Maghera building set alight was the cradle of NI’S civil rights movement

Derelict site was former home of the prominent republican activist Kevin Agnew

A DERELICT building deliberately set alight in Maghera last weekend was the birthplace of the Northern Ireland civil rights movement.

The NI Fire and Rescue Service attended the blaze on the Craigadick Road in the Co Londonderry town on Sunday, April 14, with firefighters using specialist equipment to extinguish the fire.

The former two-storey building is the former home of prominent republican solicitor Kevin Agnew and was the venue for the meeting which ultimately led to the formation of the NI Civil Rights Association (NICRA).

Since the 1957 ban on Sinn Féin — which would last until 1974 — republicans had begun to regroup under various titles, one of which was the Wolfe Tone Society, named after the Protestant rebel from the 1798 United Irishmen insurrection.

The idea of launching an official civil rights movement originated at a conference for one of its local branches and a wider Society meeting was held at the home of Mr Agnew on the Craigadick Road.

At the meeting in August 1966, Eoghan Harris, a young history graduate from Cork, read a paper agreed by the IRA army council on a civil rights strategy for NI.

A resolution was passed calling on the UK Government to show “concrete evidence of its dissociation from extremism by making the incitement of religious hatred a criminal offence”, reported this newspaper.

The civil rights strategy had wide appeal and ultimately led to NICRA’S formation in Belfast in January 1967, which in turn resulted in the progression of constitutional nationalism through the birth of the SDLP three years later.

Mr Agnew himself was a prominent lawyer in the south Derry area and would have represented many of the businesses in Maghera in litigation.

He would later become a member of Sinn Féin and acted as solicitor for republican hunger striker Francis Hughes.

He often spoke at republican marches and rallies throughout the 1960s and 70s, even appearing in court just months before his death charged with taking part in an illegal parade in Swatragh.

Agnew had been due to contest the 1969 Mid Ulster by-election, but both he and Nationalist Party candidate Austin Currie — later a founding member of the SDLP — later agreed to step aside, allowing Bernadette Devlin (Mcaliskey) a free run to take the seat.

A war of words between Agnew and Rev Ian Paisley also resulted in the firebrand unionist leading a crowd of Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV) through Maghera with a number of bands in September 1968.

Mr Paisley said the march was a direct response to Mr Agnew’s comments on civil disobedience and description of him and his supporters as “Orange bigots”.

In August 1968, his office in Maghera was the target of sectarian graffiti, with the Belfast News Letter reporting slogans had been painted on the footpath outside.

“Painted on the office window is “No Pope” and “No Surrender”, while on the footpath outside the premises is also written “Remember 1690”, “Not an Inch” and “God Save the Queen.”

On New Year’s Eve 1972, nearby residents were evacuated after a bomb was planted at the rear of his Maghera home. Mr Agnew was not in the house at the time.

“An anonymous telephone caller told the police about the bomb and when they arrived they found the fuse had burned out without setting off the explosives,” reported the Mid Ulster Mail.

Five years later, Agnew had a further lucky escape when a faulty detonator came loose on an explosive device under his car.

The solicitor only phoned police when he later saw wires sticking out the underside of the vehicle.

He told the Mid Ulster Mail he may have been targeted due to his stance on the ongoing hunger strikes at the Maze Prison.

“While I take sides, I don’t take life,” he said.

“I have had a lot to say about H block in recent weeks but have never plotted, designed nor desired the fate of anyone.”

Mr Agnew died in 1988, with the house passing to a relative.

Local historian James Armour, Chair of the Maghera Heritage Centre, said the Agnew house had been allowed to fall into disrepair in recent years.

“The house has been allowed to go into a complete state of dereliction. It hasn’t been lived in for years,” he said.

“It was built by the Clarks of Upperlands (Linen merchants) for one of the family members and was sold in the early 1900s to the Agnew family.

“It has been taken over to a degree by anti-social behaviour, it has become a bit of a meeting place. The place is completely trashed, the bannisters and winding staircase inside have completely disappeared.

“It is absolutely disastrous to see a house of that standing deteriorate into that condition. They cut a tree down to stop people being able to go in the front gates.

“It’s on an acre site and it would take a good amount of money to buy it and refurbish it. It’s an ideal site just on the outskirts of the town.

“It is still there, but there wasn’t much left there even before the fire. The only thing really left to do is clear the site.”

The Fire Service said it believes the fire at the premises was started intentionally.

“The cause of the fire is believed to have been deliberate ignition and the incident was dealt with by 10.28pm,” added a