Free Derry: August–October 1969

Abstract

By July 1969, the crisis in Northern Ireland had deepened. It had already gone beyond the possibility of resolution through the granting of the original civil rights demands. In Derry, the authority of the DCAC had crumbled and the initiative had passed to local youths. Marches, which were sometimes followed by riots, had given way to regular and often unprovoked rioting on the streets. Hostility to the RUC had deepened after the beating of Sammy Devenny in April and had spread to the moderates who had been instrumental in preventing rioting on previous occasions. The death of Sammy Devenny in mid-July eroded even further the commitment of moderates to actively preventing attacks on the RUC.