boredom of a lesson, the teacher would pause for a few seconds while we tried to work out the direction from which the sound had come; we would use any excuse to stop class. The girls nearest the windows might be given a moment to check for plumes of smoke but, almost immediately, our noses were back to the grindstone.
My schoolmates and I seized on the prevailing turmoil to try to escape the daily drudgery of classes, homework and revision but we were granted no respite. The pressure to achieve academically was relentless and the staff – religious and lay– were unstinting in their commitment to the demands of both timetable and syllabus. The regimented school day, the focus on exams and the insistence on full uniforms were the only constants in our otherwise turbulent lives. School provided us with a rare but secure anchor in a very unstable world, but the wisdom to see that eluded us in Lower Sixth.
Mother Laurentia, a severe but saintly old nun, who squinted out at us from under her wimple through round, wire glasses, repeatedly warned us that if we didn’t settle down and apply ourselves to our work we would ‘end up working on the buttons counter in Woolworths’.
Secretly I would have been happy to take a part-time job anywhere – even in Woolworths – if it helped me to get out of Belfast and away to France that summer.
Fri, Feb 4
Had to walk to school again today, still no buses and we’re unlikely to have any for quite a while.
Our first test is this afternoon. Eleanor, Oonagh etc. got hold of last year’s O-Level paper from which, they guessed, our essay would be taken. They prepared an essay during their free class and, sure enough, they got it on the paper. However, ‘muggins me’ decided to be honest to myself and as a result, found the exam to be very hard-going.
Walked home again after it – we’re getting great exercise these days thanks to the Catholic boys of Falls Road and Andersonstown. Mrs McGlade is in a terrible state. Peter is arriving – with two English fellows – on the boat at 7 pm, to march in Newry.
Sat, Feb 5
Suzette was up banging at the door at 10.30 this morning while we were still in bed. Came up to see if I would go to the pictures this afternoon. Said I would. We went to see ‘Soldier Blue’. It was good but not to the extent that I had expected.
Mammy and Daddy went down town. This is the first time Mammy has ventured into town in months.
Still not worried about the tests, even after the disaster that Spanish was. Met the two ‘groovers’ Peter McGlade brought home. In spite of their unkempt and bedraggled appearance, they were both very nice fellas!
Sun, Feb 6
Daddy has almost definitely decided not to go to Newry march, although very reluctantly.
Huge number – 60,000 people – turned up. Not as much as one stone thrown, a massive display of union and discipline. A great success. However, 26 summonses have been issued to SDLP people and others who marched.
On the Frost Programme tonight, during an interview with Protestants on the Shankill, John McKeague says he calls ‘Bloody Sunday’ “Good Sunday”. One regret is that there weren’t twice as many killed!‘
John McKeague’s comments stunned me, even though the loyalist leader was already well known for his extreme anti-Catholic views. I was incredulous that someone purporting to be a Christian could not only utter such venomous and sinister words but also revel in the deaths of so many innocent people.
It was the first occasion when I was directly exposed to such raw sectarianism. I was shocked to discover that the grief and outrage, which the murder of thirteen innocent people provoked in homes like mine, were not felt equally across Northern Ireland.
Mon, Feb 7
Didn’t get up until late due to the exams not beginning till 1.00. Today we have French.
No one is in the slightest bit worried about these tests for some reason. As Sr. Virgilius told us last week, there is so much tragedy and despair around about us, irrelevant things are soon put from our minds. We are more concerned for our lives than for exams.
French was very difficult – made a mess of the paper but don’t really care.
Notices were distributed around school today telling us not to come in on Wednesday but to join in ‘D-Day’ i.e. Day of Disruption, or as it will be in Andersonstown, Day of Destruction!
Did some revision for English and RK tonight and I’ll be going to bed after writing this. No buses today. P.S. Very important – internee escapes from long Kesh!!!
Tues, Feb 8
Buses still aren’t on the road yet, so had to walk to school for RK exam at 9.30. It was really funny – we couldn’t do it all and we couldn’t even ‘waffle’ the way we always do in RK tests.
Spent lunchtime trying to learn quotations out of ‘Antony and Cleopatra’. The result? Complete confusion when I tried to write them out during the test.
We tried to get Sister Virgilius to close the school tomorrow during the tests because of D for Disruption Day. Day of peaceful disruption. Schools were asked to close – but we didn’t.
On the way home, we were threatened by three boys, if we didn’t close! Therefore we all decided not to bother going in. Seem to be no definite plans for tomorrow’s disruption.
‘Intimidation’ was as good an excuse as any for taking a day off school. D-Day was organised as a peaceful protest against internment, with the organisers calling on the public to disrupt normal life as much as possible – by staying away from work and school, closing businesses, attending rallies and picketing RUC stations.
St Dominic’s kept its doors open, offering education as always, but I stayed home, wanting to be part of the new ‘excitement’ that was sweeping through our community. There was a thrill about being warned to stay at home, even by a handful of teenagers the same age as ourselves. Children and teenagers, myself included, were excited to be playing their parts in what was by now a very adult ‘game’. We all wanted to show our anger and register a protest – however minor – at what had happened in Derry. I was no longer complaining that I was bored.
Wed, Feb 9
D-Day.
Schoolchildren from St Malachy’s and Bearnaghea walked to City Hall. Other schools closed early. Aidan joined in a sit-down protest addressed by Paddy Devlin over at the Busy Bee.
Reports of people in Newry going to the GPO, tendering £10 notes to buy 1p stamps – and queuing up to find out if it was necessary to have a permit to grow gooseberries or keep a billy-goat!!
John said the people of Fruithill were traitors – we didn’t protest for the internees. He and Aidan blocked the doors of kitchen and living-room to protest against not being allowed to protest!
Rioting broke out in Turf Lodge. Boy of 14 shot (seriously ill) by army – said they fired ‘on a gunman.’ All shops on the road closed. At Rathcoole, a man was shot while shooting at policemen – seriously ill, too.
Did 7 hours revision tonight for Applied Maths. I feel as sick as anything. I’m dreading these Maths, sure I won’t do well. 3 nail-bomb explosions tonight, Falls Road. Chairman of Community Relations Board resigns – Maurice Hayes.
Thurs, Feb 10
Set out walking for school