have lived for many years. It is something else again to move into surroundings where a person is conspicuously different from most others. In any event the disparity of numbers is now such as to make ‘return’ pointless for most people,” he wrote.

Like civil servants and political leaders today Mr White looked towards regeneration of the city and economic development as the best way forward.

“Efforts should and must be made to make life tolerable and worthwhile for all residents of the West Bank and to make its environment and facilities attractive to all the people of Londonderry and beyond,” his report stated.

“The theme should be that of inter-dependence and by the same token the East Bank should not be ‘terra incognita’ to people from West of the Foyle.

“The River should be a link and not a barrier and of course this underlines the importance of the new Foyle Bridge,” it added.

‘Londonderry: Population Movement’ ended up on the desk of Sir Robert Kidd at the NIO who in late March 1979 sent it to Roy Mason suggesting he reject Mr Ross’ proposals and make no explicit response to either the Unionist MP or Bishop Eames.

A restricted memorandum sent to the Secretary of State stated: “Examination leaves no doubt about the fact of the drift to the East Bank and the undesirable political and social consequences which this might give rise to. “Nevertheless, officials have concluded (and this is a view which I would endorse) that the solution lies not with any attempt at sectarian engineering of population patterns but rather in encouraging the free movement of population within Londonderry.”

The NIO official was more attracted to Mr White’s regeneration proposals and suggested the city centre should be developed in such a way as to prove “an attractive magnet to East Bank Protestants” to work, shop and play.

“This we consider is the best way to maintain the unity of the city and avoid a ‘two city’ syndrome,” he wrote.

The development of the Richmond Centre, the Foyle Bridge, the West Bank waterfront and an urban park in the Foyle Street area were also suggested as ways of discouraging the development of a divided city.

Ultimately, Mr Mason was invited to agree that Londonderry’s development should have been one which stressed the interdependence of the West and East Banks.

It concluded: “For the moment no written report should be sent to Mr Ross or Bishop Eames, as we consider that steady progress on the already established course is more likely to persuade them of the essential rightness of what is now proposed and the difficulty of adopting the course which they suggest.”