EDWARD LONGWILL, security policy analyst at the University of Ulster at Magee campus, looks at a much-discussed issue arising at the time of the Battle of the Bogside

Before midnight on 12 August Donegal's Neil Blaney, the Irish Minister for Agriculture, received a phone call from sources in the Bogside who informed him of the deteriorating situation.

He unsuccessfully attempted to contact Taoiseach Jack Lynch. On 13 August the Irish cabinet sat to discuss their political and military response to the escalating crisis. Blaney wanted to send Irish soldiers across the border in an attempt to internationalise the situation and provoke UN intervention.

The cabinet rejected this yet Lynch conceded to Blaney's demand for a strong public statement against the Stormont government. That evening Lynch made a televised broadcast warning his government could 'no longer stand by', had ordered the army to establish field hospitals along the border and would diplomatically seek UN intervention.

One Corporal who had been deployed to the Donegal border recalled how the 'flush of excitement' gave way to 'boredom and frustration'. On 13 August "we all thought we were going across" in the Bogside they were '"going hammer and tongs and the British troops hadn't arrived". Within the Bogside rumour and counter-rumour circulated that Irish soldiers had already crossed the border.

On 14 August Finbar O'Doherty and 44 other Bogsiders travelled to Rockhill field hospital in Letterkenny for medical supplies while in the town's market square Jackie Mullan and Leo Deehan appealed for civilian volunteers to come and support the people of the Bogside. Speaking in the square, O'Doherty asked the people to lobby the Irish government for military intervention.

Paddy Harte, Fine Gael TD for Donegal North-East, witnessed B Specials at the Bogside who lined up outside a barricade ready for an assault. He immediately contacted Lynch and asked him to make a request to the British to prevent this from happening.

However successful mediation from the British army ended the unrest.
In the days and weeks after British intervention, the purpose of Lynch's speech and the formation of the field hospital became apparent. The Irish government never intended to militarily intervene and sought to provoke British intervention. Patrick O'Donnell, Fine Gael TD for Donegal-Leitrim, castigated Lynch for his response to the crisis. The 13 August broadcast gave "false hope" to the men at barricades and gave them "the courage and strength" to resist the RUC while "tear gas bombs are bursting all around them".

In late September Lynch made a speech in Tralee to clarify his policy, stating that his government had no intention of using force and sought a peaceful solution. In mid-December Blaney made a contradictory speech in Letterkenny claiming the Fianna Fáil party had never taken a decision to rule out force.

Blaney became a target of condemnation from opposition TDs and journalists for his provocative comments. However de-classified files prove that he actually was speaking the truth. In September the government asked the army to assess military intervention in Northern Ireland. Army planners believed invasion could only result in a negative political and military outcome.

Interestingly local politicians in Donegal made incredibly more provocative statements over events in Derry which never attracted national attention. In response to the RUC's vicious beating of Samuel Devenney in April 1969, Donegal County Council held a special meeting on the first working day after the attack. Senator Bernard McGlinchey, Fianna Fáil, announced the introduction of a motion calling for the recall of the army from UN service in Cyprus to take up duty along the border and potentially enter Northern Ireland. This motion passed unanimously. Liam Cunningham, Fianna Fáil TD, said "It is only right that we in the neighbouring county should indicate our anxiety for the people of Derry."

During McGlinchey's speech to introduce the motion, he made what could have been interpreted as a call to arms - 'Fifty years ago, a small group of Irishmen defeated the might of the British army. I don't see why history should not be allowed to repeat itself."

Seamus Rodgers, Sinn Féin councillor, described the vocal militancy of the Fianna Fáil-dominated County Council as vote-seeking 'sham republicanism' in preparation for the June elections. His analysis proved accurate because both McGlinchey and Cunningham remained with Fianna Fáil rather than support or stand with Blaney's party – the more republican 'Independent Fianna Fáil' - after the Arms Trial controversy.
Rhetorical republicanism within Donegal politics reached its most dangerous level in Letterkenny Urban Council. In response to the pogroms that took place in Belfast on 14 August, Councillor Tony Gallagher made a proposal to make it illegal, "as an act of treason", for any citizen of the Republic to join or serve in the B Specials. He said that making membership illegal was one thing the council could do to "look after their persecuted brothermen".

The council altered the motion into a drastically more moderate proposal of calling on Lynch to intervene in whatever manner the government thought most helpful. However Councillor Patsy O'Donnell told other councillors "anybody going in to serve the B Specials should be taken up for treason and hanged from a tree".

Fortunately no mob attacks against Donegal Protestants suspected of serving with the B Specials occurred and British intervention prevented a massacre in the Bogside. However within years, on Bloody Sunday, British soldiers were responsible for the atrocity which many feared the B Specials would commit on 14 August.