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Due to continuing violence, and under pressure from members of his own party to do something that worked, Prime Minister Brian Faulkner decided to introduce internment to deal with those believed to be involved in terrorism.

On 9 August 1971, Operation Demetrius started and 452 men were arrested.

However, those arrested were, by and large, the wrong people.

The information used by the authorities was out of date; those interned were mainly members of the Official IRA (OIRA), ordinary nationalists or civil rights supporters - not the Provisional IRA.

On top of that, no loyalists were arrested, even though loyalist paramilitaries were also involved in killings and bombings.

The first loyalists were not interned until February 1973.

The introduction of internment resulted in a range of reactions:

• The levels of violence got much worse. In the last 4½ months of 1971, 143 people were killed and many homes and businesses were destroyed. Before internment was introduced, there had been fewer than 30 deaths in 1971.
• Despite being satisfied with the introduction of internment at first, unionist support began to decline when it did not lead to a drop in the levels of bloodshed and destruction.
• Politicians from the SDLP, Nationalist and Republican Labour Parties urged their supporters to show their opposition to internment by refusing to pay either their rates or the rent due on their homes. In addition, politicians from these parties stopped attending council meetings.
• PIRA membership increased.
• The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) responded by holding protest marches. However, these soon ran into trouble. When NICRA staged a march close to an internment camp at Magilligan, Co Londonderry, in January 1972, the army responded by firing CS gas and charging the marchers with their batons drawn.

Despite this reaction from the military, another anti-internment protest was arranged to take place in Derry/Londonderry on 30 January 1972.

As the march ended, rioting began in the Bogside; the Parachute Regiment moved in and opened fire.

By the time the shooting had ended, 13 men had been killed.

An additional 13 were wounded; one of these later died from his injuries.

Following the events of what became known as Bloody Sunday, a number of things happened:

• PIRA membership grew – particularly in Derry/Londonderry - as did the levels of violence.
• While unionists spoke of their regret at the numbers of deaths in Derry/Londonderry, they said that the civil rights march was illegal and so should not have taken place at all.
• The British Embassy in Dublin was burned by a crowd of nationalist protesters. This clearly showed how angry some nationalists were at the actions of the British Government.
• Public opinion across the world criticised the British Government’s actions.

The London government responded by setting up an inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday.

The investigation was led by Lord Widgery, the most senior British judge.

After listening to evidence, Widgery decided that the army had not been to blame for what had happened, but stated the army’s actions ‘bordered on the reckless’.

He also established that none of those who died had been carrying a weapon when shot.

The failure of the government to deal with the increase in levels of IRA violence was criticised by unionists.

In February 1972, some responded by setting up a new political group, known as Ulster Vanguard.

Headed by former Minister William Craig, Vanguard was described as a co-ordinating body for traditional loyalist groups.

One of its meetings attracted 70,000 people.

Archive content from ����ý: Ten Chapters of the Northern Ireland Troubles ()