Northern Ireland

Taylor: We Need Ulster Home Guard – On This Day in 1974

Former Home Affairs minister John Taylor tells Twelfth gathering that thousands of ‘Ulstermen’ should form “third force”

John Taylor pictured with fellow Ulster Unionists Ken Maginnis and then party leader David Trimble at the Maze Prison
John Taylor pictured with fellow Ulster Unionists Ken Maginnis and then party leader David Trimble at the Maze Prison (Brian Little/PA)
By Cormac Moore
July 12 1974

Loyalist leaders gave Britain a double warning yesterday. They told Orangemen at “Twelfth” demonstrations that unless Britain acts first, a home guard will be formed and armed. They also said that an unacceptable form of government will be made unworkable.

The first message to Westminster was spelled out at Edenderry by former Home Affairs Junior Minister Mr John Taylor when he attacked British policy here.

After praising the RUC, the UDR, the RUC Reserve and the Army, Mr Taylor said: “They are not and they cannot be everywhere. The cry of Ulster today is for London to agree to the involvement of thousands more Ulstermen in a third force – an Ulster Home Guard. Such a force is needed and it should be commanded by Ulstermen who understand Ulster problems.”

Mr Taylor said the third force would have to be armed. London had been given notice of the need for such a force – “and there is not much time left to make the necessary decision”.

John Taylor called for a 20,000-strong Ulster Home Guard if the British government abdicated its responsibility, he believed, in defeating the IRA.
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Gunned-down Boys Shared Love of Football

The two teenagers, one Catholic, one Protestant, who died at the hands of Eleventh Night assassins, shared a passion for football. And yesterday, the boys’ fathers talked about their sons and the game they loved.

The Catholic, Michael Browne (16), of Abbot’s Walk, Whitehill Estate, Bangor, won medals for soccer and, ironically, his killers left his body on playing fields.

The Protestant, John Beattie (17), of Adam Street, Duncairn Gardens, Belfast, was able only to watch matches on doctors’ orders.

John was not allowed to play games because he had haemophilia, a disease so dangerous to the victim that even a slight knock can cause a sufferer to bleed to death.

But, as his father, grocer Mr George Beattie (45), said yesterday: “Despite that, my son had the courage to take on a dangerous job – he was an apprentice saw doctor. But that’s what he wanted to do. And he wanted to emigrate to Australia.”

The poignant story of two teenagers from different backgrounds, sharing the same passion, who became yet more innocent victims of the ongoing Troubles.