The rightists hijacked cars and set them on fire and put up roadblocks, closing major routes and a railway station. Sixty-three cops were injured. After the events the government said it no longer recognised the “cease-fire” of the rightist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). A larger group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), was “suspected” of playing a leading role in the violence.

The assaults on nationalists of all generations included bomb attacks on homes, brutal beatings, and attacks on Catholic churches, leaving one worker fighting for his life and a three-year-old child with a fractured skull.

The Orange Order, established in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, existed to cement caste-like divisions among working people who are Protestant and Catholic, ensuring the second-class status of the latter.

The London Times said concessions by the UK rulers to nationalists were behind the loyalist violence, pointing to the decision to disband the Royal Irish Regiment and the release from prison of Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer Sean Kelly. The day after his release in July the IRA announced an end to its armed campaign against British rule. On September 26 the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning announced that the IRA had put all its weapons “beyond use.  
 
 
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