The Road to Londonderry, April–October 1968

In the six months covered by this chapter the political atmosphere swung from the optimism and complacency surrounding O’Neill’s fifth anniversary in office to the sudden, and dangerous, polarisation of the two communities on the eve of the Londonderry riot. Many of the ingredients for the 25 years of violence which followed can be discerned during those months. Wilson himself claims to have sensed the unreality of this period. He wrote later, ‘Throughout that spring and summer there was an uneasy quiet in the streets of Derry and Belfast, and with it an uneasy reprieve for Capt. O’Neill.’ 3 These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Archaeology · Geography · Optimism · Political science · Politics · QUIET · Spring (device) · Engineering · History · Irish and British Studies · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology