Poorest helped to leave city as violence breaks out and The Troubles begin

The Sunday Post reported on the social upheaval caused by the beginning of The Troubles in Northern Ireland in its August 31 edition in 1969.

“The Ulster Government made a new move yesterday to help ease tension and hardship in Belfast,” the paper recorded, as people evacuated the capital after violence broke out between Catholics and Protestants. Sadly, the

fighting would consume the country for the next 30-plus years.

The article continued: “It rushed through special measures to give increased grant aid for unemployed who leave Belfast to settle in the new rural city of Craigavon, County Armagh. This comes into force immediately.

“The idea is to get people from the worsthit areas settled in new homes and jobs as soon as possible. This was

one of the peace moves in London and Belfast yesterday.

“Premier Major James Chichester-clark, in a plea to the citizens of Northern Ireland, urged: ‘Let the barricades now come down – whether they are the street barricades or the barricades in the hearts and minds of the people.’

“He praised Home Secretary Jim Callaghan’s energy and tact on his mission to Northern Ireland.”