The death of former Sinn Fein Assemblyman John Kelly and the recent end of Operation Banner reminded me of Kelly's memories of the arrival of British troops, who were welcomed "as saviours".
In his own words. "I think most people saw the arrival of British troops on the ground in Derry and in Belfast as an indication that the British were going to do something about the situation in Northern Ireland. That there was going to be a change a
nd that perhaps it was the precursor to a withdrawal, even though they had arrived, a withdrawal of British influence within the six counties. And that was reaffirmed with the abolition of Stormont.
"People felt that on the Nationalist side, certainly, that at last the British were going to confront Unionism, and sort of say, 'Well, this cannot continue.'
I think that would be the main attitude of Republicans then. There was also the attitude that that having seen British troops on the ground, that if they remained and that if they became overtly anti-Nationalist, that was going to be a resurrection of the whole Republican ethos of the whole physical force movement, then that they were going to come into conflict with the British Army at some stage."
He recalled that "Republicans on barricades were dealing at a senior level with British Army commanders, majors, colonels and whatever on the ground, so there was that kind of communication and relationship with the British on the ground. And the British commanders on the ground knew with whom they were dealing, and so there was no problem, which again gave hope - hope perhaps isn't the correct word - but sort of arose in Republicans the concept that at last there was going to be a change in the whole attitude from Britain, towards the national question in Ireland."
Not only did Kelly have face-to-face dialogue with British Army commanders but when the legendary Brigadier Frank Kitson requested a meeting with senior IRA people in Belfast.
Kelly recalled that the meeting was turned down by IRA people. The Brigadier wanted to discuss with them the ongoing situation and how it should be resolved.
The IRA's reluctance to meet him stemmed from the fact that Kitson's record "and his involvement in Kenya and other places, that he was merely there to pick the brains of the people that he would be meeting to see what way they were thinking, because he was a very clever, devious man.
"And so they felt that in some ways they would be showing their hand to him, that he would sit back and see exactly the type of people he would be dealing with and working with and would know how to combat them, you know. And that was the main reason, not to let your enemy know what you were thinking, and that was the reason for not meeting Kitson."
Kelly also recalled a gun lecture from a senior army officer in September 1969 when "he stripped down a ... machine gun and demonstrated how we should put it together again ... he did that to ascertain how much we knew about the weaponry as another question because he was an intelligence officer, so one just wasn't quite sure as to what his motives were."
When Kelly was asked whether the army saw the IRA as the enemy - or vice-versa at the time - he bluntly replied: "They did not, no."
