November 10 1973
Cardinal [William] Conway said he wished once again to call attention to the campaign of assassination and violence which was being directed against the Catholic population and which, he feared, tended to be swept under the carpet.
No one could accuse the Catholic Bishops of having been silent about the violent deeds of the IRA, the Cardinal said. He added: “From the very first beginnings of their campaign we have constantly denounced in the strongest terms of moral condemnation their acts of murder and destruction. But the base deeds of the IRA do not justify the campaign of slaughter and intimidation which is now being waged against the Catholic population.
“That population passionately desires peace and an end to all violence. Nevertheless groups of extremists have chosen to blame the Catholic population as a whole for the IRA campaign.
For the past two years these groups have been conducting a campaign of indiscriminate murder and destruction against Catholics”.
The Cardinal said that as a result of this second campaign, over 150 bodies had been found on the streets since the beginning of last year, the overwhelming majority of them perfectly innocent Catholics, victims of a squalid and brutal series of assassinations. Many of the victims had been horribly tortured before they died.
Cardinal Conway, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, condemns the collective punishment meted out to the Catholic community for acts carried out by the IRA, and the almost silence from officialdom to the widespread violence against Catholic civilians.
Royal Wedding Snub for 'Ulster'
The “Ulster” Group of the Monday Club has protested to the prime minister because, it claims, no “Ulsterman” has been invited to Princess Anne’s wedding.
In a letter to Mr Heath, Major David Pilleau, secretary of the group, says that the Mr William Whitelaw, who has been invited as Secretary of State, does not count “because he is not Irish”.
He said: “I suggested that the government should consider inviting Mr William Orr, leader of the 'Ulster' Unionist MPs at Westminster, or alternatively a leading Unionist. It would be inadvisable not to invite an 'Ulster' representative, because it would be noticed by the Northern Irish particularly as somebody from Scotland has been invited.”
Major Pilleau is a former Army general staff member in Northern Ireland. He said the situation seemed extraordinary in view of the fact that a Liberal Party representative had been invited. If there was no invitation, there could be a hullaballoo, he said.
Ulster unionists complained that Northern Ireland was not being treated as a loyal and full member of the United Kingdom when no invitation was sent to the wedding of Princess Anne.
