• The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) was founded as a new nationalist political party in 1970 by the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. It was led first by Gerry Fitt and then by John Hume. It rejected the use of violence to solve the North’s problems and was more concerned with improving people’s lives than with gaining a united Ireland.
• The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was founded by Rev. Ian Paisley in 1971. It opposed any compromise with nationalists and demanded harsh measures to deal with IRA violence.
SDLP leaders Gerry Fitt and John Hume Internment
In 1970 and 1971, the IRA carried out gun attacks on the security forces and organised youths in Catholic areas to throw stones and riot. In response, the army held house searches in these areas, which cost them the support of Catholic communities.
In August 1971, as the violence worsened, the new Prime Minster Brian Faulkner introduced the policy of internment. Internment is the arrest and imprisonment of people without trial. Faulkner wanted to round up the IRA leadership in order to stop the violence. However, this tactic was an absolute disaster:
• A lot of innocent people were arrested and held, while most of the IRA leaders escaped to the Republic.
• Only Catholics were arrested, even though loyalists had been attacking Catholic communities for two years. More people joined the IRA as a result of the internment policy.
